Qwiktape is a downloadable Windows application that you can use to write and annotate text, perform calculations and more just like you would do on a piece of paper. It is also available for MacOS as well as Unix operating system. You can create an unlimited number of documents called Tapes and switch between them easily just like browser tabs. Any tapes that you create are autosaved in Qwiktape and can be reopened using the Bookmark feature.
The following is the list of Features offered by Qwiktape.
Features:
- Perform calculations: Write text, calculate, annotate it like you would on a paper or in a book.
- Annotation: You can annotate any calculation so that you can never forget what it was about.
- Operations: You can perform any calculations like Addition (+), Subtraction (-), Multiplication (x), Division (÷), Percentage (%) and Power (^).
- Unlimited tapes: Qwikape allows you to create unlimited tapes (Tabs) by clicking on the ‘+’ button in tabs bar at the top. You can switch between any tapes by simply clicking on them. All the tapes are auto-saved.
- View / Rename / Delete any tape: The bookmark icon at the top left allows you to view any of your saved tapes as a thumbnail. You can also rename or delete the saved tapes.
- Auto-formatting and indentation: Qwiktape auto formats and auto indents the numbers and annotation in real time as you type them. Numbers are formatted according to the locale.
- Variables: Qwiktape allows you to configure and use variables in your tapes. You can hover your mouse over any variable to see its value.
You must remember that Qwiktape does not have any operator precedence. Hence the results would appear as you would type in a calculator.
How it Works:
1. Download and Install Qwiktape from its Github Repository using the link that we have provided at the end of this article.
2. Launch the application and you will observe that two Tapes – Introduction and Tests, have been created by default.
3. Click on the ‘+’ icon in the Tapes bar to create a new tape. Type the numbers and operators defined above as you would normally do in a calculator and when you want the result to be calculated and displayed automatically, simply press Enter on the keyboard.
4. Any text / annotation that you require can be directly typed / pasted in the specific Tape.
5. To define any variable and assign a value, simply type the name of the variable and the initial value assigned to it separated by an ‘equal to’ sign. Hover your mouse over the variable to read its value.
6. Henceforth you can use these variables anywhere in the current tape. You must remember that the variables you define in a specific tape are not applicable in the other tapes.
7. You can also use the result of a calculation to initialize a variable by placing an ‘equal to’ sign after the result and specifying the name of the variable as shown in the screenshot below.
8. To view all the thumbnails of all the Tapes, click on the ‘Bookmark’ icon at the top left. To rename any Tape, hover your mouse over its thumbnail, click on the 3-dots icon at the top right and choose ‘Rename’. You can also delete any Tape in an identical fashion.
9. Qwiktape allows the usage of negative numbers in calculations. Look at the screenshots below for a few examples.
10. Any invalid calculations are indicated with a red colored highlight of the entire line where the certain error has occurred as shown in the screenshot below.
11. Click on the ‘Settings’ icon at the top right to configure the number of decimal places, indent, color of text / numbers / variables / negative numbers and more.
Closing Comments:
Qwiktape is a neat and extremely light-weight tool that can be used to type and perform calculations as you would write in a book as well as type or annotate the calculations so that they can be always remembered. It is a very handy for personal use to maintain your daily log of calculations when and for various other purposes.
Click here to download and install Qwiktape for Windows 32 / 64 bit, macOS or Unix (Debian)
