Error display, Overflow and underflow, Digit separators – HP 15c User Manual

Page 61

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Section 5: The Display and Continuous Memory

61

Digit Separators

The HP-15C is set at power-up so that it separates integral and fractional
portions of a number with a period (a decimal point), and separates groups
of three digits in the integer portion with a comma. You can reverse this
setting to conform to the numerical convention used in many countries. To
do so, turn off the calculator. Press and hold =, press and hold .,
release =, then release . (= / .). (Repeating this sequence will
set the calculator to the previous display convention.)

Keystrokes

Display

12345.67

12,345.67

= / .

12.345.6700

= / .

12,345.6700

Error Display

If you attempt an improper operation—such as division by zero—an error
message (

Error

followed by a digit) will appear in the display. For a

complete listing of error messages and their causes, refer to appendix A.

To clear the

Error

display and restore the calculator to its prior condition,

press any key. You can then resume normal operation.

Overflow and Underflow

Overflow. When the result of a calculation in any register is a number with
a magnitude greater than 9.999999999Ч10

99

, ± 9.999999999Ч10

99

is placed

in the affected register and the overflow flag, flag 9, is set.

*

Flag 9 causes

the display to blink. When overflow occurs in a running program, execution
continues until completion of the program, and then the display blinks.

The blinking can be stopped and flag 9 cleared by pressing −, = or
|" 9.

Underflow. If the result of a calculation in any register is a number with a
magnitude less than 1.000000000×10

-99

, that number will be replaced by

zero. Underflow does not have any other effect.

*

Recall that display does not include the last three digits of the mantissa.

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