Release
Notes For Mathcad 2001 Professional
These notes provide the most up-to-date information regarding Mathcad 2001.
Table
of Contents
=====================================================================
·
Pentium 133 MHz
or compatible CPU.
·
CD-ROM drive.
·
Mouse or
compatible pointing device.
·
Windows 95 or
higher or Windows NT 4.0 or higher.
·
At least 32
megabytes of memory. 64 MB is recommended.
·
SVGA or higher
graphics card and monitor required. 256 color display required. Higher than 256
color display recommended.
·
At least 80 MB
disk space (30 MB Mathcad, 12 MB techexplorer, 30 MB SmartSketch LE, 8 MB Volo
View); 315 MB for full installation (130 MB Mathcad, 12 MB techexplorer, 160 MB
SmartSketch LE, 8 MB Volo View, 5 MB Internet Explorer).
·
For improved
performance and full functionality of online Help, installation of Internet
Explorer 4.0, service pack 2, or higher is recommended. Internet Explorer does
not need to be your default browser.
·
The Excel,
MATLAB, S-PLUS, Axum, and SmartSketch components in Mathcad require specific
versions of the associated product. See the "Components" section of
these notes for more information.
2. Contents of the Mathcad Installation CD
The Mathcad CD
contains the following:
·
The
installation program for Mathcad 2001, which includes associated Help, sample
files and Resource Center files.
·
The
installation program for SmartSketch LE for Mathcad. SmartSketch is an
application for creating 2D CAD drawings.
·
The
installation program for Autodesk Volo View Express. Volo View assists you in
inserting AutoCAD files into a Mathcad worksheet even if you do not have
AutoCAD installed.
·
The
installation program for IBM’s techexplorerTM Hypermedia
Browser. techexplorerTM is a plug-in for your web browser that
allows you to view Mathcad files that are saved in HTML with embedded MathML
format. MathML is a markup language that displays mathematical expressions.
·
The
installation program for Internet Explorer 5.5.
·
The
installation program for online documentation, which consists of Adobe Acrobat
Reader 4.0 and the online version of the Mathcad User’s Guide with Reference
Manual (requires Adobe Acrobat 3.0 or higher). If you do not want to
install the online documentation, you can view it from the CD. It is located in
the MATHCAD\ONLINEDOC folder on your Mathcad CD.
Before Upgrading
If you are upgrading
from an earlier version of Mathcad to Mathcad 2001, make sure you still have
the earlier version of Mathcad installed on your system. Alternatively, make
sure you have the serial number or the installation media for the earlier
version. The upgrade installation first attempts to locate the earlier version
on your system before it installs Mathcad 2001, and it installs Mathcad 2001
over the earlier version by default. You may, however, choose another location
during the installation. If the installation does not find the earlier version
of Mathcad installed, it prompts you to enter the serial number or insert the
installation media.
General Installation Instructions
Note to Beta Testers
To ensure proper
functioning of Mathcad 2001, you must uninstall the beta version. If you
attempt to install Mathcad 2001, you will be prompted to uninstall the beta
version before installing Mathcad 2001. To uninstall Mathcad 2001:
To install Mathcad
2001 after uninstalling the beta version, follow the installation instructions
given above.
Complete vs. Custom Installation
The custom
installation gives you the option of installing the following:
·
Mathcad
Professional Program Files: all the files necessary to run Mathcad and its
online Help system.
·
Resource Center
Files: reference files consisting of tutorials, reference tables, and
discipline-specific Mathcad files. If you choose not to install the Resource
Center files, you must have the CD available when you choose Resource Center
from the Help menu in order to access the Resource Center contents.
·
Mathcad
Component Files: files that allow you to insert components, such as Excel,
MATLAB, and SmartSketch, into your Mathcad worksheets.
·
Sample Files:
worksheets that demonstrate the use of components in Mathcad and other files
that demonstrate the use of Add-ins, such as Excel and AutoCAD.
The complete
installation installs all Mathcad program files, Resource Center files, Mathcad
components, and sample files.
