Do you mean some kind of #include "Page2" statement? If so, then answer is "no".

There was a separate product called Mathconnex (it was included in some Mathcad versions - it stoped with Mathcad 11). Among other things it has the capability to connect Mathcad files. I do not know why its development stoped. My personal oppinion is that Mathconnex concept was not accepted by the users.

It might be a good idea, but the naming convention of user defined variables and functions must be invented in order to use variables and functions in one worksheet from another. What to do in those cases? If there are variables accesible in multiple tabbed worksheets with the same name, the problem is how to track changes? What would be the order of recalculation?
One of the solution of this problem might be to have two types of worksheet. Only one main worksheet as it is now, and another type (tabbed) worksheets with the feature of defining only variables and functions with unique names defined in them. I am not sure that this might be a good solution. I suppose the realisation of this idea would open other questions to be answered and realised.

Regards,
Radovan

Edited by user 20 February 2010 03:21:44(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Actually SMath Studio already have implemented draft of Area Control (but disabled in public releases):


...will be enabled in the future.

P.S.: If you want, you can play with Area using this file: area_demo.xmcd. Just open it in SMath Studio. Note: Area Control is very buggy and cannot be saved or copied.

Edited by user 20 February 2010 07:42:38(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

This solution will go a long way towards producing flexible and more readable worksheets. Great work, Andrey!



Radovan, I completely agree. With the new capability of creating plugins, I am sure that users would also have the ability to create their own functions. But this is will require medium-to-advanced programming skills. With the functionality you have described above, users who simply know how to use Smath could create their own functions, without the need of learning how to program in Visual Basic, C-sharp, F-sharp, etc.

I am going to call this a "linked function" for want of a better word.

As far as the difficulties mentioned above regarding having a worksheet with dependencies on other worksheets, it may be possible to automatically merge the other Smath file with the current file when a "linked function" is utilized. Thus, the "linked function" would behave just like a native Smath function and the function would travel with the file if it was transmitted to another user. For instance, in Excel, a custom VBA routine created by the user is saved as part of the .xls file and thus travels with the file.

Edited by user 24 February 2010 22:21:06(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

I understand and agree it is very desirable to keep Smath simple, easy-to-use, and easy-to-learn. But, I think that it is possible to add greater capabilities and flexibility (such as the "linked function" feature) without sacrificing much in the program's ease of use.

It seems to me that it all comes down to how the user interface is designed. It is essential to keep the GUI clean and simple, uncluttered by controls and features that would only be used rarely by the experienced user or not at all by the casual user. For instance, the idea of adding the worksheet tabs would be a mistake (who mentioned that idea anyway! erisive: ) since it adds unnecessary complexity to the GUI.

However, that doesn't mean that new and powerful (albeit more seldomly used) features could not be added. These features, however, should not be immediately visible to the average user, unless they specifically look for it, nor should it interfere with their daily use of the software. One way to do this is to keep such features buried one or two levels down in the drop down menus along the top of the GUI or the features may be implemented using special keystrokes.

As far as the idea of creating custom functions is concerned, I believe that Andrey has already provided that capability through the use of plugins. Since creating these plugins would require programming skills, the idea of allowing users to create custom functions using Smath worksheets is actually a step away from complexity in the direction of simplicity.

The average user need not concern themselves with creating their own functions unless they come up against a situation in which they find it useful. The average user might only come into contact with them if they were sent a Smath worksheet from another user in which they are used. But if custom functions are automatically merged with the worksheet in which they are used, the custom function would act and behave like a native Smath function. The underlying worksheets of any custom functions used in the current worksheet would be invisible to the user unless they specifically chose to view them. (Once again, please see how Excel implements custom VBA functions within spreadsheets. They act and behave like native Excel functions and these functions are saved as part of the spreadsheet file. It is also possible to view the code of the custom functions, if the user desires to do so.)

So anyway, my take on the issue would be to continue to expand the capabilities of Smath, but endeavor to maintain the simplicity in the user interface at the same time.

Edited by user 03 March 2010 23:23:58(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Radovan,

I think what you have described above would be a great and very useful implementation of custom functions.

Since you have taken it in hand to present how you would visualize the implementation of custom functions, I thought I might present what I had been thinking as well. (only as another possibility)

I was thinking in the same general direction as you, but tried to visualize a solution using dialog boxes. Also, I would like custom functions to have the look and feel of built-in Smath functions.

So, lets say that you start by creating the Smath worksheet you showed us above (sorry for borrowing your image ) (The syntax of the file could help to designate the arguments and return values as you have shown in the image):


then, you would click on a menu choice "Define Func..." in the "Tools" menu:


This will display a dialog box allowing you to define the custom function either using the currently active Smath file or browse for another one on your local machine. In this case, we would choose "Use Active SMath Worksheet"...


At this point, I envision that Smath would analyze the Smath file to attempt to automatically locate the input variables and the return value. This would then be displayed in a dialog box that would allow the user to type in the function name, description, browse for an image showing sample usage, and then edit the input and output values (this could be done by either changing/deleting variables in the dialog box or simply cancelling the operation and returning to the defining Smath worksheet to rewrite using the correct syntax). The dialog box could possibly look like this:


Thus, the custom function would be available from the list of built-in functions within Smath (within a cateory called "Custom" ) :


This function would look and feel like a native Smath function. If custom functions are used within a Smath worksheet, the function could be merged with the Smath file, allowing it to travel with the file. If a user opened a file that contained the custom function, the function could be automatically added to the list of functions on that users system (or the user could be prompted whether they wanted this done or not).

Anyway, this is not necessarily the way this functionality should be implemented (if it is implemented at all). But just what I envisioned in my mind's eye. I submit it only as an idea and subject to change and improvement. Radovan, what you have written above is equally useful. Hopefully, Andrey can give us his opinion on what he thinks is practical, possible, or more user friendly, and the user community can give more input on whether they think this functionality is something they would want.

Edited by user 16 March 2010 02:57:39(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Hello.

Many thanks for your ideas! It is a dream for any developer, to see such kind of specifications to implement functionality or anyhow to make own decisions based on these. I will create a support for custom functions as soon as I will finish with units and some minor stuff. And of course I will inform you here about the progress.

By the way, I need in time break for a while, so work on SMath Studio in a pause now (but I still can participate in discussions here and ready for the questions). On Sunday I'll be back and will continue current activities.

Best regards!

Hello Yevgen. Nice to meet you on the SMath Studio forum pages.


Sure. Encryption (i.e. protection by password) of the Area region is one of the most significant parts of the Task to implement Area control.

Regards, Andrey Ivashov.