We have just released an update to Maple, Maple 2021.1.

Maple 2021.1 includes improvements to plotting, export to PDF and LaTeX, the user interface, the mathematics engine, and more. We strongly recommend that all Maple 2021 users install these updates.

This update is available through Tools>Check for Updates in Maple, and is also available from our website on the Maple 2021.1 download page, where you can also find more details.

In particular, please note that this update includes fixes to the sometimes missing plotting toolbar, the misplaced plot annotations on export, and a workbook saving problem, all reported on MaplePrimes.

Thanks for the feedback!

We’re excited to announce the release of MapleSim 2021! The MapleSim 2021 family of products lets you build and explore models more easily than ever, with improved simulation performance and 3-D visualizations, new ways to share models with those who don’t use MapleSim, and a host of new and expanded component libraries. Improvements include:

• Improved performance for large models that allows you to take advantage of the fastest simulations yet – no matter how complex your design is.
• More realistic 3-D visualizations with the ability to define dynamic shape sizes, such as spheres and cylinders that expand or contract over the course of the simulation, so components are realistically represented throughout.
• Expanded modeling scope for machine builders, with a new pneumatics component library and expanded hydraulics support, as well as improved visualizations in the MapleSim Ropes and Pulleys Library add-on.
• New simulation and analysis features in MapleSim Insight, a standalone product in the MapleSim family that provides anyone in your organization with access to powerful simulation-based debugging and 3-D visualization capabilities that connect directly to common automation platforms.

See What’s New in MapleSim 2021 for more information about these and other improvements!
 

When we first launched Maple Learn in January, there were only a handful of examples in the Example Gallery. Today, due to customer requests, we have 57 examples and the number grows every week. You can check out the gallery here: https://www.maplesoft.com/products/learn/examples/

The gallery is full of both practical and fun examples showing how you can use Maple Learn to work with all kinds of math. One great example is this worksheet on Logarithmic and Archimedean spirals made by our Sales Account Manager, @Oliver K. You can learn a bit about each type of spiral and adjust the sliders to see how the different parameters change the visualization. It’s a great tool for introducing students (or anyone who likes cool graphs!) to these types of spirals and for helping them understand the math behind them.

We’ve got a whole team of people, led by Senior Architect @pchin, who are working every day to make more examples like these. If there’s something you’d like to see, leave us a comment! We’d love to hear your ideas.

If you’re feeling inspired by all these examples and want to try your hand at creating something of your own using Maple Learn, check out the “How to Use Maple Learn” section at the end of the example gallery. Here you’ll find a collection of worksheets that will take you through the basic features of Learn, including “Using Sliders”, “Difference Between Equations and Assignments”, and “What Does the Light Bulb Do?”. With all this knowledge at your fingertips, you’ll be all set to create to your heart’s content!

Some of you know me from my occasional posts on Maple’s typesetting and plotting features, but today, I am here in my new role as co-chair (along with Rob Corless of Western University) of the 2021 Maple Conference. I am pleased to announce that we have just opened the Call for Presentations.

This year’s conference will be held Nov. 2 – Nov. 5, 2021. It will be a free virtual event again this year, making it an excellent opportunity to share your Maple-related work with others without the expenses and inconveniences of travel.

Maple Conference 2021 invites submissions of proposals for presentations on a range of topics related to Maple, including Maple in education, algorithms and software, and applications. All presenters will be given the option of submitting a full paper, which will undergo peer review, and if accepted, be included in the conference proceedings.

Presentation proposals are due June 1, 2021.

You can find more information about the themes of the conference, how to submit a presentation proposal, and the program committee on Maplesoft Conference Call for Presentations.

Registration for attending the conference will open in June. Another announcement will be made at that time.

I sincerely hope that all of you here in the Maple Primes community will consider joining us for this event, whether as a presenter or attendee.

I’m excited to announce the launch of a new math tool called Maple Flow. Here, I’ll outline our motivation for developing this product, and talk about its features.

A large fraction of Maple users are professional engineers .

All use Maple, but very few say that they do math for a living, in much the same way a plumber wouldn’t say they use a wrench for a living.

