Re: A new FrontEnd
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- Subject: [mg127974] Re: A new FrontEnd
- From: David Bailey <dave at removedbailey.co.uk>
- Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2012 04:15:35 -0400 (EDT)
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On 03/09/2012 08:00, Mikhail Cherkasskii wrote:
> Hello, group.
> I had seen posts about FrontEnd interface. I agree with authors who say: FrontEnd in Mathematica 8 is archaic interface. And again I would like to say about this problem. Today we can see a lot of useful programs that have deal with text, graphics, numerical data and so on. For example look at another CAS system. There are a useful tools for graphics edit, for variables edit. MS Word is simple and powerful text editor with ribbon interface. OriginPro is power tool for graphics. Any modern internet browser has a tab interface. Why not?
> But Mathematica forces me use palettes. Yes, they can be useful, but in very limited cases. Summing up I would like to say: today we have a lot of examples and ideas, that can be use for create a new, real new FrontEnd interface.
>
Mathematica certainly doesn't force me to use palettes!
Let's take entering an integral as an example. I enter an integral by
typing it in input form, e.g.
Integrate[f[x],{x,0,10}]
I then flip this into StandardForm using Ctrl-Shift-N.
Likewise, if I want to input a Greek letter, I would use something like
\[Alpha] (which immediately collapses to the special character).
There are also ways to enter special characters using the ESC key.
I also customise my MenuSetup.tr file, to add a variety of extra
commands that I use frequently. This includes a few special characters.
Palettes are really only useful to input rarely used items - or just to
explore the range of Mathematica features available. There is always a
better alternative if you are a frequent user of a particular feature.
David Bailey
http://www.dbaileyconsultancy.co.uk