4. Mathcad.com
The Mathcad web site at http://www.mathcad.com offers several
features for all Mathcad users.
Go to the Download
area to get:
·
New releases of Mathcad
that add capabilities to your existing version.
·
New Add-ins that allow
you to access Mathcad’s functionality from within other programs like Excel,
AutoCAD, and Visio.
·
Sample files that
demonstrate new and existing features.
·
New MCM files that add
customized Scripted Object components to Mathcad.
Go to the Support area
to access the Mathcad Knowledge Base, a database containing tips, techniques,
troubleshooting information, and more.
5. IBM’s techexplorerTM Hypermedia Browser
IBM’s techexplorerTM Hypermedia Browser is a plug-in application for your web browser that
allows you to view web pages that contain Mathematical Markup Language
(MathML). When you save a Mathcad file in HTML/MathML format, you get an HTML
file with embedded MathML. MathML is a universal format adopted by the World
Wide Web Consortium for math authoring on the web. Your Mathcad CD contains
techexplorerTM 3.0 and a viewer version of the software is
also available from the Download area of the IBM web site.
6. Updates to Documentation and Enhancements to Help
The following list
gives corrections to the Mathcad User’s Guide with Reference Manual.
Consult the online Help in Mathcad as well as the Adobe Acrobat file (MATHCAD.PDF) provided in the MATHCAD\ONLINEDOC folder on your installation CD. You can view
them from the CD or install them from the main installation screen.
pg. 17. pg. 115-116
– General result format does not allow the option "Show exponents as E±000." Instead, you may format numbers in
Engineering notation when the exponential threshold is exceeded by checking the
option "Show exponents in engineering format."
pg. 81 – For
enhanced use of the Save as HTML/MathML feature, install the version of
techexplorerTM that comes with Mathcad. It is located on
the CD.
pg. 408 – The
picture operator is now referred to as a picture region or the Picture Viewer.
Its features are similar to those of the Image Viewer, which comes with the
Image Processing Extension Pack.
pg. 151 – There is
no longer a separate Reference Manual book. The Reference Manual is now part of
the User’s Guide.
pg. 470-471 – The
return and break operators differ in only one sense. That is that the break
operator halts execution of a loop and moves to the next statement outside the
loop to continue executing the program; the return operator halts execution of
a loop, but the value of the last statement executed is also returned.
Be sure to check out
the Developer’s Reference and the Author’s Reference. Find them under the Help
menu in Mathcad.
The Developer’s
Reference is for advanced Mathcad users. It provides information on
customizing components using scripting, using the Scriptable Object component,
building components in C++, and using Mathcad as an Automation server.
Customizable components include the Data Acquisition Control (DAC) component
and the MathSoft Control components.
The Author’s
Reference contains instructions and tips for creating Mathcad Electronic
Books.
Documented Features available from Mathcad.com
There are two
features that have been documented in the Mathcad User’s Guide and the
online Help system that are available from the Download area of the Mathcad web
site (www.mathcad.com). They are:
·
MathSoft
Control components – These components allow you to create buttons, sliders, and
other user interface controls in your Mathcad worksheets. They are fully
customizable and you can read about their properties in the online Developer’s
Reference.
·
Saving and
Redistributing Scripted Object components – When you have customized a
Scriptable Object component, you can export the component to an MCM file. This
file can then be distributed to other Mathcad users who can use your component.
Once a component has been saved in this manner, it will appear on the Insert
Component list.
To add these
features, visit the Download area of the Mathcad.com web
site.
7. Requirements for Application Components
Mathcad uses components
to communicate and exchange data with the applications Axum, Excel, MATLAB, and
S-PLUS as well as external data sources. Components are specialized OLE objects
that not only link to external data sources and applications but also allow you
to compute with these sources or applications within your Mathcad worksheet.