They say things like:

• I design concrete retaining walls
• I simulate the transients on a transmission line
• I design heat exchangers
• I model the absorbency of diapers
• I design subsea pipelines
• I need to optimize the trajectory of a space shuttle
• I work for a power generation company doing load flow analysis
• I model how a robot arm needs to move

Some of these applications are mathematically simple (but are based on scientific principles, such as the conservation of heat, mass and momentum). The equations consist of basic arithmetic operations, trig and log functions, sprinkled with the occasional numeric integration.

Sometimes, the equations are already formalized in design guides, published by organizations like the IEEE, ASME or ISO. Given the specific physical context, engineers just need to implement the calculations in the right order (this is especially true for Civil and Structural engineering). These applications require you to think at an engineering level.

These are what we call design calculations, done by design engineers.

On the other end of the spectrum, some of these applications are mathematically complex. You might need to derive equations, manipulate PDEs, work with quaternions or transformation matrices, or do some programming. These applications require you to think at a mathematical level.

Let’s call the engineers doing this type of work research engineers. Research engineers are often more closely aligned with mathematicians than design engineers.

So we have design engineers and research engineers (and of course we have engineers with feet in both camps, to a varying degree).

Research engineers and design engineers do different mathematical things, and have different mathematical needs. Both groups use Maple, but one size doesn’t always fit well. Either the toe pinches a little, or the shirt is a mite too baggy.

This is where Maple Flow enters stage right.

Maple Flow is a new tool that we’ve built (and are continuing to expand and improve) with the needs of design engineers in mind.

• The worksheet lets you put math anywhere – just point, click and type
• The evaluation model is forward-in-space (unlike Maple’s forward in time evaluation model). This means the execution order is explicitly given by the position of the math on the canvas.
• The worksheet updates automatically, so results are never stale
• We’ve made several simplifications to massage away some of the complexity of the Maple programming language.
• You can use nearly all of tools in the Maple programming language.

Here’s how we see people using Maple Flow. They

• Enter a few major equations somewhere, followed by some parameters scattered around
• Make the equations “see” the parameters by moving the parameters above the equations
• Insert any parameters or equations you’ve forgotten, and move them into position, shifting the existing content out of the way to make room
• Add text, and perhaps an image or plot
• Finally, align math and format text for a presentable document

I’ve been using Maple Flow for a while now. I like the fact that the nature of Maple Flow means that you don’t have to start with a grand plan, with every computational detail planned out in advance. You’re encouraged to make things up as you go along, and gradually sculpt your calculations into shape.

Basically, Maple Flow doesn’t issue stiff penalties for making mistakes. You fix them, and then move on.

I also like that Maple Flow makes you feel like you’re “touching” your equations, shifting things about easily with either the mouse or the keyboard. There’s a certain tactility and immediacy to Maple Flow that gives me a micro dose of dopamine every time I use it.

Maple Flow’s freeform interface lets you experiment with space, alignment and layout, drawing attention to different groups of equations.

For example, you can design calculation documents that look like this.

You can use nearly all of the Maple programming language in Flow. Here’s a command from the plots package.

Here’s fsolve in action.

The Maple Flow website has more information, including a demo video.

As ever, your feedback is gratefully received.

I’ll admit it. There are times when I don't fully understand every mathematical advancement each release of Maple brings. Given the breadth of what Maple does, I guess that isn't surprising.

In development meetings, I make the pretence of keeping up by looking serious, nodding knowingly and occasionally asking to go back to the previous slide “for a minute”. I’ve been doing this since 2008 and no one’s caught on yet.

But I do understand

• the joy on a user’s (Zoom) face when they finally solve a complex problem with a new version of Maple
• the smiley emojis that students send us when they understand a tricky math concept with the help of an improved Maple tutor
• and the wry smile on a developer’s face when they get to work on a project they really want to work on, and the bigger smile when that project gets positive feedback

These are all moments that give me that magic dopamine hit.

The job that Karishma and I have is to make users happy. We don’t have to be top-flight mathematicians, engineers or computer scientists to do that. We just have to know what itch to scratch.

Here’s some things I think might give you that dopamine hit when you get your hands on Maple 2021. You can also explore the new release yourself at What’s New in Maple 2021.

