Release 4 of Maple Available on RCS

Release 4 of Maple Now Available on RCS

Release 4, the most recent version of the Maple V symbolic math package, is now available on RCS.

The newest version includes the following changes from the previous version:

Release 4 cannot read Maple V Release 3 *.m files. Use the Maple V Release 4 updtsrc utility to convert Release 3 source code to Release 4.
The layout of Maple windows has changed. Specifically:
- An "Untitled" Maple worksheet now appears as a sub-window inside the main Maple window.
- You can have multiple worksheets open simultaneously. By default, the worksheets share variables, meaning that modifying the value of the variable X in one worksheet modifies the value of X in the other open worksheets.
- Plots now appear in-line by default.
- You can use the View menu's Zoom Factor option to change the magnification (font size).
The functionality of plot([x1,y1,x2,y2,x3,y3]) is now expressed as plot([[x1,y1],[x2,y2],[x3,y3]]).
A worksheet can contain expandable sections and subsections that you can use to display or hide details.
The help system has been modified.

(For a complete list of changes, pull down the Help menu, then select the Contents option. A Contents window will eventually replace the Untitled worksheet window (inside the main Maple window); left-click on What's New in this Contents window to expand the list. This section also discusses Maple V 3 and Maple V 4 compatability issues.)

To access the latest version of Maple V, issue the following commands from a UNIX window:

   setup maple-new
   maple &

Alternately, you may also select Maple from the RCS Applications menu.

Release 4 of Maple V will become the default on Friday, June 27, and you will no longer have to set it up. You will still be able to access the current version of Maple, Version 3, until early this September by entering the command setup maple-old from a UNIX prompt before running the program.

If you have any questions or problems with Maple, contact Mark Miller at 276-2751, or direct electronic mail to millem@rpi.edu.