Using the Axum, Excel, MATLAB, S-PLUS, and SmartSketch components
To use the Axum,
Excel, MATLAB, S-PLUS, or SmartSketch component in Mathcad:
·
You must have a
supported version of the corresponding application on your system:
|
Component |
Requires… |
|
Axum |
Axum 5 (dated
5/18/97) or higher |
|
Excel |
Excel for Windows
95 or higher |
|
MATLAB |
MATLAB
Professional 4.2c or higher or MATLAB Student v. 5 or higher |
|
S-PLUS |
S-PLUS 4.5 or
higher |
|
SmartSketch |
SmartSketch LE,
SmartSketch 3 or higher, Imagination Engineer, or Imagineer Technical 2 |
·
You must have
sufficient memory on your system to run both Mathcad and the other
application(s). In practice, we recommend a minimum of 32 megabytes of RAM.
·
Worksheets that
include components can be shared with other Mathcad users; however, the
components will not compute unless the person receiving the worksheet has all
the necessary applications installed on his or her system.
·
The Axum
component interface was updated from Mathcad 8 to Mathcad 2000. If you have
been using the Axum component in earlier versions, you will notice different
screens in the Axum component Wizard.
More on the MATLAB component
·
While the
MATLAB component supports MATLAB 5, the MAT file filters included in the File
Read/Write and Input components currently require MAT files to be saved in
version 4 format. See "Troubleshooting" below for more information.
·
Some versions
of MATLAB support complex data structures such as multidimensional arrays.
While you may use such data structures within the MATLAB environment, you may
not pass them to or from Mathcad.
·
Executing a
MATLAB component within Mathcad resets the MATLAB environment. Be sure to save
any work in MATLAB before you execute a MATLAB component in a Mathcad
worksheet.
Using the ODBC Read component
In order to use the
ODBC Read component, you must establish a connection to a database or databases
on your computer. Here are instructions for connecting to the database located
in the QSHEET directory of your Mathcad installation or on
your CD:
These instructions
are also listed at the top of the ODBC Read sample file in the Resource Center
(under Components).
8. Menu Changes from Mathcad 6
If you are upgrading
to Mathcad 2001 from Mathcad 6, you'll notice that the menu commands have been
reorganized to make them more intuitive. The View, Insert, and Format
menus are new, and the Text and Graphics menus have been removed.
Some other specific changes include:
·
File/Export
Worksheet has been removed;
you may now save a Mathcad worksheet in RTF format using the File/Save As command.
·
File/Open
URL has been removed. To
open a file via its URL, choose Resource Center from the Help
menu and click the second button from the left (the globe) on the toolbar, and
enter the URL.
·
File/Insert has been removed. Copy and paste the regions
of a worksheet to insert them.
·
The File/Get
From Notes and File/Save to Notes commands have been removed. This
functionality is no longer available.
·
File/Save
Configuration and File/Execute
Configuration have been removed. You can now save preferred worksheet
settings by creating a template.
·
Edit/Redo has been added to let you reapply an edit
undone by Edit/Undo.
·
Edit/Delete replaces Edit/Clear.
·
Edit/Regions/View
Regions is now a command on
the View menu.
·
Edit/Regions/Select
All is directly on the Edit
menu.
·
Edit/Regions/Lock
Regions is now Area/Lock
on the Format menu.
·
Edit/Regions/Separate,
Edit/Regions/Align Regions, and
Edit/Headers/Footers have been moved to the Format menu.
·
Edit/Insert
Pagebreak and Edit/Link
have been moved to the Insert menu. Links are now called Hyperlinks.
·
Edit/Include is now Insert/Reference.
·
Edit/Insert
(Delete) Blank Lines has
been removed. Insert or delete blank lines by clicking in the worksheet with
the right mouse button and choosing Insert Lines or Delete Lines
from the pop-up menu.
·
The Text
menu has been deleted and the available commands have been distributed among
other menus. Insert a text region into your worksheet as before using the
double-quote key " or choose Insert/Text Region. The Text/Create
Text Paragraph command is no longer available; only text regions can now be
created. Text/Embed Math has been moved to Insert/Math Region. Text/Change
Font and Text/Change Paragraph Format have been moved to the Format
menu. Text/Check Spelling has been moved to the Edit menu.