Worksheet mode has been my go-to interface for when I just want to get stuff done. This is mostly because worksheet mode always felt like a more structured environment for developing math when I didn’t have all the steps planned out in advance, and I found that structure helpful. I’d use Document mode when I needed to use the Context Panel for math operations and didn’t want to see the commands, or I needed to create a nice looking document without input carets. And this was fine – each mode has its own strengths and uses – but I what I really wanted was the best of both worlds in a single environment.

This year, we’ve made one change that has let me transition far more of my work into Document mode.

In Document Mode, pressing Enter in a document block (math input) now always moves the cursor to the next math input (in previous releases, the cursor may have moved to the start of the next line of text).

This means you can now quickly update parameters and see the downstream effects with just the Enter key – previously, a key benefit of worksheet mode only.

There’s another small change we’ve made - inserting new math inputs.  In previous releases of Maple, you could only insert new document blocks above the in-focus block using a menu item or a three-key shortcut.

In Maple 2021, if you move the insertion point to the left of a document block (Home position), the cursor is now bold, as illustrated here:

Now, if you press Enter, the in-focus prompt is moved down and a new empty math input is created.

Once you get used to this change, Ctrl+Shift+K seems like a distance memory!

@Scot Gould logged a request that Maple numerically solve a group of differential equations collected together in a vector. And now you can!

Before Maple 2021, this expression was unchanged after evaluation. Now, it is satisfyingly simpler.

We’ve dramatically increased the scope of the signal processing package.             

My favorite addition is the MUSIC function. With some careful tuning, you can generate a pseudo power spectrum at frequencies smaller than one sample.

First generate a noisy data set with three frequencies (two frequencies are closer than one DFT bin).

with(SignalProcessing): 
num_points:= 2^8: 
sample_rate := 100.0:
T := Vector( num_points, k -> 2 * Pi * (k-1) / sample_rate, 'datatype' = 'float[8]' ): 
noisy_signal:=Vector( num_points, k -> 5 * sin( 10.25 * T[k] ) + 3 * sin( 10.40 * T[k] ) - 7 * sin( 20.35 * T[k] )) + LinearAlgebra:-RandomVector(num_points, generator=-10..10):
dataplot(noisy_signal, size = [ 800, 400 ], style = line)

Now generate a standard periodogram

Periodogram( noisy_signal, samplerate = sample_rate, size = [800, 400] )

This approach can’t discriminate between the two closely spaced frequencies.

And now the MUSIC pseudo spectrum

MUSIC( noisy_signal, samplerate = sample_rate, dimension = 6, output = plot );

The Maple Quantum Chemistry Toolbox from RDMChem, a separate add-on product to Maple, is a powerful environment for the computation and visualization of the electronic structure of molecules. I don’t pretend to understand most of what it does (more knowing nods are required). But I did get a kick out of its new molecular dictionary. Did you know that caffeine binds to adenosine receptors in the central nervous system (CNS), which inhibits adenosine binding? Want to know more about the antiviral drug remdesivir? Apparently it looks like this:

We put a lot of work into resources for students and educators in this release, including incorporating study guides for Calculus, Precalculus, and Multivariate Calculus, a new student package for ODEs, and the ability to obtain step-by-step solutions to even more problems.  But my favourite thing out of all this work is the new SolvePractice command in the Grading Tools package.  Because it lets you build an application that does this:

I like this for three main reasons:

1. It lets students practise solving equations in a way that actually helps them figure out what they’ve done wrong, saving them from a spiral of frustration and despair
2. The same application can be shared via Maple Learn for students to use in that environment if they don’t have Maple
3. The work we did to create that “new math entry box” can also be used to create other Maple applications with unknown numbers of inputs (see DocumentTools). I’m definitely planning on using this feature in my own applications.

Okay, yes, we know. Up until recently, our LaTeX export has been sadly lacking. It definitely got better last year, but we knew it still wasn’t good enough. This year, it’s good. It’s easy. It works.  And it’s not just me saying this. The feedback we got during the beta period on this feature was overwhelmingly positive.

That’s just the tip of the Maple 2021 iceberg of course. You can find out more at What’s New in Maple 2021.  Enjoy!

