(maxima.info)Functions and Variables for Help


Prev: Documentation Up: Help
Enter node , (file) or (file)node

3.2 Functions and Variables for Help
====================================

 -- Function: apropos (<string>)

     Searches for Maxima names which have <string> appearing anywhere
     within them.  Thus, 'apropos (exp)' returns a list of all the flags
     and functions which have 'exp' as part of their names, such as
     'expand', 'exp', and 'exponentialize'.  Thus if you can only
     remember part of the name of something you can use this command to
     find the rest of the name.  Similarly, you could say 'apropos
     (tr_)' to find a list of many of the switches relating to the
     translator, most of which begin with 'tr_'.

     'apropos("")' returns a list with all Maxima names.

     'apropos' returns the empty list '[]', if no name is found.

     Example:

     Show all Maxima symbols which have '"gamma"' in the name:

          (%i1) apropos("gamma");
          (%o1) [%gamma, gamma, gammalim, gamma_expand, gamma_incomplete_lower,
          gamma_incomplete, gamma_incomplete_generalized,
          gamma_incomplete_regularized, Gamma, log_gamma, makegamma,
          prefer_gamma_incomplete, gamma-incomplete,
          gamma_incomplete_generalized_regularized]

 -- Function: demo (<filename>)

     Evaluates Maxima expressions in <filename> and displays the
     results.  'demo' pauses after evaluating each expression and
     continues after the user enters a carriage return.  (If running in
     Xmaxima, 'demo' may need to see a semicolon ';' followed by a
     carriage return.)

     'demo' searches the list of directories 'file_search_demo' to find
     'filename'.  If the file has the suffix 'dem', the suffix may be
     omitted.  See also 'file_search'.

     'demo' evaluates its argument.  'demo' returns the name of the
     demonstration file.

     Example:

          (%i1) demo ("disol");

          batching /home/wfs/maxima/share/simplification/disol.dem
           At the _ prompt, type ';' followed by enter to get next demo
          (%i2)                      load("disol")

          _
          (%i3)           exp1 : a (e (g + f) + b (d + c))
          (%o3)               a (e (g + f) + b (d + c))

          _
          (%i4)                disolate(exp1, a, b, e)
          (%t4)                         d + c

          (%t5)                         g + f

          (%o5)                   a (%t5 e + %t4 b)

          _

 -- Function: describe
          describe (<string>)
          describe (<string>, exact)
          describe (<string>, inexact)

     'describe(<string>)' is equivalent to 'describe(<string>, exact)'.

     'describe(<string>, exact)' finds an item with title equal
     (case-insensitive) to <string>, if there is any such item.

     'describe(<string>, inexact)' finds all documented items which
     contain <string> in their titles.  If there is more than one such
     item, Maxima asks the user to select an item or items to display.

     At the interactive prompt, '? foo' (with a space between '?' and
     'foo') is equivalent to 'describe("foo", exact)', and '?? foo' is
     equivalent to 'describe("foo", inexact)'.

     'describe("", inexact)' yields a list of all topics documented in
     the on-line manual.

     'describe' quotes its argument.  'describe' returns 'true' if some
     documentation is found, otherwise 'false'.

     See also Note: Documentation.

     Example:

          (%i1) ?? integ
           0: Functions and Variables for Elliptic Integrals
           1: Functions and Variables for Integration
           2: Introduction to Elliptic Functions and Integrals
           3: Introduction to Integration
           4: askinteger  (Functions and Variables for Simplification)
           5: integerp  (Functions and Variables for Miscellaneous Options)
           6: integer_partitions  (Functions and Variables for Sets)
           7: integrate  (Functions and Variables for Integration)
           8: integrate_use_rootsof  (Functions and Variables for
              Integration)
           9: integration_constant_counter  (Functions and Variables for
              Integration)
           10: nonnegintegerp  (Functions and Variables for linearalgebra)
          Enter space-separated numbers, `all' or `none': 7 8

           -- Function: integrate (<expr>, <x>)
           -- Function: integrate (<expr>, <x>, <a>, <b>)
               Attempts to symbolically compute the integral of <expr> with
               respect to <x>.  `integrate (<expr>, <x>)' is an indefinite
               integral, while `integrate (<expr>, <x>, <a>, <b>)' is a
               definite integral, [...]

           -- Option variable: integrate_use_rootsof
               Default value: `false'

               When `integrate_use_rootsof' is `true' and the denominator of
               a rational function cannot be factored, `integrate' returns
               the integral in a form which is a sum over the roots (not yet
               known) of the denominator.
               [...]

     In this example, items 7 and 8 were selected (output is shortened
     as indicated by '[...]').  All or none of the items could have been
     selected by entering 'all' or 'none', which can be abbreviated 'a'
     or 'n', respectively.

 -- Function: example
          example (<topic>)
          example ()

     'example (<topic>)' displays some examples of <topic>, which is a
     symbol or a string.  To get examples for operators like 'if', 'do',
     or 'lambda' the argument must be a string, e.g.  'example ("do")'.
     'example' is not case sensitive.  Most topics are function names.

     'example ()' returns the list of all recognized topics.

     The name of the file containing the examples is given by the global
     option variable 'manual_demo', which defaults to '"manual.demo"'.

     'example' quotes its argument.  'example' returns 'done' unless no
     examples are found or there is no argument, in which case 'example'
     returns the list of all recognized topics.

     Examples:

          (%i1) example(append);
          (%i2) append([y+x,0,-3.2],[2.5e+20,x])
          (%o2)             [y + x, 0, - 3.2, 2.5e+20, x]
          (%o2)                         done
          (%i3) example("lambda");
          (%i4) lambda([x,y,z],x^2+y^2+z^2)
                                              2    2    2
          (%o4)            lambda([x, y, z], x  + y  + z )
          (%i5) %(1,2,a)
                                        2
          (%o5)                        a  + 5
          (%i6) 1+2+a
          (%o6)                         a + 3
          (%o6)                         done

 -- Option variable: manual_demo
     Default value: '"manual.demo"'

     'manual_demo' specifies the name of the file containing the
     examples for the function 'example'.  See 'example'.


automatically generated by info2www version 1.2.2.9