Michel Van den Bergh <michel.vandenbergh <at> uhasselt.be> writes:
> I think it is usually (always) clear from the use of a symbol what
> property the
> user wants.
Yes the user knows what he wants, but *maxima* not:
Look this:
f(s,t):=s[t];
w:x;
x[4]:5;
f(w,4);
it gives 5 but I, the user, suppose the definition f(s,t):=s[t] means for
f(w,4) w[4] and not x[4].
The global value of w as a symbol is incorrect here, we
want to use the array w.
Similar refletions for the function, etc.
Summarizing: s value is incorrect (from an user point of view) when you say
s[t] or s(t) you don't want x[t] or x(t), you want to get the array property or
the function property of symbol s and not first the global value and then
look for the properties.
-Miguel.