Contents Previous Next Index
7 Creating Mathematical Documents
Maple allows you to create powerful documents as business and education tools, technical reports, presentations, assignments, and handouts.
You can:
Copy, cut, and paste information
Format text for reports or course material
Add headers and footers
Insert images, tables, and symbols
Generate 2-D and 3-D plots and animations
Sketch in the document or on a plot
Insert hyperlinks to other Maple files, websites, or email addresses
Place instructions and equations side by side
Bookmark specific areas
Easily update, revise, and distribute your documents
In this chapter, we will create a document that demonstrates many of Maple's documentation features. For further examples, note that this guide was written using Maple.
7.1 In This Chapter
Section
Topics
Document Formatting - Add various text formatting elements
Copy and Paste
Quick Character Formatting
Quick Paragraph Formatting
Character and Paragraph Styles
Sections
Headers and Footers
Show or Hide Worksheet Content
Indentation and the Tab Key
Commands in Documents - Format and display or hide commands in a document
Document Blocks
Typesetting
Auto-Execute
Tables - Create tables and modify their attributes
Creating a table
Cell contents
Navigating table cells
Modifying Structural Layout
Modifying Physical Dimensions
Modifying Appearance
Printing Options
Execution Order
Canvas - Sketch an idea in the document by inserting a canvas
Insert a Canvas
Drawing
Canvas Style
Inserting Images
Hyperlinks and Bookmarks - Add hyperlinks to various sources
Inserting a Hyperlink in the Document
Linking to an Email Address, Dictionary Topic, Help Page, Maplet Application, Webpage, or Document
Bookmarks
Embedded Components - Insert buttons, sliders, and more in your document
Overview of available components
Example using a task template
Spell Checking - Verify text with the Maple spell checking utility
How to Use the Spellcheck Utility
Selecting a Suggestion
User Dictionary
7.2 Document Formatting
To begin, create a new Maple document. From the File menu, select New → Document Mode. For this example, you can copy and paste text from any file. The example text below is from a Maple help page, plot, but the formatting has been removed for demonstration purposes.
You can cut, copy, and paste content within Maple documents, and from other sources.
To copy an expression, or part of an expression, to another location on the document:
Select the expression, or part of the expression, to copy. Alternatively, right-click and select Copy.
From the Edit menu, select Copy.
Place the cursor at the insertion point.
From the Edit menu, select Paste. Alternatively, right-click and select Paste.
Result:
If you paste into a math input region, Maple interprets all the pasted content as input. If you paste into a text region, Maple interprets all the pasted content as text. However, note that 2-D Math retains its format in both input and text regions.
When you copy and paste to another application, in general, Maple retains the original structure.
The Format→Character menu provides access to the following quick formatting features: Bold, Italic, Underline, Superscript, Subscript, Font Color, and Highlight Color.
To modify text:
In the document, select the text to modify.
From the Format menu, select Character, and then the appropriate feature. Alternatively, select Format→Character from the context panel.
Select the quick formatting feature you want to apply (for example, bold or italic font).
Alternatively, use the context bar icons. For example, to apply a color to the parameters "f, x=x0..x1":
Font Color Context Bar Icon
Highlight Color Context Icon
For font and highlight colors, you can select from Swatches, a color wheel, RGB values, or choose a color using the eye dropper tool. See Figure 7.1.
Figure 7.1: Select Color Dialog
In this example, choose a dark purple color, as in the help pages.
To format this text as bold, click the Bold toolbar icon, . Also, select the text "Calling Sequence" and format as bold.
Attributes Submenu: Setting Fonts, Character Size, and Attributes
You can also change various character attributes such as font, character size, style, and color in one dialog.
In the document, select text to modify.
From the Format menu, select Character, and then Attributes. The Character Style dialog opens. See Figure 7.2.
Figure 7.2: Character Style Dialog
The Format→Paragraph menu provides access to the following quick alignment features: Align Left, Center, and Align Right.
To modify a paragraph:
In the document, select the paragraph to modify.
From the Format menu, select Paragraph, and then the appropriate feature.
Attributes Submenu: Spacing, Indent, Alignment, Bullets, Line Break, and Page Break
You can change various paragraph attributes in one dialog.
From the Format menu, select Paragraph, and then Attributes. The Paragraph Style dialog opens. See Figure 7.3.
When changing spacing, you must indicate units (inches, centimeters, or points) in the Units drop-down list.
Figure 7.3: Paragraph Style Dialog
For example, in the pasted text, select all of the items under "Parameters", then open the Paragraph Style dialog. Notice that the spacing has already been set.
In the Indent section, change the Left Margin indent to 10.0 pt.
In the Bullets and Numbering section, click the Style drop-down and select Dash. Click OK to close the dialog and apply the styles.
For more information, refer to the paragraphmenu help page.
Maple has predefined styles for characters and paragraphs. A style is a set of formatting characteristics that you can apply to text in your document to change the appearance of that text. When you apply a style, you apply a group of formats in one action.
A character style controls text font, size, color, and attributes such as bold and italic. To override the character style within a paragraph style, you must apply a character style or character formatting.
A paragraph style controls all aspects of a paragraph's appearance, such as text alignment, line spacing, and indentation. In Maple, each paragraph style includes a character style.
Figure 7.4: Style Management Dialog
Applying Character Styles
By using the drop-down list in the document context bar, you can apply:
Existing Maple character styles.
