DeskCalc is a Windows calculator from DeskCalc GbR that records arithmetic on an editable tape. It combines adding-machine entry with expression calculations, screen capture, financial tools, and document export. Private use is free; commercial use requires a license, and the full program offers a trial.
The tape records each operation
Each number and operator joins the running tape, alongside text labels that you can enter for individual positions. DeskCalc lets you change an earlier value, insert another entry, or remove a line. It then recalculates the totals throughout that calculation.
Subtotal and total controls mark intermediate and final results. The Grand Total function adds the results of your calculations together. A tab header also shows its tape’s result, so several open tabs can display their totals simultaneously.
Entry modes and screen capture
Adding-machine mode accepts a number before its operator: you enter an amount, then press plus or minus. Pocket-calculator mode uses the familiar operator-before-next-number sequence. DeskCalc also accepts complete expressions, including parentheses, powers, square roots, logarithms, and trigonometric functions. Parentheses determine which part it evaluates first.
Click & Calc takes input from another window. You select an area containing numbers, and optical character recognition transfers them from the screen to the tape. Selecting a column lets the program add its amounts. It recognizes the decimal separator in the screen text, including comma and period conventions. A column of numbers on the clipboard can also enter the tape directly as text.
Two calculations in view
DeskCalc normally switches between tapes through tabs. The Pin control splits the window, leaving a reference tape beside the tape where you continue entering figures. If no second tape exists, the program creates one.
Clicking a calculation in the reference tape selects the whole calculation. Take over copies it into the active tape and calculates its total there; the reference retains its original contents. Pinning works in the adding-machine and Windows-calculator modes. Expression mode disables this control because it cannot take over another calculation.
Tape files and projects
Save writes the active tape to a .dsk file with its entries, operators, and running total. Opening that file creates a tab and uses the file name as its title. Save As changes the file name or destination.
A .dcp project keeps every open tape together. Opening a project replaces the current set of tabs with that project’s tapes and their calculations. DeskCalc also keeps backup copies of tapes you close or delete. Its backup list lets you choose a tape and restore it.
Business arithmetic
Tax keys add or remove tax from an amount, while the percentage control calculates percentage amounts and adjustments. Memory controls add or subtract values from memory, recall the amount, and clear it. The memory value remains visible in the header.
DeskCalc lets you set decimal places and rounding rules for results. Its time tool adds and subtracts hours and minutes. The currency converter acts on tape values and uses exchange rates that refresh daily.
Forms for financial calculations
The financial wizard opens a separate form for each calculation. You enter the known quantities, choose the quantity or calculation mode, and request a result. The tools cover several kinds of financial work:
- Interest calculation connects principal, rate, interest, and duration. You provide three quantities and choose the fourth as the unknown.
- The loan planner uses debt, interest, and term to produce payment rows with repayment, interest, and remaining capital. Its repayment setting distinguishes constant principal repayments from constant total payments.
- The trade calculator relates cost, selling price, margin, and markup. Its mode selects the target quantity, and the form fills the remaining figures.
- Product profitability combines fixed costs, variable costs, price, and a profit target to calculate contribution and sales quantities. Company valuation instead uses earnings or cash flows and an interest rate to estimate business value.
These forms can print their results or schedules.
Sending a calculation elsewhere
Copy places the tape on the clipboard as HTML, an RTF table, plain text, and an image. Word or Excel can take the table representation with columns, labels, fonts, and colors. The Excel export also carries formulas that continue calculating in the spreadsheet.
DeskCalc exports tapes to Word and PDF as well. Graphic options control the tape image’s appearance. Printing can cover every calculation, the last calculation, or lines you mark.
Commands from other applications
Command-line switches let another program control DeskCalc through a file path and an action. The app passes a command to its existing instance or starts first. Actions can open a tape, save it, export it to Excel, or print it. The result-file command writes the active tape’s result to a text file for another program to read.
