Maxima Manual - Example Page 15 - different result for ''sin(1);

The result  sin(1)  is correct.  I just looked at the manual, and the 
example is wrong.

It is pretty useless to write ''sin(1). 

I think that the only time I ever use ''  is in trying out a previous 
line, again.
That is,  instead of retyping a line of a command, I type something like 
''%i3;

Another use is when you produce an expression, and you realize that you 
want to make it into the body of a function.
That can be done by  something like f(x,y) := ''%;

That's IT.

I can't think of any other use, and in particular, the further example 
involving ''foo strikes me as total nonsense, illustrating
what I think is simply wrong and a misunderstanding of the feature being 
explained.  It should be removed from the
manual.

RJF


Peter Gardner wrote:
> Hi list,
>
> I'm on Linux, Slackware Current, running Maxima 5.16.3 using Lisp 
> CLISP 2.46 (2008-07-02) and reading "Maxima Manual Ver. 5.16.3".
>
> Trying to understand the quote-quote operator I tried the example on 
> page 15.
> The manual shows:
> (%i1) sin (1);
> (%o1)                               sin(1)
> (%i2) ''sin (1);
> (%o2)                           0.8414709848079
> but on my PC I get:
> (%i1) sin (1);
> (%o1)                               sin(1)
> (%i2) ''sin (1);
> (%o2)                               sin(1)
>
> Can anybody explain why I get a different result?
> On my PC I also see this:
> (%i3) ''sin(1.0);
> (%o3)                          .8414709848078965
> I am quite confused.
>
> I have checked that my installation is OK.
> run_testsuite() ends with: No unexpected errors found.
> build_info() shows: Maxima version: 5.16.3
> Maxima build date: 19:42 12/5/2008
> host type: i486-slackware-linux-gnu
> lisp-implementation-type: CLISP
> lisp-implementation-version: 2.46 (2008-07-02) (built 3430482178) 
> (memory 3437494943)
>
> The remainder of the example gives the same results as the manual:
> (%i3) declare (foo,noun);
> (%o3)                                done
> (%i4) foo (x) := x - 1729;
> (%o4)                        ''foo(x) := x - 1729
> (%i5) foo (100);
> (%o5)                              foo(100)
> (%i6) ''foo (100);
> (%o6)                               - 1629
>
> Cheers,
> Peter
>
>
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