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Re: Re: problem with parsing InputForm scientific notation (eg. 3.`*^-7)

• To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
• Subject: [mg80783] Re: [mg80758] Re: problem with parsing InputForm scientific notation (eg. 3.`*^-7)
• From: John Fultz <jfultz at wolfram.com>
• Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2007 00:34:50 -0400 (EDT)

On Thu, 30 Aug 2007 23:52:28 -0400 (EDT), yatesd at mac.com wrote:
> On Aug 26, 8:31 am, "Chris Chiasson" <ch... at chiasson.name> wrote:
>
>> Can anyone confirm this report?
>>
>> Steps to reproduce:
>> 1. Enter "3.`*^-7" (without quotation marks) into an Input cell and
>> evaluate it.
>> 2. Go back to the Input cell, put your cursor at the beginning and
>> enter "RealDigits["
>> 3. Hit the End key, type "]" and then re-evaluate the cell, which by
>> now reads "RealDigits[3.`*^-7]", but don't enter that directly.
>>
>> I have encountered other errors where InputForm messes up the syntax
>> checker, but I haven't been able to make a small reproducible example
>> like this one.
>>
>> Version 6.0.1 on MS Windows XP SP2
>>
>> --http://chris.chiasson.name/
>>
> Works fine for me on a Mac. Have you tried RealDigits[3.*^-7] or
> RealDigits[3`*^-7] ? Perhaps the parser is confused by having both the
> period and the number mark as only one is needed. (Note that
> InputForm[3`] -> 3.)
>
> Regards,
>
> Derek

I can reproduce it on Mac and Windows.  Thanks for the report.  In this case, 
the problem can be repaired by typing and deleting a space somewhere in or 
immediately next to the number.

Sincerely,
 
John Fultz
jfultz at wolfram.com
User Interface Group
Wolfram Research, Inc.