·
The Math/Matrices,
Math/Choose Function, and Math/Units/Insert Unit commands have
been moved to the Insert menu.
·
The Math/Units/Change
System of Units, Math/Units/Dimensional Format, Math/Randomize,
and Math/Built-in Variables commands have been reorganized under the Math/Options
pick.
·
Math/Numerical
Format is now Format/Result.
·
Math/Font
Tag is now
Format/Equation.
·
Math/Highlight
Equation has been removed.
To highlight an equation, click on it, choose Properties from the Format
menu and click "Highlight Region."
·
Math/Change
to Greek Variable is no
longer available. Change a character behind the insertion point in math regions
to Greek by pressing [Ctrl]G.
·
The Graphics
menu has been deleted and the available commands have been distributed among
other menus. Use the Insert/Graph pick to insert available built-in two-
and three-dimensional plot operators, and use the Insert/Picture command
to insert a picture region. Format a selected plot or picture by using the Format/Graph
or Format/Picture command, or by double-clicking on the plot or picture.
For X-Y and Polar Plots, Trace and Zoom are available as commands
on Format/Graph as well as buttons on the Graph toolbar.
·
The available Symbolics
menu commands are identical to those in Mathcad PLUS 6.0 but have been renamed
or reordered for clarity. The Differentiate on Variable, Integrate on
Variable, Solve for Variable, and Substitute for Variable commands
have been grouped under the Symbolics/Variable command. Symbolics/Derivation
Format has been renamed Symbolic/Evaluation Style and Symbolics/Derive
in Place is now part of the Evaluation Style dialog box.
·
Most worksheet
management commands formerly on the Window menu have been moved to the View,
Insert, and Format menus. Window/Zoom, Window/Refresh,
and the toolbar hiding and viewing commands have been moved to the View
menu. The Window/Animation commands have been renamed View/Animate
and View/Playback. The Window/Change Colors command has been
moved to the Format/Color command.
·
The Books
menu has been removed. You can open an Electronic Book by choosing Open Book
from the Help menu. To access the book annotation commands, choose
them from the Book menu in the Electronic Book window.
·
The Help
menu offers picks for Mathcad Help, the Developer’s Reference (new
to Mathcad 2001), the Author’s Reference(new to Mathcad 2001), the Resource
Center, and Using Help. The Desktop Reference and Tutorial
Electronic Books have been integrated into the Resource Center, the Sampler
Electronic Book has been removed, and Technical Support Help has been removed.
Printing or display problems
If you are using Windows 95
or 98 and a PostScript printer driver, you may have display or printing
problems. Operators or parentheses may not appear on the screen correctly, they
may disappear, or they may not print properly. If you encounter these
difficulties you may need to adjust your font settings for the Windows
PostScript printer driver. Depending on your printer settings, the print driver
may substitute the PostScript Symbol font for the TrueType Symbol font used by
Mathcad, resulting in a variety of output problems. To correct the problems:
Difficulty using the Collaboratory
If you are experiencing difficulty
using the Collaboratory and are using Internet Explorer 4.0 as your browser,
you may be using IE 4.00. The Collaboratory requires IE 4.01 or higher because
of issues in IE 4.00. You can install IE 5.5 from the Mathcad CD or you can
update to IE 4.01 by going to the Download area of the Microsoft web site
(www.microsoft.com).
Making a User DLL appear in the Insert Function dialog box
If you create a function DLL
using C or C++, you can make the function appear in Mathcad’s Insert Function
dialog box by adding an entry for the function to the file USER.XML located in the \DOC\FUNCDOC
subfolder of the Mathcad folder. For more information on creating a function
DLL and editing the XML file, refer to the Developer’s Reference, which may
be accessed from the Help menu in Mathcad.
Changes to wave and iwave functions
In Mathcad 2000, the boundary
wavelet coefficients for wave and iwave was rotated with respect
to their counterparts in Mathcad 8. This functional change was carried forward
to the current version. You may therefore see different but correct results
from these functions in Mathcad 2001 as compared to Mathcad 8.
