mathcad worth it? 4

[wrantler]

I have been using excel forever. It works for me...but I keep seeing these mathcad sheets and am intrigued by how easily laid out the sheets are. But then I seen the price of $700/year!

I guess I am looking for opinions on if it is worth the cost. These subscription licenses are making it hard for the little guy to make a business. I thought mathcad was a one time license for life..

On a side note has anyone used SMath? It seems like a free mathcad clone.

 

[Sparweb]

Mathcad also has a "Trace Window", but that's only used when programming & debugging. It shows the value of a variable "x" employed by a program when the "trace(x)" function is called.

 

[dik]

With SMath, if I want to use a new variable, I often check it's value using the '=' sign. If it hasn't been used, it automatically assigns the equals ':=' sign. Also if I want to determine where a variable was first assigned, I use the '=' and let SMath provide a value. I then 'highlight' the variable and move it with the cursor upwards with the cursor (it shows a value, for example x=5in) until it goes 'blank' (for example x= ). That the location in the program where the variable was created. I'm also pretty selective in naming variables because I cut and paste the code from other programs.

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So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

 

[Lomarandil]

dik, in Smath, one of the function keys (sorry, don't remember which one) will highlight where the selected variable was defined.

 

[dik]

Thanks... didn't catch that. I will look... it appears to be easier. I often use that to find the first use (I do a lot of cut and paste); it works like a charm.

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik