[misc.handicap] Intermediate Algebra

Jim.Sherwin@f21.n272.z1.fidonet.org (Jim Sherwin) (10/02/90)

Index Number: 10696

Does anyone know of a DA which would allow a Mac SE user to
manipulate algebraic expressions, fractions, and roots in order to
cut & paste them on a word processing or paint program.  I'm
handicapped and have to use the mouse in order to write.  Without a
program of the sort I'm inquiring about this semester at Marist
College is going to be a real bummer!

Jim E. Sherwin

ps. help!

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Stu.Turk@f34.n129.z1.fidonet.org (Stu Turk) (10/03/90)

Index Number: 10799

Jim Sherwin of 1:272/21 wrote to Everyone: 

 JS>  Does anyone know of a DA which would allow a Mac SE user to manipulate
 JS>  algebraic expressions, fractions, and roots in order to cut & paste them
 JS>  on a word processing or paint program.  I'm handicapped and have to use
 JS>  the mouse in order to write.  Without a program of the sort I'm inquiring
 JS>  about this semester at Marist College is going to be a real bummer!
 JS>    
 JS>  Jim E. Sherwin
 JS>    
 JS>  ps. help!

    =

I asked one of my Mac users about it and he uploaded a file called
NUMBERCR.SIT that he thinks will do what you want.  I don't keep
Mac files on my BBS and have it in a restricted area but if you
want to try it, let me know and I will make arrangments to get it
to the SysOp of the T.I.N.Y. board for you to DL.  It is 110K in
size.

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JESSE.THARIN@f7.n300.z1.fidonet.org (JESSE THARIN) (10/03/90)

Index Number: 10811

Jim...
     Have you considered a DA such as DeskDraw, or especially DeskPaint?
You could paste up a formula from pieces and then cut-n-paste it into
anything you're working on, such as a word processing document. Most of
the symbols you would require would be in the SYMBOL font, and a simple
tabular printout of that pinned up on the (cork) bulletin board would be
easy to translate over, or you could also have the KeyCaps DA on-screen at 
the same time. The whole formula in DeskPaint would be a bitmap graphic,
so it wouldn't stretch well, but that'd be no problem with a little
practice. You didn't say what word processor (if any) you'd be pasting the 
formulas into, but most will wrap or not wrap as you call it. I've asked
around about dedicated formula generators and haven't yet got an answer.
Did you know that MicroSoft Word has formula generating codes built in?
It's crude and obtuse (MS-DOS origins, of course), and the formula won't
show on-screen except in the slower WYSIWYG mode, but I hear it does work
well. 
        
     Another approach that limits your ability to resize the numbers and
symbols, like if you want a big Sigma and a tiny superscript and a
mid-sized Delta, is to open a locked document with a small workspace in
the middle surrounded by an already typed library of characters that you
can selectively cut and paste into the central workspace to build your
formula. You then select the construct and quit the document without
saving changes, and paste the clipboard onto or into your text.
        
     Don't rule out MultiFinder. You can run a separate program if it's
better than any DA that you find. If you have a one-megabyte machine, you
can upgrade to 2.5 megs for about $135. This machine here has four
megabytes, which makes for one marvelous RAM cache (things move kinda
quickly). 
        
Jesse
 

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Marnie.Dobbs@f7.n125.z1.fidonet.org (Marnie Dobbs) (10/03/90)

Index Number: 10816

Try the MacCom Line 707 795- 1721 if you can afford the call.  Also
look into a Mac Users group in your area.  I'll check out the one
here for you are see if any one has heard of a system like the one
you are looking for.  Good luck.

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U20121@UICVM.BITNET (Steven Jordan) (10/09/90)

Index Number: 10943

The faculty at the Math Department here use IBM's as a general rule.
Among the Mac users, there were the following recommendations, (with
some comments appended by me)--

1.  Mac Equation.  Available from standard mail order houses for about
$50.  (This works fine.)

2.  Microsoft Word with its formula building commands.  (First you must
climb the steep learning curve.)

3.  Mathematica using Mac notebooks.  (Probably won't fit on your machine;
probably too expensive; probably much too powerful for you now.  Nevertheless,
keep it in mind in case you pursue advanced mathematics.)

Thanks to the many people who are responding to this inquiry.  I find the
contributions quite helpful.

Steven Jordan
University of Illinois at Chicago

Jim.Sherwin@f21.n272.z1.fidonet.org (Jim Sherwin) (10/18/90)

Index Number: 11187

Hello Marnie,  Great name!  Expressionist is the application I'm using
to complete my work in Intermediate Algebra for Marist College.  It
strictly generals mathematical expressons on a scratch pad, once you've
done the cleansing algebra you place your answer in a 'box' then cut &
past to the scrapbook.  Finally you open a paint program, use the
scrapbook to reverse the prossess slap on a number line of cartisian
plane and graph the answers.  Actually it sounds harder than it really
is, you have the benefit of cut & paste to replace parts of the generic
equasion with real numbers.  I was the only student to 'ace' the last
quiz, and am the only disabled person in the class!  I'm gonna call you
board in California to try to leave the edited version of this message
right now.
\/ Squire \/
/\  Jim   /\ 

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