Editing the Stack
Undo
Hit the undo button (↶ or ctrl-z) to undo whatever your last action was. In general, you can undo any action which affects the contents of the stack, but not operations which only add characters to the register or change which entry is selected. Once you undo an action, you may also redo it again (↷ or ctrl-y).
Editing Calculations
It is possible to edit numbers and names within calculations that have already been entered. Simply click on the number or name and it will appear in the entry register where it may be edited. The edit will be finalized and the calculation will be recomputed when enter is pressed or when a different selection is made on the stack.
Right click menu
Certain operations may be performed on a part of a calculation without having to split apart the whole calculation to get to the operation you want to change. Move the mouse cursor over the calculation until the operation you want to change is surrounded by a box, then right click (or press and hold on a touch screen) to get a menu of options for the part of the calculation you want to change.
The following options are available:
- Edit
- The part of the calculation you selected will appear in a special edit stack where you can split it apart and reassemble it with the operations you want. Once it is reassembled into a single stack entry again, you can press OK to have the old calculation replaced with the new one.
- Copy
- The part of the calculation you selected will be copied into the clipboard so it can be pasted onto the stack or into a different part of the calculation.
Editing User Memory Functions and Constants
If you have used a User Memory Function or Constant in a calculation, you may right click it for a set of options to edit, copy, delete, or split the memory entry (split removes the entry and puts the contents on the stack). Keep in mind any changes made to the user function or constant will be propagated back to memory and any other calculation where it is used.
Manipulating the Stack
Visual RPN Calculator is designed to let the user easily manipulate the stack by deleting or copying entries, moving entries around, or undoing ("splitting") calculations. Also, it is possible to select any entry in the stack as the active head of the stack - which means this is where new calculations and most stack operations will be performed. This makes it easy to undo and edit previous calculations.
Note on Keyboard Shortcuts: All of the operations described here may also be performed using keyboard shortcuts, sometimes using a slightly different methodology.
Stack Operation Buttons
There are three buttons located to the right side of the stack which allow stack entries to be manipulated:
C/AC - Pressing this button (or the del key) will cause the currently selected entry in the stack to be deleted. Double clicking C/AC (or pressing shift-del) causes the stack to be completely cleared.
Split - Pressing this button will cause the currently selected calculation in the stack to be split back into original operands (undone). For example, if the currently selected stack entry is "3 + 4", the "+" operation will be undone and the operands "3" and "4" will remain at the top of the stack.
Swap - Pressing this button causes the currently selected stack entry to be swapped with the entry to the left. You can also use ctrl-left arrow to do the same thing.
Right Click Menu
Right click on a stack entry (or press and hold on a touch screen) to get a menu of options for the entry. To the most part the options are self explanatory. Copy, Cut, and Paste works like normal windows operations. Split, Duplicate and Delete work as described above. The main difference with using the right click menu is it is not necessary to change the stack selection to perform these operations.
Selecting Stack Entries
Any entry on the stack can be clicked or tapped to become the new head of the stack. This means that new number entries will occur at that point, and that any operation (such as "+") will operate on the selected entry and the entries to the left of the selected entry. In essence all entries to the right of the selected entry will be ignored. Also the stack operation buttons will take effect on the selected entry instead of the last entry on the stack. Note that the selected entry may also be changed using the keyboard arrow keys.
If no entry on the stack is selected, the last stack entry is essentially the current selected stack entry.
Dragging and Dropping Stack Entries
Stack entries may be dragged and dropped to new locations in the stack using standard windows drag and drop functionality. Pressing shift and the left or right arrow key will also move the current stack entry within the stack.
Stack entries may also be dragged and dropped onto the stack operation buttons (see above), which has the same effect as selecting the stack entry and then pushing the button (i.e., it deletes the entry, copies it, or splits (undoes) it).
Multiple Stacks
The calculator contains 3 different stacks that may be toggled through using a variety of methods:
- by pressing the sX button to the left of the stack
- entering ctrl-0, ctrl-1, or ctrl-2 on the keyboard
- using the up/down arrow keys on the keyboard
- swiping the stack up and down
See also: Windows Clipboard for information about cutting pasting between the calculator app and other Windows programs.