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Re: Starting using octave


From: Etienne Grossmann
Subject: Re: Starting using octave
Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2003 13:30:22 -0500
User-agent: Mutt/1.4.1i

  Hi Oz,

On Sun, Nov 30, 2003 at 03:54:08AM -0600, acoohdb wrote:
# 
# This is just an observation, for what it's worth.
# 
# I did download octave, the 'complete' windows version, and after some
# setting up (particularly setting the appropriate font) it seemed to be
# functioning.
# 
# However I had some problem deciphering the philosopy of it's
# functioning, and eventually gave up. Probably it would have been fine
# had I been given a short lecture on it, but the help didn't seem to be
# that helpful.
# 
# There are a number of 'styles' for mathematical/numerical programs that
# I am familiar with. We have 'spreadsheet', and a variety of program
# styles. I am familiar with pascal (turbo), basic and assembler. So, I'm
# pretty inexperienced, in probably a narrow range, but not as green as
# (say) a student. It's *very* unusual for me not to get an unknown
# program up and running and in use relatively quickly with intelligent
# use of what help is available.
# 
# I would expect all modern programs to have a full-blown editor included,
# and in the default (obviously capable of replacement for one of your own
# choice if preferred). I would expect to start in the editor, and be able
# to put in a sequence of instructions and run them. I would expect to be
# able to save these instructions and edit them in full-screen, that is be
# able to 'go up' and modify any bits of code that turned out to be wrong.
# 
# As far as I could see the basic editor in octave seemed to be a line
# editor, and there didn't seem to be any way to 'list' the actual
# sequence of commands that octave was actually interpreting.

  The way I use octave is to switch from my editor, where I edit
functions and scripts, and the octave command-line, where I test the
scripts and functions, do calculations, view results, save them etc. I
guess that's how it's meant to be used.

  History, when the readline library is available, can be accessed
with the arrow keys and by doing control-r (backwards search).

  Emacs has an octave mode which is useful to edit octave code.

  There is no (afaik - people on the list, am I right?)
spreadsheat-like input method. A matrix can be built with the
commands:

  a = [1 2 3; 4 5 6]

resulting in a 2-rows-by-3-columns matrix called  a.

  Cheers,

  Etienne


# After quite a bit of looking at various helps, and trying the sort of
# thing that works on other bits of software, I gave up and after a month
# deleted it.
# 
# Since it is clear to me from reading this listserver that octave is a
# powerful piece of software and clearly highly regarded by many, I think
# this is a pity. I post this for comment, if anyone is interested.
# 
# -- 
# Oz
# This post is worth absolutely nothing and is probably fallacious.
# DEMON address no longer in use. 
# 
# 
# 
# -------------------------------------------------------------
# Octave is freely available under the terms of the GNU GPL.
# 
# Octave's home on the web:  http://www.octave.org
# How to fund new projects:  http://www.octave.org/funding.html
# Subscription information:  http://www.octave.org/archive.html
# -------------------------------------------------------------
# 



-------------------------------------------------------------
Octave is freely available under the terms of the GNU GPL.

Octave's home on the web:  http://www.octave.org
How to fund new projects:  http://www.octave.org/funding.html
Subscription information:  http://www.octave.org/archive.html
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