questions about make boxes
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg13716] questions about make boxes
- From: Tom <toad at planet.eon.net>
- Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1998 01:38:09 -0400
- Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com
I have been trying to figure out the examples that have been given
recently responding to the question about box formatting. I can sort
of understand the idea, but my knowledge doesn't allow me to modify the
examples to fit my needs.
I wonder if someone could help with this question. It seems that
MakeBoxes would apply here, but I am not sure.
Here is a very simple example of what I would like Mathematica to do
....
Suppose we have coefficients, a,b ,c and d. They can take on integer
values from -10 to 10.
I would like to have the correct box form for the expression a x + b x +
c x + d x.
This means that if a = 1, and b = 0, and c = -1 and d = 12, the output
would be something like...
RowBox[{"x", "-", "x", "+",
RowBox[{"12", "x"}]}]
If I could see how this was done, then it could be applied to more
complicated expressions. Basically I am after a way to correctly
format a "string" of expressions of the kind "coefficient expression
+ coefficient expression + ......" so that I can pick the
coefficients at random and have the output look the way it should. The
expression might be a simple variable, or the root of something (eg.
2 root 18 + root 8 - 12 root 2 )
This is related to work I am doing for my math classes, using
Mathematica to generate random math problems for my students.
Thanks for your patience and any help you might offer.
Sincerely,
Tom De Vries