On 23 May 2000, Lars Gullik Bjønnes wrote:
> Syrus Nemat-Nasser <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>
> | While we're spouting off about possible new features, what about a
> | computer math environment interface in a LyX document? Even if the output
> | is limited to a code environment, it might be nice for generating a report
> | of a computation in real time. Maxima (GPL'ed version of Macsyma) is
> | available.
>
> I am not familiar with Maxima/Macsyma can you tell a bit more?
>
> I guess that what you want to do can be done in a inset. It will be
> more difficult if you want to interact with f.ex. mathed.
Yes. I was thinking of an ascii shell interface.
I personally have used Maple for symbolic computation, but Macsyma was the
original computer algebra system. My understanding of its capabilities is
from documentation thus far, but I plan to start using it for my work.
(There is a Debian package available for 'woody' that also runs on my
potato system.) Macsyma was funded by the DOE, and they approved the
release of the code using the non-commercial name 'Maxima' under a GPL
license in 1998.
Maxima is written in common lisp and runs under gcl. It does
simplification, integration, factoring, etc., in a shell environment. It
also can generate TeX format equations and various graphic formats for
plots (typically writing them to external files).
I guess the question is: does anyone want an interactive shell environment
inside LyX for mathematical computation using Maxima or some other
shell-based math environment?
Of course, the better way is probably to use the Emacs mode for Maxima,
and export a TeX version of the output that can be included in a LyX
document. I got the idea for an interacitve shell from a new program
called TeXmacs--a WYSIWYG frontend for LaTeX/TeX that has an interactive
shell. It could be a competitor for LyX someday, I suppose. The URL for
TeXmacs is:
http://www.math.u-psud.fr/~anh/TeXmacs/TeXmacs.html
Thanks. Syrus.
--
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Syrus C Nemat-Nasser, PhD | Center of Excellence for Advanced Materials
UCSD Department of Physics | UCSD Department of Mechanical
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> | and Aerospace Engineering
