>>Date: Tue, 23 May 2000 15:35:45 -0700 (PDT)
>>From: Syrus Nemat-Nasser <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>Subject: Re: Feature Idea: Embedded Maxima Session
>>
>>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.
Beyond the native (La)TeX capacities of the formal computation
environments, I found quite efficient to produce (La)TeX code
in a tex file (including the required commands) and inputting the
result in LyX. The computation and the typesetting are run asynchronously
(of course, you must reopen the documnet if you change the results).
You could reLyX the .tex file and embed the LyX code, but this
semme to me an unncessary operation until the final report is ready.
This can be intricated for tables, and you must know LaTeX, but
you might use LyX as a LaTeX code generator:
- build the table in LyX with dummy data
- export to LaTeX
- fill in the mask in Maxima, Maple, ...
Regards
--
Jean-Pierre