Illegal context error in a function definition
Definitions such as f(x):=j+x
where j is a range variable are no longer supported. Definitions that use range
variables on the right that do not appear as either subscripts or function
arguments on the left are illegal. They issue the error "Illegal context.
Press F1 for help." If you created a worksheet in an earlier version of
Mathcad that contains such definitions, consider redefining your functions so
that the range variable is an argument. For example, f(x):=j+x can become
f(x,j):=j+x.
Keystrokes differ from previous versions
The keystrokes for common
tasks can be either the Windows standard keystrokes or the ones used in Mathcad
8 and previous versions. For example, the Windows standard keystrokes are [Ctrl]P for Print (not the Greek letter p) and[Ctrl]Z for Undo (not infinity).
If you prefer to use the
keystrokes used in earlier versions of Mathcad, choose Preferences from
the View menu and remove the check next to "Use Standard Windows
Shortcut Keys."
The following keystrokes
change depending on whether you use Windows standards:
|
Print |
Ctrl P |
None |
|
Undo |
Ctrl Z |
Infinity |
|
Redo |
Ctrl Y |
None |
|
Find |
Ctrl F |
Ctrl F5 |
|
Replace |
Ctrl H |
Shift F5 |
|
P |
Ctrl Shift P |
Ctrl P |
|
Insert Function |
Ctrl E |
Ctrl F |
|
Infinity |
Ctrl Shift Z |
Ctrl Z |
|
Select All |
Ctrl A |
None |
|
Math in text |
Ctrl Shift A in text |
Ctrl A in text |
|
Left limit |
Ctrl Shift A |
Ctrl A |
|
Insert page break |
Ctrl Enter |
None |
|
Right limit |
Ctrl Shift B |
Ctrl B |
|
Chemistry mode |
Ctrl Shift J |
Ctrl Shift O |
|
Move regions up |
Delete key |
Ctrl H |
|
Exit a text region |
Ctrl Shift Enter |
Shift Enter |
|
New line in text paragraph |
Shift Enter |
None |
|
Mode for typing symbols in
a name |
Ctrl Shift K |
Ctrl Shift P |
Break statements outside of a loop behave differently
The behavior of the
"break" programming operator in Mathcad 2001 is slightly different
from the behavior in Mathcad 2000, but returns to the behavior of the operator
in earlier versions. If you use the "break" programming operator in
the main branch of a program or within a "for" or "while"
loop, "break" returns the result of the last statement executed. In
Mathcad 2000, if the "break" operator was used in conjunction with
the "if" operator, it returned a 1, since the condition is true when
the break is executed.
3D graphs that require more than one argument
Since Mathcad 2001 supports
multiple 3D plots per graph, there must be parentheses around the arguments for
a single three-dimensional plot that requires more than one argument. For
example, a 3D scatter plot requires three arguments separated by commas. In
Mathcad 2001, these arguments must be enclosed together in a set of
parentheses. If you open a worksheet containing a 3D scatter plot created in
Mathcad 7 or earlier, you’ll see parentheses around the arguments.
3D graphs disappearing
If 3D graphs disappear or
turn black at the bottom as you scroll down in a worksheet and you have a
Diamond Fire GL 1000 Pro video driver or similar, visit www.diamondmm.com on the Web and verify
that you have the latest version of the driver as well as the latest version of
the BIOS.
Scalar results enclosed in parentheses
A 1x1 array may occasionally
be returned as a result. In Mathcad 2001, such an array appears as a number
enclosed in parentheses.
Infinite integrals
Mathcad requires any function
being integrated over an infinite limit to be real.
Variable names and SI units
The SI unit system is the
default unit system in Mathcad 2001, giving you access to standard SI unit
names (including single-letter abbreviations such as A for ampere, N for
newton, etc.). Take care when defining variables in Mathcad worksheets not to
redefine built-in unit names in the SI system. Choose Unit from the Insert
menu to browse a list of units in the default unit system of your worksheet.