I’m very pleased to announce that the Maple Calculator app now offers step-by-step solutions. Maple Calculator is a free mobile app that makes it easy to enter, solve, and visualize mathematical problems from algebra, precalculus, calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations, right on your phone.  Solution steps have been, by far, the most requested feature from Maple Calculator users, so we are pretty excited about being able to offer this functionality to our customers. With steps, students can use the app not just to check if their own work is correct, but to find the source of the problem if they made a mistake.  They can also use the steps to learn how to approach problems they are unfamiliar with.

Steps are available in Maple Calculator for a wide variety of problems, including solving equations and systems of equations, finding limits, derivatives, and integrals, and performing matrix operations such as finding inverses and eigenvalues.

(*Spoiler alert* You may also want to keep a look-out for more step-by-step solution abilities in the next Maple release.)

If you are unfamiliar with the Maple Calculator app, you can find more information and app store links on the Maple Calculator product page.  One feature in particular to note for Maple and Maple Learn users is that you can use the app to take a picture of your math and load those math expressions into Maple or Maple Learn.  It makes for a fast, accurate method for entering large expressions, so even if you aren’t interested in doing math on your phone, you still might find the app useful.

Maple Learn is out of beta! I am pleased to announce that Maple Learn, our new online environment for teaching and learning math and solving math problems, is out of beta and is now an officially released product. Over 5000 teachers and students used Maple Learn during its public beta period, which was very helpful. Thank you to everyone who took the time to try it out and provide feedback.

We are very excited about Maple Learn, and what it can mean for math education. Educators told us that, while Maple is a great tool for doing, teaching, and learning all sorts of math, some of their students found its very power and breadth overwhelming, especially in the early years of their studies. As a result, we created Maple Learn to be a version of Maple that is specifically focused on the needs of educators and students who are teaching and learning math in high school, two year and community college, and the first two years of university.  

I talked a bit about what this means in a previous post, but probably the best way to get an overview of what this means is to watch our new two minute video:  Introducing Maple Learn.

Visit Maple Learn for more information and to try it out for yourself.  A basic Maple Learn account is free, and always will be.   If you are an instructor, please note that you may be eligible for a free Maple Learn Premium account. You can apply from the web site. 

There’s lots more we want to do with Maple Learn in the future, of course. Even though the beta period is over, please feel free to continue sending us your feedback and suggestions. We’ve love to hear from you!

The 2020 Maple Conference is coming up fast! It is running from November 2-6 this year, all remotely, and completely free.

The week will be packed with activities, and we have designed it so that it will be valuable for Maple users of all skill and experience levels. The agenda includes 3 keynote presentations, 2 live panel presentations, 8 Maplesoft recorded presentations, 3 Maple workshops, and 68 contributed recorded presentations.

There will be live Q&A’s for every presentation. Additionally, we are hosting what we’re calling “Virtual Tables” at every breakfast (8-9am EST) and almost every lunch (12-1 EST). These tables offer attendees a chance to discuss topics related to the conference streams of the day, as well as a variety of special topics and social discussions. You can review the schedule for these virtual tables here.

Attendance is completely free, and we’re confident that there will be something there for all Maple users. Whether you attend one session or all of them, we’d love to see you there!

You can register for the Maple Conference here.

A few weeks ago a television station in Toronto asked me if I’d share some tips on how parents could help their kids stay engaged with remote learning. My initial reaction was to run for the hills – appearing on live TV is not my cup of tea. However my colleagues persuaded me to accept. You can see a clip of that segment here - I’ve included it in this post because otherwise someone on the marketing team would have ;-)

My tips are based on a wide variety of experiences. My role at Maplesoft requires me to speak with educators at all levels, and remote learning has been a hot topic of conversation lately, as you can imagine. As well, in my past life (i.e. life before kids) I was a high school math tutor, and now as a parent I’m in the thick of it helping my son navigate Kindergarten remotely.

So here are my 5 tips on how parents of elementary and high-school aged children can help their kids stay engaged with remote learning. If you have other tips, including suggestions for university students, feel free to leave them in the comments sections. And if these tips help you, please let me know. It will have made the stress of my appearance on TV worthwhile!

