The following summarizes improvements and bug fixes made in version 5.01 of Derive 5 released on 16 June 2000:

Algebra window items:

•        Improvements have been made to the interface for editing Derive expression objects.  A status bar message now indicates editing mode and many commands have been disabled until editing is complete.

•        The default working directory for opening or saving files is now \Users instead of the Windows desktop.

•        Installing version 5.01 of Derive automatically includes it in the list of programs displayed by the Add/Remove Programs command of the Window’s Control Panel.

•        A bug that prevented substituting new values for the variables in a matrix has been fixed.

•        The names of string variables displayed in dialog boxes are now enclosed in double quotes so that they can be recognized as such by the user and the system.

•        When Greek characters are entered by clicking on the Greek symbol toolbar or by typing in their equivalent Latin name (e.g. when typing "gamma" for γ or "GAMMA" for Γ), the case of the Greek characters is always respected, even when the case of Latin characters is being ignored (i.e. when in case insensitive input mode).

•        The text color set by the Options > Display > Font of New Text Objects command is now properly saved in the Derive initialization file.

•        Inserting a character from the Greek or math symbol toolbars into an existing text box no longer changes the font of existing text under any circumstance.

•        Changes the user makes to the orientation and position of the Greek and math symbol toolbars are now saved correctly in the Derive initialization file.

•        Context-sensitive help has been enabled for additional dialog boxes.

•        The expression entry line now gives a syntax error message if the user enters #n where n is missing or an invalid expression number.

•        Expressions that span more than one full printed page are now printed and previewed correctly.

•        The hot-keys for Zoom In, One Page and Close in Print Preview mode now work correctly.

•        Pressing PgUp (page up) or PgDn (page down) scrolls the display up or down as before, but now selects the object (instead of the expression) at the top or bottom of the current screen, respectively.

•        If the scroll bar is at either end of the scroll region when the algebra window is resized, it will remain at that position.

•        The highlighted expression is now redrawn correctly when uncovered by a dialog box.

Plot window items:

•        A bug that caused erroneous plots of trigonometric functions when Derive was in Degree angle mode has been fixed.

•        Off-scale 2D parametric plots no longer hang Derive when running it on Windows NT.

•        After the 2D parametric parameters dialog, the command toolbar buttons no longer require 2 mouse-clicks to activate.

•        Attempts to enter an invalid value (e.g. a box length of 0) in the 3D-plot window now results in an error message.

•        Scales that result in more than 100 tick marks on one side of the box are no longer allowed in the 3D-plot window.

•        Modifications have been made to the 3D-plot window display to keep all plot lines in the designated plot region.

Mathematical items:

•        The algorithm for denesting and simplifying algebraic numbers has been improved to produce simpler, more compact results.

•        New rules have been added for algebraically simplifying expression involving the Hurwitz zeta and digamma functions.  These functions often arise when finding definite sums or integrals.  Also, given real or complex numeric arguments, version 5.01 can efficiently approximate zeta and digamma functions to high precision using an Euler-Maclaurin series expansion.

•        Minor bugs have been fixed in the functions ITERATE, SUBST, EVERY, SOME, FACTOR, EXPAND and PRIME? which occurred when they were given certain unusual arguments.


Other Revision SummariesRevision_Summary 

Created with the Personal Edition of HelpNDoc: News and information about help authoring tools and software