Obsolete functions
The functions READ, WRITE,
APPEND, and until have been removed from Mathcad. If you have
worksheets, written in a previous version of Mathcad, that contain any one of
these functions, you will see an error message that reads "Obsolete function."
Use the File Read/Write component, the READPRN, WRITEPRN, or APPENDPRN
functions, or programming instead.
Accessing the Collaboratory
To access the Collaboratory
in Mathcad 2001, choose Resource Center from the Help menu to
open the main page of the Resource Center. Then click on the Collaboratory
button.
Multiple uses for quote key
The quote (") has many uses in Mathcad 2001. In a blank space in
the Mathcad worksheet it begins a text region. If you have selected a math
expression, it introduces the complex conjugate operator. In a math placeholder
it begins a string variable.
Importing MATLAB MAT files
If you use MATLAB 5, you must
save your MATLAB data/environment (MAT) files in version 4 format before
importing them with either the File Read/Write component or the Input
component. MATLAB 5 supports the "-v4" switch on the save command to
save a MAT file in version 4 format. See the MATLAB documentation for details.
MATLAB allows you to save a
"sparse array" (an array containing rows or columns of zeros) using
special sparse array notation. Mathcad does not convert the sparse array
notation if you import the array with either the File Read/Write component or
the Input component; they read in the array exactly as it is stored in the
file.
Using the Excel component with a worksheet containing a macro
If you insert the Excel
component by referencing an Excel file containing a macro, you may encounter an
"OLE timeout" dialog box. To continue loading the file, click
"Yes" on the dialog box.
Exporting to dBase files
When you export data from
Mathcad to a dBase file, the values are truncated to four decimal places.
Importing data files containing text
If you want to use the File
Read/Write component to import data from a data file containing text, first remove
the text.
Error "Unable to set the Value property of the Range class" when using the Excel component
If you use the Excel
component in Mathcad and have Excel for Windows 95 installed, you will not be
able to pass more than approximately 1800 values to the Excel component.
Unable to print
If your printer has an
extremely long name, you could experience a system error when printing from
Mathcad. Try shortening the name of the printer icon in the Control Panel to
prevent this from happening.
Black boxes appear when printing
If you print a worksheet
containing an operator such as a summation, you may see black boxes on the
printout if you are printing to a PostScript printer. To correct this, use a
non-PostScript printer driver that is compatible with your printer.
Text doesn't appear in Print Preview
Gray and silver text does not
appear on the screen when you choose Print Preview from the File
menu but it will print.
Using the .Value property of the Scriptable Object component
In Mathcad 7, it was
necessary to use a structure such as Inputs(0).Value(0,0) in a script in order return a scalar. In Mathcad 2000 and 2001, Inputs(0).Value now returns either a scalar, a vector, or a matrix,
depending on the type of data that is in Inputs(0).
Saving Mathcad 2001 worksheets as Mathcad 6, 7, 8, or 2000 worksheets
When you save a Mathcad 2001
worksheet as a worksheet from an earlier version of Mathcad, regions or
features that won't work in earlier versions are saved as bitmaps. However, these
bitmaps may not closely resemble the regions or features if you save the
worksheet using 256 colors.
Opening Mathcad 6 worksheets in Mathcad 2001
You can open any Mathcad 6
for Windows or Macintosh worksheet in Mathcad 2001. In general, the worksheet will
maintain its previous appearance. However, live symbolic keywords are converted
into the new symbolic keyword operator in Mathcad, and file associations are
translated into full pathnames. File variable arguments appear as strings
inside data file functions such as READPRN and WRITEPRN.
File Write component
The Properties option
on the pop-up menu for the File Write component is non-functional.
Backtracking while browsing the Web
If you jump to a document
from a framed page while browsing the Web using the Resource Center, pressing
the Back button brings you to the previously loaded page instead of the framed
page.
