Serious Bug in 6.0 Help Browser
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg79567] Serious Bug in 6.0 Help Browser
- From: "David Park" <djmpark at comcast.net>
- Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2007 00:17:14 -0400 (EDT)
There is a serious bug in the Version 6 Help Browser for user written
packages in that the Sliders in Manipulate statements quite often have no
effect, especially with graphics statements.
Here is a group of Manipulate statements taken from the Documentation for
Manipulate.
Manipulate[Plot[Sin[x (1 + a x)], {x, 0, 6}], {a, 0, 2}]
Manipulate[Factor[x^n - 1], {n, 10, 100, 1}]
Manipulate[Plot[Sin[a x + b], {x, 0, 6}], {a, 1, 4}, {b, 0, 10}]
Manipulate[
Plot[Sin[a x + b], {x, 0, 6}], {{a, 2, "Multiplier"}, 1,
4}, {{b, 0, "Phase Parameter"}, 0, 10}]
Manipulate[
PolarPlot[\[Theta], {\[Theta], 0, t}, PlotRange -> 20], {t, 1, 6 Pi}]
Manipulate[
ContourPlot3D[
x^2 + y^2 + a z^3 == 1, {x, -2, 2}, {y, -2, 2}, {z, -2, 2},
Mesh -> None], {a, -2, 2}]
Manipulate[Plot3D[Sin[x y + a], {x, 0, 3}, {y, 0, 3}], {a, 0, 1}]
When I put these in a Help Browser notebook and evaluate them outside of the
Help Browser, that is I evaluate the notebook itself, they all work
properly.
However, when I evaluate the same statements in the same notebook inside the
Help Browser they do not work properly. In all of the graphics manipulators
the Sliders slide but have no effect on the plot. The Factor case Slider
does work. In my own work with my own manipulator statements I found that
sometimes the Sliders would work but mostly they wouldn't. The Manipulator
output is present but, as I said, the Sliders have no effect.
If I save the Help notebook with all the output cells present, then the
Sliders do work within the Help Browser but if a user should reevaluate one
of the statements then they will no longer work.
If I copy a nonfunctioning Manipulate Input/Output group from the Help
Browser back into a regular notebook outside the Help Browser, then the
Sliders do again function, even without reevaluation. So there is something
about the Help Browser window itself that interfers with proper Manipulator
evaluation.
It is a disappointment that package developers are on the one hand cut off
from the new documentation facilities, and on the other hand significant
features of the new Mathematica do not function properly in the old Help
Browser.
--
David Park
djmpark at comcast.net
http://home.comcast.net/~djmpark/