Interface

Display of Data Structures 

The default display of data structures such as rtables (matrices, vectors, and arrays) as well as data frames and data series has been changed. Previously a summary would be shown for the data structure, but now the display shows the header of the data (by default the first 10 rows and 10 columns) and the size of the data structure. 

>	Matrix(20,20,rand(1..10));

 

 

It is possible to control the display of the number of rows and columns using the updated interface(rtablesize=[rows,columns]) command. 

>	interface(rtablesize=[3,5]):

 

>	M := Matrix(10,10,rand(1..10.));

 

 

To see more information about data structures, the Describe command can be used: 

>	Describe(M);

 

M :: Matrix: Dimensions = [1 .. 10, 1 .. 10] datatype = anything subtype = Matrix storage = rectangular order = Fortran_order

 

The display of other rtable structures such as those created by the AudioTools package have also been updated: 

>	AudioTools:-Read(FileTools:-JoinPath([kernelopts(datadir), "audio", "stereo.wav"]));

 

 

Units by Dimensionality Palette 

The new Units by Dimensionality palette expands the number of available unit templates and makes it easier to find units associated with physical dimensions. 

 

Favorites Palette 

• The entries in the Favorites palette can now be rearranged by click and drag.

• It is now possible to add custom entries to this palette.

 

Plot Export 

It is now possible to export plots to the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format. 

Experience on Start-Up 

A completely redesigned Start Page, as well as an expanded set of user resources, provides a more helpful user experience for all users when you open Maple. 

• The Start Page includes new and improved resources designed to help new users get started quickly, including a link to a short introductory video

• For more experienced users, the Start Page has been simplified to focus on the most helpful, frequently used resources

• The Maple Portal, a comprehensive resource for any user, has been expanded to present both in-product and web-based resources, organized by preferred learning style

• For those who would prefer to start from a blank document, it is now significantly easier to turn the Start Page off

 

interface Command 

The interface command has several new options: 

• compactdisplay: truefalse; Controls the text mode pretty-printing of Maple procedures. When set to true, they are printed with multiple statements per line when they would fit (subject to interface(screenwidth) ). When set to false, each new statement will start on a new line. The default is true.

• echofile: string; Command-line interface only. When set to a file name, echoes a copy of the session (both input and output) to that file. If the file name ends in ".html" or ".htm", the session is written in HTML format, using <span> elements to apply syntax highlighting corresponding to what is displayed in the session. Setting echofile to the empty string or the name none will turn off echoing.

• historytimestamp: truefalse; Indicates whether timestamps should be inserted into the command history when a session begins. Must be set to true in the user's Maple initialization file to have any effect. The default is false.

• trailingsemicolon: truefalse; When pretty-printing Maple procedures as text, controls whether a semicolon is printed after the last statement in a statement sequence (for example, just before the ~end~ of a procedure or control structure). When set to false (the default), they are not printed, as they are not strictly necessary (in Maple, the semicolon is a statement separator, not terminator).

 

 

Several other options were also added in update releases for Maple 2018, including: 

• ansicolor: list of integers; For the command-line interface, specifies colors to be used for different categories of output.

• ansiedit: truefalse; For the command-line interface, specifies that highlighting or color should be used during user input. Effective only when interface(ansi) is true.

• getansi: integer; Returns the ANSI X3.64 (or extended) escape sequence string used for the specified output category with the current color scheme. If no integer is specified, returns a sequence of escape sequences for all colors in the current scheme.

• showcolors: none; Shows sample output using the current color scheme.

• showtermcolors: none; Shows all colors supported by the terminal.

 

 

The rtablesize option has also been updated. It is now possible to specify the number of rows and columns to show for rtables by using: interface(rtablesize=[Number of Rows, Number of Columns]); 

Menu and Interface Updates 

There are some new and updated items in Maple menus. Some of the changes are highlighted here. 

Edit Menu 

• Add Selection to Favorites Palette has been added.

• Evaluate, Evaluate and Display Inline, the Execute submenu, Execute Code, and the Remove Output submenu have all been moved to the new Evaluate menu.

 

View Menu 

• The Show Section Boundaries option has been moved from the Show/Hide Contents dialog to the Sections submenu.

 

Insert Menu 

• A submenu for Typesetting variants has been added. This includes Overscript, Underscript, Left Superscript, Superscript, Left Subscript and Subscript.

 

Format Menu 

• The Tab Navigation toolbar button has been removed from the main toolbar and added to the Format menu.

• The Autoexecute submenu has been moved to the new Evaluate menu.

• The Plot and Table menus have been moved into submenus in the Format menu.

 

Evaluate Menu 

The new Evaluate menu collects together all of the evaluation-related menu items. 

Tools Menu 

Several assistants have been moved to the Tutors submenu: 

• A new submenu has been added for Basics, which includes the Back-Solver and Equation Manipulator assistants as well as the new Practice Sheets Assistant.

• The ODE Analyzer has been moved to the Differential Equations submenu.

• A new submenu has been added for Optimization. The Optimization assistant has been moved to this submenu.

• The Curve Fitting assistant has been moved to the Statistics submenu.

• The Data Analysis assistant menu item has been removed from the Assistants menu.

• The CAD-Link assistant menu item has been removed. This assistant is still available on Windows by typing

 

 

The Help Database - Remove from Database dialog has also been updated. You are now shown a list of topics in an existing writable help database and can select the topic to remove. 

Palettes 

• The Units FPS and Units SI palettes have been replaced by the Units by Dimensionality palette.

• The MapleCloud palette has been removed. The MapleCloud is available through the MapleCloud menu item on the main toolbar.