Inserting a picture
In Mathcad 6, it was possible
to choose Picture from the Insert menu and enter the name of a
BMP file such as bird.bmp directly into the placeholder. The argument bird.bmp was not entered as a string. This kind of argument is
no longer supported in Mathcad 2001. If the argument is a filename, it must be
typed as a string. For example, enter "bird.bmp" in the placeholder.
Difficulties creating an animation or inserting a component
You could experience system
difficulties while creating an animation under Windows NT if your TEMP variable
points to a folder that does not exist. Make sure the TEMP variable points to
an existing, writable folder. To set this variable under NT 4.0, click on My
Computer with the right mouse button, choose Properties, and click on
the Environment tab.
Difficulties in the online Help
If you run the Mathcad
Resource Center from the CD or if you have never installed Internet Explorer
4.0 or higher, the QuickSheet Examples in the Mathcad Help may not launch
automatically. To open the QuickSheet examples, open the Resource Center, click
on QuickSheets, and use the Search button in the toolbar to search on the topic
you were looking at in the Help.
If you have never installed
Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher, you may encounter other difficulties in the
on-line Help. The Related Topics buttons may not appear until you resize the
window. For best performance of the on-line Help, we recommend you install
Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher so that you have the latest technology
available, but you do not need to use IE or have it appear on your desktop. To
install IE 5.5, run Ie5Setup.EXE in the MATHCAD\IE
folder on the Mathcad CD.
Personal QuickSheets
If you created Personal
QuickSheets using Mathcad 6 or 7, you can open them in Mathcad 2001 by choosing
Open from the File menu, selecting the Mathcad 2001 folder, and
typing *.MCU in the File Name. Your Personal QuickSheet is a file with the MCU
extension.
Mathcad and Axum
To insert Axum graphs in
Mathcad 2001 worksheets:
·
Install Axum 5.0c (dated
5/18/97) or later.
·
Refer to Help in Mathcad
for information on the Axum component. Note that information about using Axum
in Mathcad in the online Help in Axum may be out of date.
·
Refer to the online Help
in Axum for information on required data formats for particular graphs.
Random internal errors, crashing, strange behavior
If you are experiencing
difficulties with Mathcad 2001, such as getting error messages when you
shouldn’t or seeing internal errors, the following steps may correct your
problem:
·
Make sure virus checking
is off before installing Mathcad. We have seen problems with both Norton and
McAfee anti-virus software, as well as other products.
·
Don't run Norton
CrashGuard together with Mathcad since it can misinterpret normal program
operations as crashes.
·
Make sure you have
up-to-date versions of video and other device drivers installed. Updated versions
are usually available on the web sites of your computer manufacturer or device
vendor. Many users have corrected errors by simply updating their drivers.
By taking these steps, you
can avoid many common problems in your use of Mathcad 2001. If you encounter
any errors after taking these steps, please contact Technical Support with the
details so that the problem can be investigated further.
Solve blocks take a long time to calculate
Mathcad 2001 uses a series of
algorithms to find the result to a solve block. This process can take longer to
find a solution. If you want to speed up the process, right-click on the find
or minerr function which closes the solve block and choose Nonlinear/Levenberg-Marquardt
from the pop-up menu.
Other difficulties with solve blocks
If you experience other
difficulties with solve blocks such as failures to converge to a solution,
right-click on the find or minerr function which closes the solve block and
choose Nonlinear/Levenberg-Marquardt from the pop-up menu. In
particular, if you use the result from one solve block in another and are
seeing the error "Can’t understand something in this expression,"
choose Levenberg-Marquardt for each solve block.
Error doc2b6 or Error 2b4
If you see this error when
starting Mathcad, do the following:
Vectors have more elements
If you define j := 0 .. 4
and then define x[j := 0, 1, 2,
3 (a vector with j as the subscript), Mathcad now creates a 5-element vector
whose elements are 0, 1, 2, 3, 0. In previous versions of Mathcad, a 4-element
vector was created containing only the elements 0, 1, 2, 3. If you used a
definition like this in the past, you may notice some vectors with more
elements in them.
