@Alejandro: It looks like I ran into this error because I created the Array with only one element so I may in fact have had a situation like you show, with the "unusual" range. I do this because I cannot have unused lements at the end of the array. It is quite curious.I don't have the crashing version anymore and my code (with datatype anything like Preben suggested) works so I can't reliably reproduce what I did but I know I did not specify an actual range (like 1..2 or so) in the Array constructing function (Array()). Now I am wondering whether I can get this to work with strings and a valid initial range...

The reason why I ranted about the bug is that in less than a year of doing serious (in the sense that I actually want and use the results) work with Maple I have run into quite a number of "undocumented features" that by and large are not that obscure. While I fully understand that software has bugs; it is also true that bugs can be fixed, esp. relatively simple ones like the issue we are talking about here. The dynamic length of rtables is an advertised (in the handbooks) feature and not some obscure, rarely known oddity. It would be a part of the test suite(s), one might have thunk...

Oh well, "Caveat Coder". Maybe I'l submit a software performance report.

Mac Dude.

@Preben: You are correct; this morning I also traced my problem to the string datatype. Worse, trying to workaround by pre-allocating the space (e.g. assigning element 256 with a dummy value) fails also. Your test indicates that datatype=anything works, I need to check that on my system still.

This whole issue seems slightly disturbing, though. I use an Array rather then Vector for the strings; it seems entirely without reason why that should fail for strings (unless total memory exhaustion, of course). If this is a bug (which I am beginning to suspect), how can it have evaded detection?

Anyway, thanks for looking & finding a way out, much appreciated

Mac Dude.

@Preben: You are correct; this morning I also traced my problem to the string datatype. Worse, trying to workaround by pre-allocating the space (e.g. assigning element 256 with a dummy value) fails also. Your test indicates that datatype=anything works, I need to check that on my system still.

This whole issue seems slightly disturbing, though. I use an Array rather then Vector for the strings; it seems entirely without reason why that should fail for strings (unless total memory exhaustion, of course). If this is a bug (which I am beginning to suspect), how can it have evaded detection?

Anyway, thanks for looking & finding a way out, much appreciated

Mac Dude.

@acer My mistake was in the "topic" entry in makehelp. After I sorted this out it works using the package/command syntax indicated in the help for makehelp. Just have got to be consistent here... :-)

Thanks again,

M.D.

@acer My mistake was in the "topic" entry in makehelp. After I sorted this out it works using the package/command syntax indicated in the help for makehelp. Just have got to be consistent here... :-)

Thanks again,

M.D.

Well, the "Save to Database..." item does not exist in any menu in my Maple 15.01 on OS X 10.4. The only related item is "Save as Help Page..." on the "Help Database" menu item under Tools. However, that one brings up a nearly empty dialog (making me enter all the info all over again... highly annoying) and then refuses to overwrite the old page claiming it is already there (well, duh!).

Your hints above did get me further. The procedure you showed is a little too complicated for my taste; but I managed to get "makehelp" to work. It picked a different .hdb file than I wanted (I wanted to make a new one) but at least I get the help file displayed and updating.

I did run into another snag: How do I specify links to the other help pages? I have a top-level one (for the package) and one each for the commands in the package. I installed one under a name but the "Help:Package/command" link does not work. The command shows up in the help browser on the left side (as "Command (Package)" so all is not lost; but getting the link to work should not be that difficult.

Thanks,

M.D.

Well, the "Save to Database..." item does not exist in any menu in my Maple 15.01 on OS X 10.4. The only related item is "Save as Help Page..." on the "Help Database" menu item under Tools. However, that one brings up a nearly empty dialog (making me enter all the info all over again... highly annoying) and then refuses to overwrite the old page claiming it is already there (well, duh!).

Your hints above did get me further. The procedure you showed is a little too complicated for my taste; but I managed to get "makehelp" to work. It picked a different .hdb file than I wanted (I wanted to make a new one) but at least I get the help file displayed and updating.

I did run into another snag: How do I specify links to the other help pages? I have a top-level one (for the package) and one each for the commands in the package. I installed one under a name but the "Help:Package/command" link does not work. The command shows up in the help browser on the left side (as "Command (Package)" so all is not lost; but getting the link to work should not be that difficult.

Thanks,

M.D.

Now you guys make me curious! I know that I have a copy on Maple V R2 or even R3 lying around---on floppies, no less---maybe is should spend this weekend to dig it out & install it...?? But I certainly do not have any license numbers or keys for these anymore.

