The 82180A Extended Functions Module
The Extended Functions module added many functionalities the users had wanted for ages, as the ability to programmatically assign functions to keys, repartition memory, etc.
But the most important new function was the management of extended memory: while the HP-41C could theoretically access up to 1024 registers, the early design limited main memory to 319 registers only. The Extended Functions module added instructions to manage a bank of additional memory in the available addressing space of the machine. As this memory was not directly addressable by user programs, it was seen as a set of named files containing either programs or data. Programs and data registers could be copied back and forth from the extended memory to the main memory, where they could be accessed as usual.
Extended memory could also hold ASCII files, and a rudimentary text editor was added also.
The Extended Functions module contained 124 registers of Extended memory. More could be added by ... Extended Memory modules. The HP-41CX contained the Extended Functions module as standard.
Read more about this topic: HP-41 Extension Module
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