Quick Help - Maple Programming Help

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Quick Help

Math Editor Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are available for all operations, in addition to palette and mouse operations.

Common Keyboard Shortcuts (See full list)

Symbol/Formats

Key

Example

Enter/exit 2-D Math

F5

Example using fraction: $\frac{1}{4}$  (Math mode) versus 1/4 (Text mode)

Command/symbol completion

 • Esc, Mac and Windows
 • Ctrl+Space, Windows
 • Command+Shift+Space, Mac
 • Ctrl+Shift+Space, Linux

Fraction${}^{1}$

/ (forward slash)

Exponent (superscript)${}^{1}$

^ (caret)

${x}^{2}$

Indexed subscript${}^{1}$

Ctrl+_ (Command+_, Mac)

${x}_{a}$

Literal subscript${}^{1}$ (subscripted variable name)

__(two underscores)

$\mathrm{x__max}$

Escape next character for entering "^"

\^ (caret)

$u^v$

Square root

$\sqrt{25}$

Navigating the expressions

Arrow keys

$\frac{1}{x+\frac{1}{2}}$

use right arrow key to leave denominator, superscript, or subscript region

Evaluate and Display on New Line

Use Enter to evaluate your mathematical expression or Maple command. Maple calculates and displays the result on a new line.

Examples

Steps

$\frac{{1}}{{4}}{{x}}^{{4}}{+}\frac{{1}}{{2}}{{x}}^{{2}}$

From the Expression palette, select $\int {f}\phantom{\rule[-0.0ex]{0.5em}{0.0ex}}ⅆ{x}$

x^3 + x Tab x and press Enter.

 > factor(x^3+x);

${x}\left({{x}}^{{2}}{+}{1}\right)$

Enter text as it appears and press Enter.

To display the result beside the original expression, see Evaluate and Display Inline.

Evaluate and Display Inline

In Document mode, use Ctrl+=  to evaluate your mathematical expression or Maple command and display inline.

 Example Steps $1+1$ = ${2}$ 1 + 1 Ctrl+= (Command+= for Mac)   $\mathrm{sin}\left(\frac{\mathrm{\pi }}{3}\right)$ = $\frac{\sqrt{{3}}}{{2}}$ sin( From the Common Symbols palette, select $\mathrm{\pi }$. /3)  Ctrl+= (Command+= for Mac)

To display the Maple palettes, see Arranging Palettes in Your Worksheet.

Clickable Math via the Context Panel

To easily manipulate an expression in Maple, select the expression to display a context-sensitive list of applicable options in the Context Panel, located on the right side if the Maple window.  When you choose an item in the context panel, the result is displayed inline.

 Example Steps ${x}^{2}$ x^2 View the Context Panel for this expression. The options include: differentiate, evaluate at a point, and more.  ${x}^{2}$$\stackrel{\text{evaluate at point}}{\to }$${0.25}$ For example, select Evaluate at a point, and then x=0.5

Context-sensitive options are available for Maple input and output.

 Example Steps $\mathrm{diff}\left(\mathrm{sin}\left(x\right)\cdot \mathrm{cos}\left(x\right),x\right)$ ${{\mathrm{cos}}\left({x}\right)}^{{2}}{-}{{\mathrm{sin}}\left({x}\right)}^{{2}}$  Enter text as it appears and press Enter.  $\mathrm{diff}\left(\mathrm{sin}\left(x\right)\cdot \mathrm{cos}\left(x\right),x\right)$ ${{\mathrm{cos}}\left({x}\right)}^{{2}}{-}{{\mathrm{sin}}\left({x}\right)}^{{2}}$ $\stackrel{\text{combine}}{=}$ ${\mathrm{cos}}\left({2}{x}\right)$  Select from the Context Panel Combine > trig.

Toggle Math/Text

In Document mode, toggling between Text and Math modes switches between entering text and entering 2-D mathematical expressions $\left(\frac{{x}^{2}}{y}\right)$. In Worksheet mode, toggling between Math and Text modes switches between 2-D and 1-D Math commands. By default, Maple uses Math mode.

Use the F5 key to switch between Math and Text modes. Math mode is characterized by a slanted, italic prompt (/) whereas the Text mode is characterized by a regular prompt (|).

In Document Mode

  Examples Steps ${x}^{2}$ is a function of $x$ x^2 F5 is a function of F5 x  A simple problem: 1+3 = 4 F5 A simple problem: F5 1 + 3 Ctrl+= (Command+= for Mac)

Note: In Document mode, any statement to be evaluated must be entered in Math mode.

