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From: Pepe Sanchez <Jose.Sanchez at uv.es>
Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2013 18:06:45 +0100
CC: <maxima at math.utexas.edu>
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Dear Leo
Thanks a lot for your help.
I'm aware now that perhaps my problem is much dependent of the
environment.
Let me explain that my concern is about using wxMaxima in both MacOSX
and windows environments
for teaching chemistry and physics to BSc students. Providing them with
the possibility of handling symbols that they find in their textbooks
encourages them to use Maxima as Computer Algebra System (CAS) for
solving exercises, derive expressions, etc...
I have not difficulties in using greek symbols followed by subindexes,
e.g=20
(%i1) %alpha[1] : %mu[1] * %omega[3]
and I get a very nice product of the greek symbol for letter mu with
a subindex 1 and letter omega with subindex 3
That's OK. No problem. A good possibility when it matches (e.g, in
vector algebra for mechanics, dipole moments, etc...)
Now, let us suppose I need using some Thermodynamical expression
requiring the use of, lets say, "DeltaG", such as it appears in
chemistry textbooks, (a %Delta and a G denotating the increment of the
Gibbs potential, and used as a single variable). It is there where I'm
facing difficulties, hence my question, that I tried to raise on a more
general context:
Is there a way of combining in a single variable name the greek
symbols and conventional alphanumeric characters?
Of course, as you say, in any utf8 lips environment, no problem...
Unfortunately, this seems not to be the case for the wxMaxima
implementations in MacOSX and windows available at my classrooms...
=20
Thanks again for your patience if you have read up to here!!
I think I understand your request now. The only way to make input and
output look the same is to use an extended character set like
utf8. I don't know if that works for wxmaxima, though.
On the other hand, if you are just concerned with output, then I will
guess that wxmaxima displays symbols by means of the tex display
system (wxmaxima devs: is this true?) If that is the case, then a
start-up file could address your requirements.
e.g. fill it with set-up commands like:
texput(%deltaG, "\\Delta G");
etc.
Leo