Thanks for the thorough post, acer. I'll go through each of the cases you mentioned.

restart:
# valid in 1D but not in 2D
f:= x -> if x < 0 then a else b end if;

This is a known bug. I realize it has been reported before. We're not ignoring it, but it is somewhat difficult to fix and not of the highest priority right now, because there is a workaround available (using proc syntax instead of the arrow operator). We will try to deal with this as soon as possible or make a note of it in our documentation, as has been suggested elsewhere.

restart:
# valid in 1D but not in 2D
x := 12.34567\
89012345;

This is a bug.

restart:
# works differently in 1D and 2D
sin (x);

restart:
# works differently in 1D and 2D
f := proc (x)
  x^2;
end proc:
f(3); f (3);

Both of the above examples are a consequence of 2-d input's implicit-multiplication rules.

restart:
# works differently in 1D and 2D
m!=n;

This is, as you observed, by design. When you enter != or paste it, it immediately turns into <>, so at least users are not misled into thinking it has a different meaning.

restart:
# valid in 2D but not in 1D
2.sin(x);

This again is an instance of implicit multiplication. You are right in that the parsing rules regarding the decimal point vs. the dot operator should be explained more clearly in the documentation. I will add that request to our bugs database.

restart:
# valid in 2D but not in 1D
f := proc(x);
local a,b,c;
a:=x^2;
end proc;

This is a bug in the 2-d parser.

restart:
# bug in 2D
# first enter this in 2D mode, but don't Return
<|>(7);
# now wrap the <|> in ` name quotes, using the arrow
# keys to move the input cursor around. The result is not the same as before.
`<|>`(7);

This also looks like a bug.

I'll check our database to see if these bug reports are already present, and if not, I will add them. If you've submitted any of them already, please let me know. Thanks.

Paulina Chin
Maplesoft

Yes, you are quite right, Robert. It looks as if the differences in Doug's post are related to the numberfunctions setting. This is a situation where we deliberately veered from compatibility with 1-d. In 1-d math, 3(x) evaluated to 3. Most 2-d math users would not expect this, so we changed the default interpretation. However, the numberfunctions setting had to be added for users who wanted to have this interpreted as in the 1-d input case. We're aware that this feature can be a potential source of confusion when worksheets are shared between users. This issue is also on our list of things to investigate and improve.

Paulina

A number of you have brought up, in this and earlier threads, problems related to implicit multiplication. I'd like to mention that we are indeed aware of these weaknesses and bugs and we are investigating long-term solutions. As Jacques suggests, there are some fundamental issues we need to examine, so it may take some time to complete the improvements. I just wanted to reassure everyone that we are taking these problems seriously and are working on making 2-d math more usable.

Also, to clarify some points that have been raised here: there are two parsers in Maple, one for 1-d math and one for 2-d math. Generally, documents don't contain execution groups and input is in 2-d math, while worksheets have execution groups in which it is easy to switch between 1-d math and 2-d math input. The same 2-d parser in used in both cases. There shouldn't be differences in the results if the same command is issued in a Document and in a Worksheet.

Paulina Chin
Maplesoft

Sorry, I missed seeing that BoxPlot has its own 'captions' option. I'll enter this bug into our database.

Paulina

Sorry, I missed seeing that BoxPlot has its own 'captions' option. I'll enter this bug into our database.

Paulina

The option name is 'caption', without the trailing 's', because only one is allowed per plot.

Paulina

The option name is 'caption', without the trailing 's', because only one is allowed per plot.

Paulina

The caption option seems to work OK for me with the BoxPlot command. I just tested with Maple 13 and Windows XP. Can you provide the exact command and version of Maple you used? Thanks.

Paulina

The caption option seems to work OK for me with the BoxPlot command. I just tested with Maple 13 and Windows XP. Can you provide the exact command and version of Maple you used? Thanks.

Paulina

Patrick, thanks for pointing out the tickmarks/thickness problem. Indeed, this did work in Maple 11 but is now broken in Maple 13. I'll make sure this problem is added to our bugs database, if it isn't there already, and it will be addressed in a future release. I'm afraid I can't think of a different workaround you can use for the Classic GUI, except for what Alejandro had already suggested.

Paulina

Patrick, thanks for pointing out the tickmarks/thickness problem. Indeed, this did work in Maple 11 but is now broken in Maple 13. I'll make sure this problem is added to our bugs database, if it isn't there already, and it will be addressed in a future release. I'm afraid I can't think of a different workaround you can use for the Classic GUI, except for what Alejandro had already suggested.

Paulina

Don't worry about the accidental flagging, Magdalena. I'm sure the admins won't disable my account as a result. :-)  In any case, thanks for the comments. I'm glad you found the post helpful.

Paulina

Don't worry about the accidental flagging, Magdalena. I'm sure the admins won't disable my account as a result. :-)  In any case, thanks for the comments. I'm glad you found the post helpful.

Paulina

You can draw many of the objects available in the geometry and geom3d packages using plottools. If you replace the geometry[triangle] call with the following:
> b := polygon([[0,0],[0,4],[7,0]], thickness=4, color=red, style=line):
and add the scaling=constrained option to the plots[display] call, then you don't need to use the geometry package at all.

Paulina Chin
Maplesoft

Try the DensityPlot command in the Statistics package.

Paulina Chin
Maplesoft