On Sun, Aug 21, 2011 at 1:33 AM, James Cloos <cloos at jhcloos.com> wrote:
> (%i1) display2d:false;
>
> (%o1) false
> (%i2) solve(x^c-3,x);
>
> Is c an integer?
>
> n;
> (%o2) [x = 3^(1/c)]
> (%i3)
>
> vs:
>
> (%i1) display2d:false;
>
> (%o1) false
> (%i2) solve(x^c-3,x);
>
> Is c an integer?
>
> y;
> (%o2) [x = 3^(1/c)]
> (%i3)
>
> So why ask whether c is an integer?
>
> Yes, this is a bit annoying. While I haven't looked into the code for
solve, this situation often happens because at a certain point maxima needs
to know something to decide how to proceed. It sometimes turns out not to
matter, but at the point where the question is asked, maxima needs to know.
Ray