Tip 1: Look for the positives

These are unprecedented times for kids, parents and teachers. Over the course of the last 6-7 months, learning as we’ve grown to know it has changed radically. And while the change has been incredibility difficult for everyone, it’s helpful to look for the positives that remote learning can bring to our children:

• Remote learning can help some kids focus on their work by minimizing the social pressures or distractions they may face at school.
• Older kids are appreciating the flexibility that remote learning can offer with respect to when and how they complete their work.  
• Younger kids are loving the experience of learning in the presence of mom and dad. My 4 year old thinks it’s awesome that I now know all the lyrics to the songs that he learns in school.
• As many remote learning classrooms include students from across the school board, this can provide kids with the opportunity to connect with their peers from different socio-economic backgrounds living across the city.

Tip 2: Don’t shy away from your kid’s teacher

While some kids are thriving learning from home, we know that others are struggling.

If your high school student is struggling at school, do whatever it takes to convince them to connect with their teacher. If your child is younger, make the connection yourself.

In my role, I’ve had the opportunity to work with many teachers, and rest assured, many of them would welcome this engagement.  They want our kids to succeed, but without the face-to-face classroom interaction it’s becoming increasingly more difficult for them to rely on visual cues to see how your child is doing and if they are struggling with a concept.

So I encourage you to reach out to your kid’s teacher especially if you notice your child is having difficulty.

Tip 3: Get creative with learning

Another benefit of remote learning is that it presents us with a unique opportunity to get creative with learning.

Kids, especially those in middle school and high school, now have the time and opportunity to engage with a variety of different online learning resources. And when I say online learning resources, I mean more than just videos. Think interactive tools (such as Maple Learn), that help students visualize concepts from math and science, games that allow students to practice language skills, repositories of homework problems and practice questions that allow kids to practice concepts, the list goes on.

Best of all, many content providers and organizations, are offerings these resources and tools available for free or at a substantially reduced cost to help kids and parents during this time.

So if your child is having difficulty with a particular subject or if they are in need of a challenge, make sure to explore what is available online.

Tip 4: Embrace the tech

To be successful, remote learning requires children to learn a host of new digital skills, such as how to mute/unmute themselves, raise their hands electronically, turn on and off their webcam, toggle between applications to access class content and upload homework, keep track of their schedule via an electronic calendar, etc. This can be daunting for kids who are learning remotely for the first time.

As a parent you can help your child become more comfortable with remote learning by setting aside some time either before or after class to help them master these new tools. And since this is likely new to you, there are some great videos online that will show you how to use the system your school has mandated be it Microsoft Teams, Google Classroom or something else.  

Tip 5: It’s a skill

Remember that remote learning is a skill like any other skill, and it takes time and practice to become proficient.

So remember to be patient with yourself, your kids, and their teachers, as we embark on this new journey of learning. Everyone is trying their best and I truly believe a new rhythm will emerge as we progress through the school year.

We will find our way.

I am very pleased to announce that we have just begun a free public beta for a new online product, Maple Learn!  Maple Learn is a dynamic online environment designed specifically for teaching and learning math and solving math problems, from mid-high school to second year university.

Maple Learn is much more than just a sophisticated online graphing calculator. We tried to create an environment that focuses on the things instructors and students in those courses have told us that they want/need in a math tool. Here are some of my personal favorites:

• You can get the answer directly if you want it, but you can also work out problems line-by-line as you would on paper, or use a combination of manual steps and computations performed by Maple Learn.  
• The plot of your expression shows up as soon as you start typing, so plotting is super easy
• You can parameterize expressions with a single mouse click, and then watch the plots and results change as you modify the values using sliders
• It’s really easy to share your work, so when a student asks for help, the helper can always see exactly what they’ve done so far (and it will be legible, unlike a lot of the tutoring I’ve done!)

Free public beta: Maple Learn is freely available to instructors and students as part of an on-going public beta program. Please try it out, and feel free to use with your classes this fall.

Visit Maple Learn for more information, and to try it out. We hope you find it useful, and we’d love to know what you think.

