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confusing Mathematica?

  • To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
  • Subject: [mg30262] confusing Mathematica?
  • From: "Michael" <michael at science.edu>
  • Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2001 01:14:29 -0400 (EDT)
  • Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com

I've got a rather length function consisting of a module within a block
within a block.  Within the module is a while statement containing at a
particular point an if within a replace within an if.

Upon routine editing I happened to make the following change:

...
If[<condition>,
    (* Here I inserted the rest of this line: *) Map[(X)&,vars];
   (* This comment was already here... *)
  If[<valid stuff here>];
,


and suddenly I get a huge syntax error looking something like this...

Syntax::sntxf :
"If [<<1>>,<<1>>]; cannot be followed by "(code snipped)".

The error is nowhere near where I actually insert the line.  The problem is,
when I delete the line I just added I *still* get an error.  The way the
front end spuriously moves text around while I am trying to complete
brackets and braces is most unhelpful, and I thought perhaps I had made a
change somewhere else in the function without realizing it.  But after a
long time trying to figure out where the error is, I ran diff against the
original function and the function Mathematica doesn't like, and there is no
difference.

Any ideas what is going on here?  Am I confusing Mathematica with so many
things nested inside each other?

Michael




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