In Worksheet Mode



Examples

Steps

 >

From the Expression palette, select $\int {f}\phantom{\rule[-0.0ex]{0.5em}{0.0ex}}ⅆ{x}$

x^3 + x^2 Tab x



 > int(x^3+x^2, x);

F5

Enter text as it appears.

 Toggle Executable Math To prevent execution of a math expression, make the math nonexecutable.  Click the expression and use the shortcut Shift + F5. For details, see Executable and Nonexecutable Math.

Exit Fraction/Superscript/Subscript

To leave the superscript, subscript, or denominator of a fraction, use the right-arrow key.

  Example Steps  ${x}^{2}$ x^2 Right-arrow to leave the superscript region  $\mathrm{x__a}$ For a literal subscript (subscripted variable name), use two underscores: x__a Right-arrow to leave the subscript region  $\frac{1}{x+\frac{2}{y}+3}$ 1/x+2/y Right-arrow to leave the denominator of $\frac{2}{y}$ +3 Right-arrow to leave the denominator 

Note: In Maple, subscripts can be indexed or literal.  For details, see 2-D Math Shortcut Keys and Hints.

Assignments

Use := (colon equals) to assign a value to a variable.

Note: To make the assignment, you must execute the statement.  You can terminate the statement with a colon (:) if you do not want to see the output.  In document mode, you can alternatively Toggle Input/Output Display to prevent display of the output.

Examples

Steps

Let $x≔5$

F5 Let F5 a:= 5 Enter
(F5 is the toggle between Text mode and Math mode.)

 > a := 5:

Enter text as it appears and press Enter.

Functions

To define a function, use the arrow notation.

Mode

Examples

Steps

$f:=x\to {x}^{2}:$

$f\left(3\right)$ = ${9}$

From the Expression palette, select ${f}:={a}\to {y}$

f Tab

x Tab

x^2: Enter

f(3)  Ctrl+= (Command+=, for Mac)

 > G := (x,y,z) -> x^2+y^2+z^2;

${G}{≔}\left({x}{,}{y}{,}{z}\right){↦}{{x}}^{{2}}{+}{{y}}^{{2}}{+}{{z}}^{{2}}$

 > G(-1,0,1);

${2}$

Enter text as it appears. Press enter to evaluate.

 Equations Equations are represented using the = sign. $y=m\cdot x+b$   To assign an equation to a variable, use the assignment operator.    After assigning the equation to a variable name, you can use the name to manipulate the equation. $\mathrm{rhs}\left(\mathrm{eqn}\right)$= ${m}{x}{+}{b}$

Command Completion

When you type a symbol name in Math mode, Esc (see command/symbol completion keys) automatically converts the name into a properly displayed symbol. When you type the first few letters of a symbol name, Esc displays a popup list of matching symbols. Use Tab to select the proper completion.

 Example Steps $\sqrt{x}$ sqrt then Esc then Tab x

In Math and Text modes, the command/symbol completion keys are used to complete a Maple command or a user-defined variable name. All possible completions are displayed in a popup list. If there is a unique choice, the command is completed automatically.



Example

Steps

 > Student[LinearAlgebra][GramSchmidt]

Stud Esc [L Esc [Gr

 Navigate Placeholders The Expression palette and task templates use fill-in-the-blank placeholders. To fill the placeholders, complete the first entry and then Tab to the next. The Tab key is also used for indenting in Text mode. You can control whether the Tab key is for moving between placeholders or indenting by using Format > Tab Navigation.  See Using the Tab Key.

Additional Resources

 Maple Help To display the Maple Help Navigator: Select Help>Maple Help or press F1.   To display the Quick Reference Card: Select Help>Quick Reference or press Ctrl+F2.   To display help on a particular topic: Enter ?$\mathrm{topic}$ or place the cursor on the topic name and press F2. For example ?$\mathrm{factor}$ displays the help page for the factor command.
 Interactive Assistants, Tutors, Task Templates, and Demonstrations Access an extensive list of interactive assistants, tutors, task templates, and demonstrations through the Tools menu.   Tools>Assistants provides access to easy-to-use assistants that allow you to accomplish various tasks through point-and-click interfaces. Assistants include code translation, creating plots, and converting units.   Tools>Math Apps provides access to interactive demonstrations for exploring concepts in mathematics and science.   Tools>Tutors provides access to interactive tutors covering topics in precalculus, calculus, vector calculus, multivariate calculus, linear algebra, numerical analysis, differential equations, and statistics.   Tools>Tasks>Browse is the entry point to an extensive list of task templates, which show you the steps needed to solve a particular problem and provide you with a fill-in-the-blank template of the corresponding Maple command.