We’re excited to announce a new version of MapleSim! The MapleSim 2020 family of products lets you build and test models faster than ever, including faster simulations, powerful new tools for machine builders, and expanded modeling capabilities. Improvements include:

• Faster results, with more efficient models, faster simulations, and more powerful design tools.
• Powerful new features for machine builders, with new components, improved visualizations, and automation-focused connectivity tools that make it faster than ever to build and test digital twins.
• Improved modeling capabilities, with an extensive collection of updates to components, libraries, and analysis tools.
• More realistic machine visualizations with an expanded Kinematic Cam Generation App.
• New product: MapleSim Insight, giving machine builders powerful, simulation-based debugging and 3-D visualization capabilities that connect directly to common automation platforms.
• New add-on library:  MapleSim Ropes and Pulleys Library for the easy creation of winch and pulley systems as part of your machine development. 

See What’s New in MapleSim 2020 for more information about these and other improvements!
 

Since we are getting many questions on how to create Math apps to add to the Maple Cloud. I wanted to go over the different GUI aspects of how you go about creating a Math App in Maple. The following Document also includes some code examples that are used in the the Math App but doesn't go into them in detail. For more details on the type of coding you do in a Math App see the DocumentTools package help page.

Some of the graphical features of the Math app don't display on Maple Primes so I'd recommend downloading this worksheet from here: HowToMathApp.mw to follow along.

