Alternate software to MathCad Prime 9

[Prestressed Guy]

Anyone have any alternatives to Mathcad Prime by PTC.

 

[IRstuff]

There is a Mathcad forum on this site, but nevertheless, lots of people still use Mathcad 15, or even earlier.

SMath Studio is very similar to Mathcad, pre-Prime, and has being free going for it.

There are other programs that will give you Mathcad-like printouts, but not similar user interfaces, though. What are your requirements?

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list

http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm

 

[Prestressed Guy]

If I could get Mathcad 13 to work on my new machine I would be ecstatic. I needs are fairly basic.
Make printouts of math that look like textbook equations so that you do not need to be an excel nerd to read them.
Be able to do basic programing to find controlling limit states.
be able to show or hide sections of sheet so that I show what I want to present to the AHJ but not overwhelm them with equations.
Be able to format the text and equations to look the way I want them to appear.

I looked at SMath but the output looks very "spread-sheety"

I have attached a simple calc sheet that has the look I like.

 

[KootK]

If I could get Mathcad 13 to work on my new machine I would be ecstatic

I have an out of the box suggestion for your. Install a virtual machine on your computer and install whatever operating system works for MathCAD 13 there, along with mathcad. I do this and it works great. Of course, I don't have an IT department that I have to cajole into doing exotic things.

 

[Prestressed Guy]

I no longer have working disks for Mathcad. For some reason the last time I tried to install they would not read.

 

[JoshPlumSE]

I have a true love / hate relationship with MathCAD.

I love the programs for some of the calculations I do. Just very easy to use, and intuitive.... Though it has gotten less so over the years.

I hate all the games the company plays:
a) They're constantly changing their file format, so that the newer versions can't open older files.
b) No backwards compatibility at all. A way to force customers to upgrade if they need to read someone else's file.
c) A single license on one computer isn't terribly expensive. But, they really, really charge you if you want to turn that single copy into a single concurrent license over a network.

Back when I was at RISA, I suggested creating a RISACalc package that would do the basics of what MathCAD did. Just give a simple program for writing equations, formatting and citing equations in a WYSIWYG interface. I thought it would be great to tie into RISA input/output. But, management had no interest in the concept.

 

[JoshPlumSE]

Now, I tend to use Excell and SMath. I see little or no reason to use MathCAD and deal with all the frustrations that come from dealing with that company.

 

[IRstuff]

I'm running Mathcad 14 on Windows 10 with no issues. Mathcad 15 had a change in the license processor, so it's more likely to hang.

@Haydenwse Not sure what you mean; Smath's raison d'etre is to duplicate Mathcad's WYSIWYG interface, and I think I can duplicate everything in the snippet you show. I try to post something tonight

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list

http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm

 

[JoshPlumSE]

Hayenwse:
I was able to make an SMath file that looked pretty close to what you showed.

 

[skeletron]

SMath because it's free and WYSIWYG
Or modify your Excel workflow to be really transparent by:
-stacking calculation blocks
-using switch cells instead of multiple nested IF clauses
-using named variables, especially for unit conversions

 

[phamENG]

I have no experience with SMath and never really got into MathCAD, but you can make a sheet look very similar to that in Excel. VBA is pretty simple to learn and can give you some powerful automation. And the Office equation editor will allow you to produce the "textbook" looking equations. Align them with the cell in question, program the VBA/embedded formulas to display in that cell, and boom - you've got a professional looking calc sheet.

 

[dik]

I don't have a copy of the PCI Manual. Can someone post a picture of what the variables are in Hadenwse's posting?

If you don't want to show calcs in SMath... just move them off the page... the calculations work but don't show up in the printed copy.

Thanks in advance,

Dik

 

[Prestressed Guy]

dik here are the pages from PCI 6th. I am not at the office and do not have the 7th edition but only the ø factor changed.

 

[Prestressed Guy]

here is the second page of the calc.

 

[Prestressed Guy]

IRstuff, I have not seen any printouts from Smath as was basing my assumption on the screen shots that they have on their web page. This was all that I saw and it is pretty clunky and hard to read. Does it allow for Boolean functions to find controlling limit states?
The problem that I have with Mathcad is that they no longer have perpetual licenses and the basic Subscription is now close to $700/year. That is $150 more than a couple of years ago and if you do not pay their extorsion each year, you get locked out of your created work. They know that once they have you on the hook, it becomes too painful to loose your content so you will be forced to pay.

 

[dik]

Haydenwse: "IRstuff, I have not seen any printouts from Smath as was basing my assumption on the screen shots that they have on their web page."

Bad example... I'll try coding your stuff using the format I usually use. Forgot to thank you for the added info...

Dik

 

[Prestressed Guy]

Thanks. Can you add any graphic files for details from AutoCAD or other sources?

 

[JoelTXCive]

I think the only way to get graphics into SMath is through cutting and pasting screen snips.

SMath is a free program, so it can be a little clunky at times; but once you get used to the input style and adjusting the units it is great. The more I use it, the more I like it.

If you download SMath Studio and like it, then please consider donating a few dollars to the software developer. He/She uses the money for new features. They have a donation button on their website.

https://en.smath.com/view/SMathStudio/summary

 

[dik]

This is the way I usually write SMath programs. There's an error and I couldn't find the formulae in the posted sheets. Data seems to be right but different numbers.

Dik

 

[IRstuff]

Didn't try to duplicate everything, and admittedly, the math font is pretty lame, and there's no fix for that yet.

By the way, I noticed you're not using units. Any particular reason for that? That's THE REASON Mathcad is so useful, since it seamlessly deals with units.

I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list

http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm