Maybe
? foo describes exactly the command or variable or ... foo
? foo* should list/describe all commands that begin with foo
? *foo* should list/describe all commands that include foo in the name
?? foo should list/describe all commands whose descriptions include the word
foo
?? *foo* should list/describe all commands whose descriptions include the
sequence of characters foo, perhaps within words.
I don't know how this stuff works in the current versions, but it should
also be possible to put, in a batch file or a loadable file
foo(x):= ......
describe(foo): "A piece of text that describes the newly defined name foo."
Perhaps this is too much to ask of a system that is patched together using
awk, python, Microsoft "help" files, etc.
If the help system were entirely incorporated in the lisp world view, this
would be easier, though of course it would also require that the lisp system
pop up windows and menus and similar stuff. (This is all possible in some
lisp systems, but perhaps not all.)
RJF
> -----Original Message-----
> From: maxima-bounces at math.utexas.edu [mailto:maxima-
> bounces at math.utexas.edu] On Behalf Of Robert Dodier
> Sent: Saturday, February 10, 2007 8:53 PM
> To: Alasdair McAndrew
> Cc: maxima list
> Subject: Re: [Maxima] A smallish proposal about help
>
> On 2/10/07, Alasdair McAndrew <amca01 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > If I want to find out about the mod function (for example) I type "?
> mod" or
> > "describe(mod)" and I'm presented with a list of 19 items (all including
> the
> > string "mod") to choose from. I think there should be a way of going to
> the
> > help for mod directly. As I see it, "describe(mod)" or "? mod" should
> do
> > just that, and the current behaviour of describe should be relegated to
> a
> > function called, say, "lookfor" (which is used by Matlab).
>
> In Maxima 5.11.0 there is a new feature describe(foo, exact)
> (with the shorthand ?!) which prints only the info about foo.
>
> Maybe ? should act like ?!, and invent a different notation (say ??)
> for inexact search. Comments?
>
> best,
> Robert
> _______________________________________________
> Maxima mailing list
> Maxima at math.utexas.edu
> http://www.math.utexas.edu/mailman/listinfo/maxima