Features

· VBScript Editor and testing environment so you can easily add new functions of serious complexity to Napier.

· Constants Editor so you can have exactly the conversions and constants you need with you all the time.

· Expression based – very long expressions can be entered, scrolled, edited and evaluated. There is no need to keep intermediate values on a stack, work from the inside out, or think about parentheses levels (except keeping them matched).

· Normal algebraic order of evaluation with unlimited parentheses levels ( 2 + 3 * 5 = 17, not 25).

· Function arguments can be arbitrarily complex expressions.

· Over 150 functions covering financial, trigonometry, data array manipulation and statistical functions, algebra, programming, time (24 hour days and workdays) and more. Of course, it also does logarithms!

· Immediate help for every function and key. First tap the help menu button, then the function or key and it shows the help for it.

· Previous 10 answers and commands are always available for reuse.

· Programmable, using VBScript.

· 64 built in conversion constants. Users can create and load their own constants.

· Entire state can be saved automatically or manually to files.

· 100 memories which can be named, accessed from VBScript, and saved to files.

· 10 user saved command expressions for quick reuse.

· 1000 entry data set that can be entered, edited, sorted, used for statistical analysis and financial functions, accessed from VBScript, and saved to files.

· 13 different selectable display formats (numeric, scientific, hex, time). Up to 15 decimal places.

· 4 simultaneous key layouts, each with 20 user assignable keys. Key mapping mode to assign any function or constant to a key.

· 8 graduated rate schedules, each with 10 brackets for tax and commission calculations.

· Workday shift hours, weekly work days, and the holiday calendar can be set for time calculations using workdays.

· IEEE floating point precision, over 15 decimal places, values between about +/- 2E-308 and 2E308.

©Newburyport Computer Assoc. Inc

Author: Ralph Brown
mailto:napier@nca-corp.com

The above key layout is the first default layout of the 4 simultaneously available keyboards. It shows a small part of Napier’s 150+ built in functions and 64 constants.

This is a screen shot of the built in VBScript Editor and test environment used within Napier to create new functions, access the file system, etc.

What is Napier

Napier is a full functioned programmable scientific calculator for the PocketPC that also is a powerful financial calculator. It covers most areas addressed by hand calculators, plus some which are generally not available such as time and graduated rate schedules. While it has a very rich feature set, it also is simple for simple things like adding up a column of numbers, making it a very practical general purpose calculator.

Who was John Napier

16^th century Scottish mathematician, inventor of logarithms.

Requirements

Napier now runs on all PocketPC machines through 2002 but currently not on PocketPC 2003 machines, the either monochrome or color, ARM, MIPS and SH3 processors. The executable requires about 450K of storage on the PocketPC file system depending on the processor. Each entire saved state file requires about 20K, although it varies somewhat. Individual saved component files vary greatly depending on the data in them, but run between 1K and 9K or so.

Unfortunately, Microsoft made PocketPC 2003 incompatible with the earlier versions. We are working on a version that will run on it in the future, but currently it will not.

Versions and License Terms

Due to Microsoft making Windows Mobile 2003 incompatible with earlier versions, there is no current version of Napier that will run on these machines. It will only run on PocketPC 2002 machines and earlier. For this reason, only the freeware version is currently available.

Freeware Version – Free

This has all the functions of the purchased versions, except for reading and writing state and data files, Constants editing, and VBScript programming. There is a 30 day trial period which allows use of the full Napier features. If you don’t upgrade to a purchased version, the Freeware version keeps running, but the extra features are removed.

Obviously, we hope you’ll purchase one of the more advanced versions after trying the freeware version, but you don’t have to in order to use Napier. There is no time limit or nagware in the freeware version.

Download Page

Full Documentation

This is a complete manual and reference to Napier in HTML format and in MS Word DOC format, about 1 MB each zipped, about 85 pages printed. The MS Word manual is much better for printing.

HTML Format Manual

MS Word Format Manual

Liability Disclaimer

A good faith effort has been made to make this software as correct as possible. However, Newburyport Computer Assoc. Inc. and the author cannot guarantee the correct working of it in all cases and cannot be held responsible for any losses that may result from using Napier.

If you are doing something that will affect someone’s life, finances, well being, the environment, etc. don’t rely on any single source, including this software. Check it more than once. Computers (and their programmers) are definitely not always right.

Trademarks:

Embedded Word, Embedded Excel, VBScript, Visual Basic Script, Microsoft, WinCE, PocketPC, are all trademarks of Microsoft Corp. They don’t own quite everything in the world, but those are theirs.

Jornada is a trademark of HP.

Advantages

· Napier is very easy to use. If you can enter an arithmetic expression, you can use Napier. What you see is what you compute. more

· You don’t have to get it right the first time. Expressions can be edited with undo, cut and paste, and backspace. To change the insert point, just tap directly on the expression where you want it. If you want to, you can recall a previous expression and change it.

· Your previous answers and expressions aren’t lost. Napier automatically keeps the last 10 used. The answers can be included in expressions and saved in memories. The expressions can be edited, reused and permanently saved. more

· You can add your own functions to Napier by writing VBScript programs using desktop tools or the built in editor. These can be used in expressions, have the same type of help, appear on dropdown lists, be assigned to keys, etc., the same as built in functions. All Napier’s memories, built in functions, and programming helper functions can be accessed from your VBScript programs. In addition, the file system, user messages and input can be used within Napier’s VBScript environment. more

· You can have your own set of constants if the 64 built in ones aren’t what you want. There is a special Constants editor built in, or you can create formatted text files using desktop editors to load your own set. more

· You don’t have to remember how to spell functions, or what value is in which memory. All functions, commands, memories, and saved answers can be seen and selected from dropdown lists. The memories can be named to help even more. more

· You don’t have to know what Future Value means to use the financial functions. Napier has bond calculations, FV, IRR, etc., but it also has straightforward functions for normal mortgages and loans. You can find out what your payment will be without reading a book to understand it. more

· You don’t have to remember what all the functions do, or what order their arguments are in. Every key and function has help which is shown when it is used. There’s also an immediate help button. Tap it, then tap the function, and the help is shown. more

· You can set up Napier as you like, and it will remember its state. Napier can be set to automatically save its state on exit and reload it when started. Or you can manually use different files if you need to work with more than one setup. more

· You can assign any combination of functions and conversion constants to the 20 keys on each of the 4 keyboards, so the functions you tend to use together are all available together. You may want to set up a general survival one, with restaurant tip, date calculations, foreign exchange, and metric conversions all together. more

· You can easily work with a data array with up to 1000 entries. The Data Set in Napier is not just an add on component, it is integrated into the overall functionality with 28 functions that use it. more

· You can reuse your data both inside and outside Napier. The memories and other data can be saved and loaded separately as text files, so they can be created and read by any program that uses text files. more

· You won’t run out of functions. Napier has over 150 built in functions, which cover a wide range of application areas. If that isn’t enough, program whatever you want in VBScript.

· You don’t have to do anything special to mix and match functions from different areas. You can get the skew and kurtosis of a set of time intervals you collected using the built in stopwatch. All functions work together, there aren’t any special modes, or anything else. There’s just one calculator.