2008/11/24 Andrew Yeltsin <gutierrez at nigma.ru>:
> I tried a more complex equation
> solve(sin(x)^2-(a+1/2)*sin(x)+a*1/2=0,x);
>
> There was a variable substition somewhere, and in solvequad I got:
> a 2
> b (G21359 1 -2 0 -1)
> c (G21359 1 1)
G21359 is a so-called "gensym" (generated symbol).
What Maxima function generated that return value?
(And for what arguments?)
Gensyms should not appear in results returned to the user.
> And in TeX function I've got such errors
>
> Maxima encountered a Lisp error:
> CAR: #:G21359 is not a list
Well-formed Maxima expressions are like: ((foo) a b c)
that is, the first element is itself a list.
(G21359 1 1) is not well-formed; its first element is an atom.
Most Maxima functions will barf on such expressions.
FWIW
Robert Dodier