How to make a Math App (An example of using the Document Tools).   This Document will provide a beginners guide on one way to make a Math app in Maple. It will contain some coding examples as well as where to find different options in the user interface. Step 1 Insert a Table     •  When making a Math App in Maple I often start with a table. You can enter a table by going to Insert > Table...      •  I often make the table 1 x 2 to start with as this gives an area for input and an area for the output (such as plots).   Add a plot component to one of the cells of the table     •  From the Components  Palette you can add a Plot Component . Add it to the table by clicking and dragging it over.     Add another table inside the other cell     •  In the other cell of the table I'll add another table to organize my use of buttons, sliders, and other components. Add some components to the new table     •  From the Components Palette I'll add a slider, or dial, or something else for interaction.   •  You may also want a Math region for an area to enter functions and a button to tell Maple to do something with it.   Arrange the Components to look nice     •  You can change how the components are placed either by resizing the tables or changing the text orientation of the contents of the cells.   Write some code for the interaction of the buttons.     •  Using the DocumentTools  package there are lots of ways you can use the components. I often will start writing my code using a code edit region  as it provides better visualization for syntax. On MaplePrimes these display as collapsed so I will also include code blocks for the code.   Let's write something that takes the value of the slider and applies it to the dial     •  Note that the names of the components will change in each section as they are copies of the previous section.   with(DocumentTools): with(DocumentTools): sv:=GetProperty('Slider2',value); SetProperty('Dial2',value,sv); •  This code will only execute when run using the  button. Change the value of the slider below then run the code above to see what happens.   Move the code 'inside' the slider     •  Instead of putting the code inside the code edit region where it needs to be executed, we'll next add the code to the value changed code of the slider.   •  Right click the Slider then select "Edit Value Changed Code".     •  This will open the code editor for the Slider     •  Enter your code (ensuring you're using the correct name for the slider and dial).   •  Notice that you don't need to use the with(DocumentTools): command as "use DocumentTools in ... end use;" is already filled in for you.   •  Save the code in the Slider and hit the  button inside it once. •  Now move the slider.   •  On future uses of the App you won't need to hit  as the code will be run on startup. Add some more details to your App     •  Let's make this app do something a bit more interesting than change the contents of a dial when a slider moves.   •  The plan in the next few steps is to make this app allow a user to explore parameters changing in a sinusoidal expression.   •  I'm going to add a second Math Component, put the expression into both then uncheck the box in the context panel that says "Editable".   •  To make the Math containers fit nicely I'll check the Auto-fit container box and set the Minimum Width Pixels to 200.   Add code to change the value of phi in the second Math Container when the Slider changes     Note: Maple uses Radians for trigonometric functions so we should convert the value of phi to Radians. use DocumentTools in   use DocumentTools in phi_s:=GetProperty(Slider5,value); expr:= GetProperty(MathContainer6,expression); new_expr:=algsubs(phi=phi_s*Pi/180,expr); SetProperty(MathContainer7,expression,new_expr); end use: Make the Dial go from 0 to 360°     •  Click the Dial and look at the options in the context panel on the right.   •  Update the values in the Dial so that the highest position is 360 and the spacing makes sense for the app.   Have the Dial update the theta value of the expression     •  Add the following code to the Dial   use DocumentTools in use DocumentTools in theta_d:=GetProperty(Dial7,value); phi_s:=GetProperty(Slider7,value); #This is added so that phi also has the value updated expr:= GetProperty(MathContainer10,expression); new_expr0:=algsubs(theta=theta_d*Pi/180,expr); new_expr:=algsubs(phi=phi_s*Pi/180,new_expr0); #This is added so that phi also has the value updated SetProperty(MathContainer11,expression,new_expr); end use:   •  Update the value in the slider to include the value from the dial   use DocumentTools in   use DocumentTools in theta_d:=GetProperty(Dial7,value); #This is added so that theta also has the value updated phi_s:=GetProperty(Slider7,value); expr:= GetProperty(MathContainer10,expression); new_expr0:=algsubs(theta=theta_d*Pi/180,expr); #This is added so that theta also has the value updated new_expr:=algsubs(phi=phi_s*Pi/180,new_expr0); SetProperty(MathContainer11,expression,new_expr); end use:   Notice that the code in the Dial and Slider are the same     •  Since the code in the Dial and Slider are the same it makes sense to put the code into a procedure that can be called from multiple places.   Note: The changes in the code such as local and the single quotes are not needed but make the code easier to read and less likely to run into errors if edited in the future (for example if you create a variable called dial8 it won't interfere now that the names are in quotes).     UpdateMath:=proc()  UpdateMath:=proc() local theta_d, phi_s, expr, new_expr, new_expr0; use DocumentTools in theta_d:=GetProperty('Dial8','value'); #Get value of theta from Dial phi_s:=GetProperty('Slider8','value'); #Get value of phi from slider expr:= GetProperty('MathContainer12','expression'); new_expr0:=algsubs('theta'=theta_d*Pi/180,expr); # Put value of theta in expression new_expr:=algsubs('phi'=phi_s*Pi/180,new_expr0); # Put value of phi in expression SetProperty('MathContainer13','expression',new_expr); # Update expression end use: end proc:   •  Now change the code in the components to call the function using .   •  Since the code above is only defined there it will need to be run once (but only once) before moving the components. Instead of leaving it here you can add it to the Startup code by clicking  or going to Edit > Startup code.  This code will run every time you open the Math App ensuring that it works right away.   •  The startup code isn't defined in this document to allow progression of these steps.   Make the button initialize the app     •  Since the startup code isn't defined in this document we are going to move this function into the button.   UpdateMath:=proc()   UpdateMath:=proc() local theta_d, phi_s, expr, new_expr, new_expr0; use DocumentTools in theta_d:=GetProperty('Dial9','value'); #Get value of theta from Dial phi_s:=GetProperty('Slider9','value'); #Get value of phi from slider expr:= GetProperty('MathContainer14','expression'); new_expr0:=algsubs('theta'=theta_d*Pi/180,expr); # Put value of theta in expression new_expr:=algsubs('phi'=phi_s*Pi/180,new_expr0); # Put value of phi in expression SetProperty('MathContainer15','expression',new_expr); # Update expression end use: end proc: •  First click the button to rename it, you'll see the  option in the context panel on the right. Then add the code above to the button in the same way as the Slider an Dial (Right click and select Edit Click Code).   Now it is easy to add new components     •  Now if we want to add new components we just have to change the one procedure.  Let's add a Volume Gauge to change the value of A.   •  Click in the cell containing the Dial, the context panel will show the option to Insert a row below the Dial. •  Now drag a Volume Gauge into the new cell.   •  Click in the cell and choose the alignment (from the context panel) that looks best to you. In this case I chose center:     Update the procedure code for the Gauge     •  Add two lines for the volume gauge to get the value and sub it into the expression UpdateMath:=proc() UpdateMath:=proc() local theta_d, phi_s, expr, new_expr, new_expr0; use DocumentTools in theta_d:=GetProperty('Dial11','value'); #Get value of theta from the Dial phi_s:=GetProperty('Slider11','value'); #Get value of phi from the Slider A_g:=GetProperty('VolumeGauge1','value'); #Get value of A from the Guage expr:= GetProperty('MathContainer18','expression'); new_expr0:=algsubs('theta'=theta_d*Pi/180,expr); # Put value of theta in expression new_expr1:=algsubs('phi'=phi_s*Pi/180,new_expr0); # Put value of phi in expression new_expr:=algsubs('A'=A_g,new_expr1); # Put value of A in expression SetProperty('MathContainer19','expression',new_expr); # Update expression end use: end proc: •  Now add UpdateMath();   to the Gauge.   Plot the changing expression     •  Make a procedure to get the value in the second Math Container and plot it   PlotMath:=proc() PlotMath:=proc() local expr, p; use DocumentTools in expr:=GetProperty('MathContainer21','expression'); p:=plot(expr,'t'=-Pi/2..Pi/2,'view'=[-Pi/2..Pi/2,-100..100]): SetProperty('Plot14','value',p) end use: end proc: •  Put this procedure in the Initialize button and the call to it in the components.   Tidy up the app     •  Now that we have an interactive app let's tidy it up a bit.   •  The first thing I'd recommend in your own app is moving the code from the initialize button to startup code. In this document we choose to use the button instead to preserve earlier versions.   •  You can also remove the borders around the components by clicking in the table and selecting "Interior Borders" > "None" and "Exterior Borders" > "None" from the context panel. Now you have a Math App     •  You can upload your Math App to the Maple Cloud to share with others by going to "File" > "Save to Cloud".   •  I'd recommend also including a description of what your app does. You can do this nicely using another table and Text mode.

