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Rearranging terms - user-defined

• To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
• Subject: [mg127105] Rearranging terms - user-defined
• From: drehstuhl2 at googlemail.com
• Date: Sat, 30 Jun 2012 05:19:21 -0400 (EDT)
• Delivered-to: l-mathgroup@mail-archive0.wolfram.com

Does anyone know how to tell mathematica the following:

I have an expression like: a + bx -by 
and I want to factorise it like: a + b(x-y)

BUT: I want Mathematica to show the difference (x-y) whenever possible (in the different calculations - not just place b outside the bracket). That's because equations are easier to discuss if they are written in a special way.

Another example would be: using probabilities, I always want to write mathematica -(1-p) instead of -p+1 throughout the notebook. 

Sorry, for postig such a beginners question. I know there were similar questions, but it did't help. Thanks a lot!