Evaluation of 0*expression and 0/expression
When you evaluate 0*matrix,
Mathcad no longer returns the scalar value. It now returns a matrix of 0’s.
Similarly, any expression of the form 0*(expression that would return an error)
or 0/(expression that would return an error) will now return an error instead
of 0.
The symbolic processor recognizes range variables
The symbolic processor is now
able to understand a range variable definition in a worksheet. Therefore, if
you define a range variable, say x, and then evaluate an expression in x
symbolically, the result will be a range of values or expressions, not a single
expression in x. To work around this situation, and thus simulate the behavior
of previous versions of Mathcad, define x:=x above your symbolic calculation.
Errors in new definitions persist
Mathcad no longer reverts to
old definitions when an error occurs. For example, if you first define x :=
3, and then define x := 2 + ln(0), you will now get an error when you
evaluate x. In previous versions of Mathcad, this evaluation would return x =
3, but now the error from the second definition persists.
Scripting changes in the Scriptable Object component
There are two changes:
·
Subscripting the Value
of Inputs or Outputs (in a construct like Inputs(0).Value) must now match the data structure you access. You do not need a
subscript for a scalar value (for example, Inputs(0).Value); you need a single subscript for vector(for example, Inputs(0).Value(0)); you need a
double subscript for a matrix (for example, Inputs(0).Value(0,0)). Scripts can use the IsArray, IsNumeric, etc.,
functions of VBScript to figure out how to access the incoming data if they are
written as general purpose script code.
·
Strings are now accepted
as input and returned as output. Strings use the scalar notation (no subscript)
in terms of the Value member of Inputs or Outputs, because a string is a scalar
value in Mathcad. A numeric conversion must be used to change it to a number in
your script.
MathConnex is missing
If you upgrade to Mathcad
2001 from a previous version of Mathcad that included MathConnex, and you
uninstall that version before installing Mathcad 2001, you will lose
MathConnex. To retain MathConnex on your system, simply install Mathcad 2001
over your previous version. To reinstall MathConnex, if you have already
removed it, go to the Download area of the Mathcad web site (www.mathcad.com) and download MathConnex.
10.
Where to Get More Information
In the US and Canada
·
Visit the Support area
of the Mathcad web site at: http://www.mathcad.com/
Outside the US and Canada
·
Visit the Support area
of the Mathcad web site at: http://www.mathcad.com/
·
Phone your local support
center (refer to the technical support card enclosed with the package for
specific information).
·
E-mail help@mathsoft.co.uk
·
Fax +44 (0)1276 451224
Online information
·
The Resource Center
inside Mathcad 2001 contains a wealth of information about Mathcad including a
variety of tutorials, Reference Tables, sample worksheets, and QuickSheet
templates with built-in formulas. Choose Resource Center from the Help
menu.
·
The Mathcad
Collaboratory is a free Internet forum for sharing ideas and files with other Mathcad
users, accessible from within Mathcad. Click on the Collaboratory button
from the main page of the Resource Center.
·
Online Help is available
in Mathcad. Also, see the Developer’s Reference for information about
components, Automation, and creating User DLLs; see the Author’s Reference for
information about creating your own Electronic Books.
·
Visit the Mathcad web
site for sample Mathcad worksheets, updates, and support information. Click the
mathcad.com button in the Mathcad Resource Center, or visit http://www.mathcad.com/ with your favorite browser.
=====================================================================
Mathcad, Axum, and S-PLUS are
registered trademarks and Electronic Book, QuickSheets, MathConnex, and
Collaboratory are trademarks of MathSoft, Inc.
Microsoft and Windows are
registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp. Windows NT is a trademark of Microsoft
Corp.
MATLAB is a registered
trademark of The MathWorks, Inc.
Adobe and Acrobat are
trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated, which may be registered in certain
jurisdictions.
OpenGL is a registered
trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc.
SmartSketch is a registered
trademark of Intergraph Corporation.
techexplorer is a trademark
of IBM Corporation.
Other brand and product names
referred to are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
11/13/2000