I do wonder, however, why you want to. As far as I can tell, the old packages (linalg etc.) are still around, if deprecated. I have downloaded quite a number of Maple V programs and code snippets from the net and so far have not run into any problems (this is with Maple 15). In those days I ran Mma so I don't have old Maple routines of myself.

One thing I would yearn for is to be able to use the older interface of Maple (I think they call that "classic"), Running on Mac's I do not have access to it. The Java interface we are made to use is in my view not quite up to it; being sluggish and having rendering issues. In addition it does not take full advantage of running in a separate thread: I find when the Maple kernel is busy the interface is mostly locked up. The only good thing I see is that, on a multicore machine, mserver can get 100% CPU on one core & let any GUI overhead run on the other one. I would run in CLI mode if it were not for the graphics output, which I would not want to miss; and I do not think Maple supports something like AquaTerm (graphics screen for CLI processes on Mac OS X).

Anyway, so far I thought Maple's backward compatibility to V is not bad.

Mac Dude

Now you guys make me curious! I know that I have a copy on Maple V R2 or even R3 lying around---on floppies, no less---maybe is should spend this weekend to dig it out & install it...?? But I certainly do not have any license numbers or keys for these anymore.

I do wonder, however, why you want to. As far as I can tell, the old packages (linalg etc.) are still around, if deprecated. I have downloaded quite a number of Maple V programs and code snippets from the net and so far have not run into any problems (this is with Maple 15). In those days I ran Mma so I don't have old Maple routines of myself.

One thing I would yearn for is to be able to use the older interface of Maple (I think they call that "classic"), Running on Mac's I do not have access to it. The Java interface we are made to use is in my view not quite up to it; being sluggish and having rendering issues. In addition it does not take full advantage of running in a separate thread: I find when the Maple kernel is busy the interface is mostly locked up. The only good thing I see is that, on a multicore machine, mserver can get 100% CPU on one core & let any GUI overhead run on the other one. I would run in CLI mode if it were not for the graphics output, which I would not want to miss; and I do not think Maple supports something like AquaTerm (graphics screen for CLI processes on Mac OS X).

Anyway, so far I thought Maple's backward compatibility to V is not bad.

Mac Dude

In parts your problem may be that---once you fix your syntax and if you write the formula as an expression (like v:=...)---you'll see that Maple immediately expands the sum into an explicit form using "+". The inert form (Sum with a capital S) on the other hand won't ever expand when you take the 3rd power.

I actually asked a related question some time ago; here is the link to that thread: 

http://www.mapleprimes.com/questions/127159-Summations.

I believe you want the distribution of the sum as well; then take the 3rd power and with luck you get an expression of the form Sum()^n + Sum()^(n-1)... etc.

Incidentally, are the "j" in your expression supposed to be imaginary units? In Maple input, the imaginary unit is "I". I believe you may be able to reassign this to a different letter.

Mac Dude

In parts your problem may be that---once you fix your syntax and if you write the formula as an expression (like v:=...)---you'll see that Maple immediately expands the sum into an explicit form using "+". The inert form (Sum with a capital S) on the other hand won't ever expand when you take the 3rd power.

I actually asked a related question some time ago; here is the link to that thread: 

http://www.mapleprimes.com/questions/127159-Summations.

I believe you want the distribution of the sum as well; then take the 3rd power and with luck you get an expression of the form Sum()^n + Sum()^(n-1)... etc.

Incidentally, are the "j" in your expression supposed to be imaginary units? In Maple input, the imaginary unit is "I". I believe you may be able to reassign this to a different letter.

Mac Dude

Same problem here with Safari on OS X. Note that Safari is Webkit vs Firefox being Gecko.

It seems that the html gets overwritten.

Mac Dude

to the OP: Note that Preben supplies initial values. Your fitting problem is nonlinear and requires an iterative process that starts from somewhere. If your starting (or initial-) values are not good; it may never find the minimum (or the wrong one). If you don't supply initial values I would guess Maple uses 0 which may not be a good starting point.

Mac Dude

to the OP: Note that Preben supplies initial values. Your fitting problem is nonlinear and requires an iterative process that starts from somewhere. If your starting (or initial-) values are not good; it may never find the minimum (or the wrong one). If you don't supply initial values I would guess Maple uses 0 which may not be a good starting point.

Mac Dude

@acer: You read it right. I inadvertently copied a test case; in the production that function does depend on the integration variable ener. Conclusions do not change, however: this particular example does not appear to execute in parallel under Threads:-Seq.

Pity.

M.D.