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Re: What characters are allowed in mathematica variable names? i.e. how

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  • Subject: [mg126043] Re: What characters are allowed in mathematica variable names? i.e. how
  • From: Murray Eisenberg <murray at math.umass.edu>
  • Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2012 04:55:48 -0400 (EDT)
  • Delivered-to: l-mathgroup@mail-archive0.wolfram.com

Not ever to use the Front End seems like a self-imposed unnecessary 
restriction.

On 4/12/12 3:32 PM, Jesse Perla wrote:
> Thanks.  Lets say that I never want to use the FrontEnd and don't want to
> use any escaped characters (i.e. \[....]) because they are a pain to write
> and format within command line mathematica.
>
>   Is there a list of kosher symbols that are allowed?  In C, for example, it
> would be all the alphanumeric characters, _, and maybe a few more.
>
> On Thu, Apr 12, 2012 at 3:23 PM, Murray Eisenberg<murray at math.umass.edu>wrote:
>
>> \[Breve]
>>
>> For such things, in the Mathematica front end, just open the Special
>> Characters palette. When you locate the character you want and mouse over
>> it, you'll see a display of its short-cut abbreviation (with Esc). To see
>> the "purely ascii" form (with \[...]), just select the cell in the notebook
>> where you've typed the character with the Esc sequence -- or just inserted
>> it from the menu -- and change the display of that cell to reveal the
>> underlying expression (on Mac, this is Cmd Shift E).
>>
>> (Sorry my original version of this message was truncated when I sent it.)
>>
>>
>> On 4/12/12 9:45 AM, Jesse Perla wrote:
>>
>>> Thanks.  How would I type that in ascii and would it show up escaped in
>>> \[....]in a text file on the server?  Assume that I am editing things
>>> purely in a text file.
>>>
>>> On Thu, Apr 12, 2012 at 9:40 AM, Murray Eisenberg<murray at math.umass.**edu<murray at math.umass.edu>
>>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>   If you insist on using a character as separator, you could use breve,
>>>> typed as Esc bv Esc (without the spaces, of course).
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 4/12/12 2:35 AM, Jesse Perla wrote:
>>>>
>>>>   In other languages like C++, _ is a kosher character to be in variable
>>>>> names.  It is not in mathematica, so things like "my_first_variable"
>>>>> don't
>>>>> work.  I have been using a ` to separate out the words to get things
>>>>> like
>>>>> my`first`variable, but now realize it is creating other issues due to
>>>>> the
>>>>> scoping it introduces.
>>>>>
>>>>> Are there are other characters I can use to separate out words in
>>>>> variable names?
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>   --
>>>> Murray Eisenberg                     murrayeisenberg at gmail.com
>>>> 80 Fearing Street                    phone 413 549-1020 (H)
>>>> Amherst, MA 01002-1912
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>> --
>> Murray Eisenberg                     murray at math.umass.edu
>> Mathematics&  Statistics Dept.
>> Lederle Graduate Research Tower      phone 413 549-1020 (H)
>> University of Massachusetts                413 545-2859 (W)
>> 710 North Pleasant Street            fax   413 545-1801
>> Amherst, MA 01003-9305
>>
>

-- 
Murray Eisenberg                     murray at math.umass.edu
Mathematics & Statistics Dept.
Lederle Graduate Research Tower      phone 413 549-1020 (H)
University of Massachusetts                413 545-2859 (W)
710 North Pleasant Street            fax   413 545-1801
Amherst, MA 01003-9305



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