Re: Clever Tricky Solutions
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg94357] Re: Clever Tricky Solutions
- From: Helen Read <read at math.uvm.edu>
- Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2008 03:43:50 -0500 (EST)
- References: <27271771.1228394784179.JavaMail.root@m02> <ghavpg$o9j$1@smc.vnet.net> <ghdmvt$frc$1@smc.vnet.net> <ghf70d$pdu$1@smc.vnet.net> <ghj02i$ffs$1@smc.vnet.net> <ghlmd8$jv7$1@smc.vnet.net> <gho38k$6h$1@smc.vnet.net>
David Bailey wrote:
> Helen Read wrote:
>>
>>> I agree something like this should be built in to Mathematica, but in
>>> the meantime, how about defining a little function such as:
>>>
>>> showAll[pl_List,opts___Rule]:=Module[{plRanges,x1,x2,y1,y2},
>>> plRanges=Map[AbsoluteOptions[#,PlotRange]&,pl];
>>> x1=Min@plRanges[[All,1,2,1,1]];
>>> x2=Max@plRanges[[All,1,2,1,2]];
>>> y1=Min@plRanges[[All,1,2,2,1]];
>>> y2=Max@plRanges[[All,1,2,2,2]];
>>> Show[pl,PlotRange->{{x1,x2},{y1,y2}},opts]
>>> ];
>>>
>>> showAll[{px1,px2}]
>> This would so not be worth it for my Calculus students.
>> Show[{plot1,plot2,plot3},PlotRange->Automatic] is a far simpler thing
>> for them to deal with
>>
> Don't you ask your students to load some code (or arrange for it to load
> automatically) before they start work? You could give them all sorts of
> useful tweaks and extra functions by doing that. One way to load code
> automatically is to create a Configuration/Kernel/init.m file with
> definitions in it, or perhaps just a Get command to load stuff from
> elsewhere.
When I have some code I want the students to run for some specific,
limited situation purpose, of course I provide a file with
initialization cells that I have written. But a built-in function like
Show that the students use every day would not be worth messing with.
The students use Mathematica on University owned computers all over
campus and on their own laptops, and there is no way to get a custom
init.m file everywhere it would need to be. If I put some code altering
the behavior of Show into an init.m file on the machines in our two math
classrooms, it would only serve to confuse the students when they were
working somewhere else. It just wouldn't be worth it. It's far better
for the students to learn to throw in PlotRange->Automatic in Show, and
have a Show function that works consistently wherever they are working.
--
Helen Read
University of Vermont