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Re: How should I start with mathematica?

  • To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
  • Subject: [mg85565] Re: How should I start with mathematica?
  • From: David Bailey <dave at Remove_Thisdbailey.co.uk>
  • Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 07:46:43 -0500 (EST)
  • References: <fouc1l$kr0$1@smc.vnet.net>

?erých Jakub wrote:
>> I completely agree - can you remember who it was who wrote a
>> "Mathematica book generator" and posted it here - if you can,
>> I will add a link to it on my site, because that is all that
>> we seem to have for the foreseeable future!
>>
>> I think WRI's approach to documentation is a real mistake.
>> Newbies must find it almost impossible to get into the
>> software. Also, some of the new features of 6.0 - such as all
>> the new capabilities of Import and Export are almost buried
>> and unusable because of poor, vague, Microsoft-style documentation.
>>
>> David Bailey
>> http://www.dbaileyconsultancy.co.uk
>>
> As a newbie I must say, that it is not so difficult to get into Mathematica
> 6. The free web seminars are great, I hope, that WRI is preparing the new
> ones, as I have already attended most of the now offered.
> 
> But what I'm missing for my work is some structured list of functions. For
> example when I'm looking for let's say string manipulation functions, I start
> with writing word String and pressing F1 in notebook. Than I use "See also",
> "More about" or "Tutorials" sections of the help and after while of clicking
> I usualy find what I need.
> But if I had such structured list of functions (may be printed on some bigger
> format poster), I think this searching could be much faster.      
> 
> Jakub
> 
> 
I am glad you are finding the seminars useful. I guess everyone has a 
different learning style, and I prefer to read a book at my own pace!

To find all the string functions, type

?*String*

This will give you a list of symbols containing 'String', and you can 
look them up to get the details. The asterisks stand for any text, and 
the '?' command looks up symbols that match the pattern.


David Bailey
http://www.dbaileyconsultancy.co.uk



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