Re: Using subscripts in variable _names_!!!
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg6159] Re: [mg6104] Using subscripts in variable _names_!!!
- From: rjh at leland.stanford.edu (Robert Hohlfelder)
- Date: Thu, 27 Feb 1997 02:52:00 -0500
- Organization: Stanford University
- Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com
In article <5elugs$3g6 at smc.vnet.net>, delamart at bullwinkle.pas.rochester.edu
(Guy Delamarter) wrote:
> My department has finally purchased and installed Mathematica 3.0 and
> I was looking forward to using variable names that LOOKED like the
> variables I use in and read from technical documents. However, it
> appears that Mathematica assumes that subscripts are array indicies.
> I would gladly give up the ability to use subscripts as array
> addressing and use square brackets instead, if I could then use
> subscripts to denote unique names. For example, I would like it so
> that (using TeX notation, where _ denotes subscript) R_{sub} is a
> totally independent variable from R_{x}. As it stands now, the former
> accesses the sub'th element of R and the latter accesses the x'th
> element of R - and assumes R is some sort of array. In some cases
> this is okay, in others it isn't. One case where it isn't is when I
> want to define R_{sub} in terms of R_{x}. I obtain recusrsion in that
> case. Another case is where I want to apply Clear to R_{x}, but not
> R_{sub}.
>
> Since what I am asking for is the ability to write in a very standard,
> accepted sort of notation, I would hope that 3.0 has a way of obtaining it.
>
> Thanks,
> Guy Delamarter
>
I, too, am a little disappointed with the implementation of subscripts in
3.0. I'd be happier if Mathematica didn't try to evaluate subscripts, and
just treated them as part of the variable name.
- Robert
--
Robert Hohlfelder
rjh at leland.stanford.edu http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~rjh/
(415) 723-1284