New styles that you have created through the Style Management (Figure 7.4) and Character Style (Figure 7.5) dialogs.
To apply a character style to text in your document:
Select the text to modify.
In the styles drop-down list in the context bar of your document, select an appropriate character style. All character styles are preceded by the letter C. The selected text now reflects the attributes of the character style you have chosen.
(Optional) If necessary, you can remove this style. From the Edit menu, select Undo.
Creating and Modifying Character Styles
You can create custom character styles to apply to text, or change existing character styles. New styles are automatically added to the styles drop-down list in the context bar of your document.
From the Format menu, select Styles. The Style Management dialog opens. See Figure 7.4.
To create a character style:
Click Create Character Style. The Character Style dialog opens. See Figure 7.5.
In the first row of the dialog, enter a style name in the blank text region.
To modify a character style:
From the style list, select the character style to modify. Recall that all character styles are preceded by the letter C, while paragraph styles are preceded by the letter P.
Click Modify. The Character Style dialog opens with the current attributes displayed. See Figure 7.5.
For either action, continue:
Select the properties for the new character style, such as font, size, attributes, and color. In the font attributes, the Superscript and Subscript check boxes are mutually exclusive. When you select one of the two check boxes, the other is disabled. You must clear one before selecting the other.
Note: A preview of the style is displayed in the last row of the Character Style dialog.
To save the style, click OK or to abandon, click Cancel. If you have modified a style, all text in your document that uses the altered style is updated to reflect the changes.
Figure 7.5: Defining a Character Style
For example, in the pasted text, suppose we want to create a character style for the bold, purple parameter.
From the Format menu, select Styles, then click Create Character Style.
Enter the style name, "Placeholder", and then select the character attributes. In this case, click the Bold check box. Then click the Color button and choose a dark purple. Click OK to create the character style.
Now you can apply the style to any text. Under Calling Sequences, select each list of parameters inside the command. To apply the style, from the Styles drop-down menu in the toolbar, select Parameter.
Applying Paragraph Styles
Existing Maple paragraph styles.
New styles that you have created through the Style Management (Figure 7.4) and Defining a Paragraph Style (Figure 7.6) dialogs.
To apply a Maple paragraph style to text in your document:
In the styles drop-down list in the context bar of your document, select an appropriate paragraph style. All Maple paragraph styles are preceded by the letter P. The selected text now reflects the attributes of the paragraph style you have chosen.
For example, to format the title of the pasted text as a title, first select the line: "plot - create a two-dimensional plot". In the Styles drop-down, select Title.
Creating and Modifying Paragraph Styles
You can create custom paragraph styles to apply to text, or change existing paragraph styles. New styles are automatically added to the styles drop-down list in the context bar of your document.
To create a paragraph style:
Click Create Paragraph Style. The Paragraph Style dialog opens. See Figure 7.6.
In the first row of the dialog, enter a style name in the blank text field.
To modify a paragraph style:
Select a paragraph style to modify. Recall that all paragraph styles are preceded by the letter P.
Click Modify. The Paragraph Style dialog opens with the current attributes displayed.
In the Units drop-down menu, select the units used to determine spacing and indentation. Select from inches (in), centimeters (cm), or points (pt).
Select the properties to use for this paragraph style, such as Spacing, Indent, Alignment, Bullets and Numbering, Page Break Before, and Linebreak.
To add or modify a font style, click Font. The Character Style dialog opens. For detailed instructions, see Creating and Modifying Character Styles.
To save the style, click OK, or to abandon, click Cancel. If you are modifying an existing style, all text in your document that uses the altered style is updated to reflect the changes.
Figure 7.6: Defining a Paragraph Style
Style Set Management: Saving Styles for Future Use
You can use the style set of a particular document as the default style for all documents.
Figure 7.7: Style Set Management Dialog
For information on creating and managing style sets, see the worksheet/documenting/styles help page.
You can organize your document into sections, either before or after the text has been entered.
Using the Insert Menu to Add Sections
Place the cursor in the paragraph or execution group above the location at which you want to insert a new section.
If the cursor is inside a section, Maple inserts the new section after the current section.
If the cursor is in an execution group, Maple inserts the new section after the execution group.
From the Insert menu, select Section. An arrow marks the start of the section.
Move the cursor to the text area beside the arrow. Enter the section heading.
Move the cursor to the body of the section. Enter the content.
Tips for Adding Sections and Subsections
If you are in a section and select Insert→Section, a subsection is created.
To insert a subsection immediately after the current subsection, use Edit→Split or Join→Split Section. The newly created section is at the same indentation level as the existing section.
To outdent, use Edit→Remove Section. This decreases the indentation of a worksheet element by one level by removing one subsection that encloses the worksheet element.
Using the Indent and Outdent Toolbar Icons
You can shift sections to create or remove subsections.
Enclose the selection in a section or subsection
Outdent the selection to the next section level, if possible.
For example, to create two sections containing the two categories of information in the pasted text:
Select "Parameters" and all of the items under it.
Click the Indent toolbar item.
Cut and paste "Parameters" from inside the section to its title.
Similarly, create a section with the title "Calling Sequence", containing the items under that heading.
Note: The section titles are automatically formatted as section titles, but you can change the formatting through the Paragraph Style dialog.
You can add headers and footers to your document that will appear at the top and bottom of each page when you print the document.
To add or edit headers and footers:
From the Insert