HowToMathApp.mw

I’m extremely pleased to introduce the newest update to the Maple Companion. In this time of wide-spread remote learning, tools like the Maple Companion are more important than ever, and I’m happy that our efforts are helping students (and some of their parents!) with at least one small aspect of their life.  Since we’ve added a lot of useful features since I last posted about this free mobile app, I wanted to share the ones I’m most excited about. 

(If you haven’t heard about the Maple Companion app, you can read more about it here.) 

If you use the app primarily to move math into Maple, you’ll be happy to hear that the automatic camera focus has gotten much better over the last couple of updates, and with this latest update, you can now turn on the flash if you need it. For me, these changes have virtually eliminated the need to fiddle with the camera to bring the math in focus, which sometimes happened in earlier versions.

If you use the app to get answers on your phone, that’s gotten much better, too. You can now see plots instantly as you enter your expression in the editor, and watch how the plot changes as you change the expression. You can also get results to many numerical problems results immediately, without having to switch to the results screen. This “calculator mode” is available even if you aren’t connected to the internet.  Okay, so there aren’t a lot of students doing their homework on the bus right now, but someday!

Speaking of plots, you can also now view plots full-screen, so you can see more of plot at once without zooming and panning, squinting, or buying a bigger phone.

Finally, if English is not you or your students’ first language, note that the app was recently made available in Spanish, French, German, Russian, Danish, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese. 

As always, we’d love you hear your feedback and suggestions. Please leave a comment, or use the feedback forms in the app or our web site.

Visit Maple Companion to learn more, find links to the app stores so you can download the app, and access the feedback form. If you already have it installed, you can get the new release simply by updating the app on your phone.

Over the past weeks, we have spoken with many of our academic customers throughout the world, many of whom have decided to continue their academic years online. As you can imagine, this is a considerable challenge for instructors and students alike. Academia has quickly had to pivot to virtual classrooms, online testing and other collaborative technologies, while at the same time dealing with the stress and uncertainty that has resulted from this crisis.

We have been working with our customers to help them through this time in a variety of ways, but we know that there are still classes and students out there who are having trouble getting all the resources they need to complete their school year. So starting today, Maple Student Edition is being made free for every student, anywhere in the world, until the end of June. It is our hope that this action will remove a barrier for instructors to complete their Maple-led math instruction, and will help make things a bit more simple for everyone.

If you are a student, you can get your free copy of Maple here.

In addition, many of you have asked us about the best way to work on your engineering projects from home and/or teaching and learning remotely during this global crisis. We have put together resources for both that you can use as a starting point, and I invite you to contact us if you have any questions, or are dealing with challenges of your own. We are here to support you, and will be very flexible as we work together through these uncertain times.

I wish you all the best,

Laurent
President & CEO