Around 1983, HP published the HP 45423A Financial Calculator software package for their HP-150 Touchscreen computer. It was in fact a microcode-level simulation of the HP-12C calculator. Internally HP had the 11C, 15C, and 16C running on the 150 as well, but didn’t release those.
The ROM file format was a bit strange:

48 byte [...]

I’ve finally updated the nsim web page with screen shots, including one of the experimental Voyager support (showing an HP-16C). I’m planning to merge the Nut simulation code from nsim into CASMSIM in order to take advantage of the GTK+-based GUI, KML scripts, etc. This will require further extensions to the KML syntax [...]

Put in changes to actually use the “background” section of the KML file to determine which portion of the image file to use for the window background. Previously the entire image was used regardless of the KML. However, the image file will also contain various other graphic items for the foreground, such as [...]

In addition to some simple GUI controls for debugging microcode, I want a command-line debugging interface. I plan to use Tcl and Readline, as I’ve done in Altogether, my Xerox Alto simulator. However now I want this command-line interface to be inside a window along with a menu bar and possibly other widgets. [...]

I wanted to build a staticly linked CASMSIM binary for use on a system that doesn’t have all of the necessary packages installed. It appears that in Fedora Core 1 the GTK+ 2.2 and GDK 2.2 packages don’t come with .a files, though the 1.2 packages do. Sigh.

Went to the docter earlier in the week and found out that the reason I’ve had a persistent cough for weeks is that I have bronchitis. He put me on antibiotics, and it’s helped, but I’m still coughing. The San Jose Mercury has an article today about how lots of people have lingering [...]

Started reading “The Elder Gods” by David and Leigh Eddings. I really liked their Belgariad and Mallorean series. I’m only 1/3 of the way into this one, and am not yet convinced that I like it as well, although it does show some promise.
I read “Lyra’s Oxford” by Phillip Pullman. [...]

Released CASMSIM version 0.23 which now has PNGs for the HP-35, HP-55, and HP-80 for shape mode. Added new features to KML to allow the seven-segment displays to be customized.

Figured out how to set the background color when using a GtkImage that has transparency. I’d tried setting the background of the GtkImage, and of the GtkWindow, but neither worked. So I went through the entire hierarchy: GtkWindow, GtkEventBox, GtkVBox, GtkFixed, GtkImage.
It turns out that setting the background color on the GtkFixed did [...]

Released CASMSIM version 0.22 with the new host keyboard, shape, window drag, and popup menu support. Included images courtesy of David G. Hicks of the Museum of HP Calculators. The original images are in JPEG format, but I converted the HP-45 image to PNG, touched it up a bit, and added the alpha [...]