Displaying correct output of an Engineering program

[danp]

I have some TI-Basic programming question I wonder whether you could help me with.

The basic program I am trying to write converts dBm into Watts using the following formula:-

(10^(dbm/10))/1000

dbm2watt()
Prgm
Dialog
Title"DBM to Watts"
Request "Enter DBM Value",n
EndDlog
expr(n)->n

(10^(n/10))/1000)->n

disp n

dialog
"Watts ="
text string(n)&" Watts"
endDlog

EndPrgm


(1) if you type in 53 for instance (which is 199.5 watts) the result of disp n doesn't give a numeric answer but just the formula 100*10^(3/10) which is the calculator displaying the simplidfied version of the formula.
The second dialog bos is just intended to display the result in a pretty box.

If i press the diamond button before entering dbm2watt() i get the numerical answer.

How do you force the program to give a numeric answer and not just the formula display without having to press the diamond button before executing the program?

I have prettyprint turned off by the way.

Sorry for the long question i hope u can help.

Cheers

[mellamokb]

Hi danp,

Try the "approx(" function to force a decimal answer. You can also put your calculator into "approx" mode or "auto" mode. Note that in "auto" mode you can get a decimal result just by entering a decimal "." as some part of the expression (for instance, include a "1." instead of just "1").

For such a simple conversion, it would be much easier to use a function instead of a program. You can just define a function that does the calculation, and then you can use it like other built-in functions. Try this on the homescreen: