Daniel Hruska Tired of apps imitating real calculators using a matrix of buttons? Do you often need to convert values between currencies or different units, and at the same time perform mathematical operations on them? If you answered twice year, could soulver be the software you need right now.
Do not look for buttons with numbers or functions in Solver's graphical interface. At first glance, it may seem that the program looks like an ordinary text editor, but it is not. All expressions are written in the left column, the results appear in the right column. Below the right column is the sum of all results. After clicking on this value, the average value, variance and standard deviation can still be displayed, and then copied to the clipboard.
Basic operations
A picture can often express more than a thousand words, so it will be better to show the principles of working with Soulver using illustrative examples.
I don't think it is necessary to explain the individual operations, each of you is surely familiar with them. However, be sure to notice line 12, where the so-called token. It is used to use the already calculated result from the right column, it can be selected either by the number of the relevant row or by a row with an offset value from the current row. By right-clicking on the token, you can change the row of the result value or remove it completely. A useful trick is to move the cursor over the token - the line to which the token refers will be displayed.
In addition to locally defined variables (see image above), global variables can also be defined in the settings. This means that a variable defined in this way will be available always and everywhere. Just for fun – pi already the application can. So if you know that you will use a certain value often, it pays to make it a variable.
Basic word operations
Since it is easier for some to write all expressions using natural language, there is an option to replace the mathematical operators with words. Unfortunately for us, the entire application is in English, so don't expect to write words like "divided", "times", "without", ... Don't worry, the basics of English are not an insurmountable obstacle after all.
Percent
The application offers efficient work with parts of numbers thanks to simple built-in percentage functions. Do you want to know how much this or that product cost before the discount? Not a problem. Again, the basics of English are a matter of course.
Function
Some of the most commonly used mathematical functions will certainly come in handy, namely the twelve trigonometric functions, the square and third roots, the natural logarithm, logarithms with bases two and ten, and several other basic functions.
Unit conversions
In the help of the application, I counted 75 units of time, volume, content, speed, force and other areas of physics. However, these are only built-in units, and nothing prevents you from creating your own. For example kilometers per hour He doesn't know Soulver at all, but he does kilometres ahours. It is enough to write "km/h" and the application itself will derive the necessary relationships by itself. Again - units are listed in English. At least Soulver doesn't care about correct plurals, so you can write with a clear conscience 1 weeks or 5 week.
Currency transfers
World currencies can be converted just as easily as physical units. I confess that this time I did not count their exact number, but apparently they will all be here. Each currency is represented by its international abbreviation, and the necessary currencies must first be checked in the application settings. By default, major world currencies are checked, while only "major" currencies such as US and Australian dollars, euro, Japanese yen, British pound, Russian ruble and the primary currency from the OS X settings (mostly the Czech crown) are present in the favorites. After clicking on the small i for the result, a conversion to all popular currencies will appear in a pop-up window.
Stocks
There is no need for a more complex comment here. You just enter the company's abbreviation in the settings and you can immediately count on its shares in the application. The data is downloaded from the servers of Yahoo!
Programming
The basics of working with numbers in the binary system include bit operations, which is why this calculator can handle them. When clicked on i the result will be displayed in decimal, hexadecimal and binary.
Setting options
As one of the most important settings, I would point out the thousands sign and decimal point. According to the Czech spelling, se one million whole five tenths writes as 1 000 000,5, but for example in the USA or the UK they write the same number slightly differently, viz 1,000,000.5.
Due to the stability of the application, the precision is implicitly set to nine decimal places. If such a high number bothers you, there is nothing easier than changing to a different number of digits after the decimal point. I don't recommend a number greater than nine, the whole application then likes to crash.
Like any good text editor, which Soulver kind of is, there must be a syntax highlighting color change in the settings. To this, let's add the option to change the font, its size and alignment. It is not a problem to transform the application in your own image.
Creating keyboard shortcuts for text strings is also a useful feature. As an example, I would give a transfer to Czech crowns. I guess no one wants to write "in CZK" over and over again. So just set any shortcut for this string and the problem is over.
Export
The application can handle exporting to a fairly wide range of formats. Specifically, these are PDF, HTML, CSV, TXT and rich text mail, which is enough for the average user. I appreciate the ability to remove syntax highlighting colors, line numbering, and other items that might bother someone.
záver
Soulver is without a doubt a powerful tool for numbers that don't fit on a single calculator line. You can thus write down the individual intermediate steps line by line and only then connect them in some way as needed. You can simply save your frequently repeated calculations to a file *.soulver, and thus have a kind of template always at hand. This type is even supported in A quick preview, so you only need to press the spacebar to view without having to launch the application itself.
The downside may be having to learn the Soulver "language" and syntax. There is nothing difficult about it, but I believe that someone prefers a classic calculator or a spreadsheet. The second disadvantage would be the price. It costs about €20 for the OS X version, €2,99 for the iPhone version and €4,99 for the iPad version.
[button color=red link=http://itunes.apple.com/cz/app/soulver/id413965349?mt=12 target=”“]Soulver – €19,99[/button]
If it's primarily about math, then at that price for OS X, you might be better off going straight to MathStudio.
Some time ago I was looking for a good calculator in the Mac App Store for free or under about four dollars and I had quite a problem with it. I didn't find what I was looking for. I downloaded a couple of them and deleted them again after trying them out, because counting in Spotlight (cmd + space) was always more convenient for me. I knew about Soulver, but that is a bit more expensive and I was afraid of a similar disappointment.