                         rpc README
   
                        Version 0.98
   
       Copyright (C) 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 Paul Pelzl


DESCRIPTION:

- Do you use an RPN calculator, but don't always have it handy?

- After using your RPN calculator for some time, do you find yourself
  unable to use algebraic entry?
    
- Do you use vi?

- Do you think emacs (especially xemacs) is for the weak?
    
- Do you use a GUI simply so you can open more console windows?


If you answered "yes" to any of the above questions, then rpc may be for you!
rpc is a console calculator application based on the ncurses library.  It
behaves roughly like some of the more popular RPN calculators available
on the market today, but data entry has been optimized for efficiency on
a PC keyboard.  Some of the primary features are:

        - Reverse Polish Notation
        - A visible data stack
        - Extensive scientific calculator functionality
        - Extensive stack manipulation functionality
        - Configurable keymapping
        - Small memory footprint
        - Low CPU usage
        - Speedy to use
        - Your coworkers won't know how to use it

I wrote this program primarily for myself, because sometimes I just
wanted a fast console calculator that worked like my venerable HP48.
I have never been happy with other RPN calc applications--they 
generally require too many keypresses, lack a visible stack, or fail 
to implement useful functionality.  rpc is my solution, and my hope 
is that it will also end the suffering of other RPN-calc-using 
computer geeks.  Consequently, I have GPL'd it and made it available 
for download.



LICENSE

rpc is distributed under the GNU General Public License.  See 'COPYING'
for details.



REQUIREMENTS:

rpc is developed under x86 GNU/Linux with gcc-3.2 and ncurses-5.2.  Recent
versions have also been compiled under FreeBSD and LinuxPPC, and I expect
that there should be little difficulty with most unix-like platforms.
Please let me know if you have compiled rpc on another platform--I would
like to maintain a compatibility list.

rpc depends on the CCMATH library (http://freshmeat.net/projects/ccmath).
Only version 2.2.1 has been tested with this release, although other
versions will probably work.  It may be necessary to edit the default
attributes of the CCMATH header file in order to use it to compile rpc, e.g.

chmod a+r /usr/include/ccmath.h    (as root)



COMPILING/INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS:

From the rpc root directory, enter:

./configure
make
make install

For more installation options, see 'INSTALL'.



USAGE:

See 'doc/manual'.



BUGS:

I have some irritating display problems when using rpc under the KDE 2.x
'konsole'.  This appears to be a bug in konsole itself, as rpc seems to
run fine under other terminal emulators (e.g. aterm).  Maybe I'll check
on that with the KDE guys one of these days.

The behavior of the numeric keypad is dependent on the terminal
emulator being used.  In particular, the numeric keypad is not useful
under gnome-terminal and Eterm, but works fine under aterm, rxvt, and
many others (with NumLock turned on).



CREDITS:

There are a couple of people who I would like to thank for their
contributions to rpc:

    Claus Brunzema, for preparing autoconf/automake support.  This
                    probably would have been left undone for some time
                    if not for his efforts.

    Greg Smethells, for informed coding advice and numerous bugtesting
                    instances.  Plug: Check http://rip.sourceforge.net
                    for a great command-line CD->ogg/mp3 automation
                    script.



FUTURE RELEASES:

rpc has more than enough features to satisfy my needs, so most future
releases will be focused on bugfixing.  One of the few bigger tasks I
have in mind is to implement a 'libcursesrc' that parses generic
configuration textfiles, and use that to handle keybindings and macros
within rpc.  (I'm thinking of something inspired by Mutt's configuration
files.)

At some point, rpc may be migrated from ccmath over to the GNU
Scientific Library, which looks to be better maintained and offers more
potential for future growth.

If anyone is interested in tackling either of these tasks, or other
interesting enhancements, I would welcome patches.



HOW CAN YOU HELP?

1) I would like to do what I can to make rpc run on a variety of unices,
   but I really only have access to Linux/x86.  If you have successfully
   run rpc on some other platform, please let me know so I can add it
   to a compatibility list.  If you have made some small changes to
   port the code, I would appreciate that information as well.

2) If anyone is interested in putting together binary packages (rpm, deb,
   slackware tgz, ...), I would certainly post them on the website.

3) Get the word out!  Demand that rpc be added to free software
   directories!  Try to get rpc included in your favorite distribution!
   Link to rpc on your website!  Tell your friends!  WORLD DOMINATION! :-)

4) Donations.  If you like rpc, and feel obliged to contribute in a more
   tangible fashion, check out the contributions page:
   http://www.eecs.umich.edu/~pelzlpj/rpc/contrib.html



CONTACT INFO:

      e-mail:  pelzlpj@eecs.umich.edu
rpc homepage:  http://www.eecs.umich.edu/~pelzlpj/rpc
 my homepage:  http://www.eecs.umich.edu/~pelzlpj/

Feel free to contact me if you:
    - find bugs (or better yet, have patches for bugs)
    - added cool new functionality
    - ported rpc to some new platform (e.g. Mac, Qtopia, Palm OS)
    - want to suggest a feature
    - want to tell me how rpc has changed your life
    - think rpc sucks

rpc is developed using the Arch RCS, available at
http://www.gnu.org/software/gnu-arch/ .  My public Arch archive can be
accessed via

   tla register-archive pelzlpj@eecs.umich.edu--2003 \
      ftp://pelzlpj.dyndns.org/pub/paul/tla/2003

If you intend to hack on rpc in larger amounts, then it would be helpful
if you would use Arch as well.

