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MH_97207991-Visitor
1-Visitor
November 18, 2021
Solved

Converting backwards MCDX to MCD

Hello,

 

is it possible to convert MCDX-files backwards to MCD-files?

 

Best regards

Michael

LucMeekesAnswer
23-Emerald IV
November 18, 2021

As explained there is no tool to do the job.

By hand means:

- You open the Prime sheet, to be able to view it.

- You open the (real) Mathcad application (some version of 1 through 15, your choice) and start creating a new (.mcd or .xmcd) sheet.

- Now you create representatives of each region of the Prime sheet in the new (real) Mathcad sheet.

- And finally you save the (real) Mathcad sheet.

 

As a sort of check, you could convert the new (real) Mathcad sheet to Prime and compare the results, to see if you missed anything.

 

Success!
Luc

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8 replies

Fred_Kohlhepp23-Emerald I
23-Emerald I
November 18, 2021

As far as I know, only by hand.

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MH_97207991-VisitorAuthor
1-Visitor
November 18, 2021

Ok, and how does it work by hand?

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StuartBruff23-Emerald V
23-Emerald V
November 18, 2021
@MH_9720799 wrote:

Hello,

 

is it possible to convert MCDX-files backwards to MCD-files?

Possible? Yes(ish) and no.

 

Supporting Fred's response, there is, as a matter of PTC policy(*), no official means of doing so.

 

It's *possible*, for values of "possible", to convert from mcdx to mcd, either, as Fred says, by hand or by stealing/borrowing/paying-for/rolling-your-own converter. It's on my mañana list, but some others may already have created one.  I can't remember whether @LucMeekes has one amongst his collection of very useful utilities.

 

The "ish" bit of "Yes" is because there are intrinsic backwards-compatibility differences that would need addressing, such as Mathcad 12..15 having static type checking that would prevent direct implementation of some valid Mathcad Prime dynamically-typed expressions.

 

Stuart

 

(*) PTC, quite naturally, want people to use Prime, not legacy Mathcad.  For many users, there would be little incentive to use Prime given the unfavourable (but narrowing) capability gap between Prime and legacy Mathcad.  Having a backwards converter would take away even that little bit of reason to move to Prime.  Believe it or not, I knew a few Mathcad users who couldn't see the point in upgrading beyond Mathcad 6 - that's legacy 6 not Prime 6 - even when Mathcad 15 was released.

 

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    MH_97207991-VisitorAuthor
    1-Visitor
    November 18, 2021

    Thank you for this very puzzling reply. What do you mean by "make by hand"? Please explain in layman's terms ... i do not want to steal / borrow / buy / DIY a converter ...

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    StuartBruff23-Emerald V
    23-Emerald V
    November 18, 2021
    @MH_9720799 wrote:

    Thank you for this very puzzling reply. What do you mean by "make by hand"? Please explain in layman's terms ...

    Literally, sit there with legacy Mathcad (Version 15 or lower) open showing a blank worksheet, and either Prime open as well or a printout/pdf of the worksheet you're interested in.  Then type the Prime expressions one-by-one into your open worksheet (using the equivalent legacy Mathcad forms).

     

    It can be a tedious, error-prone task, especially when something works in Prime but not in Legacy.

     

    i do not want to steal / borrow / buy / DIY a converter ...

    After hand-converting a few lengthy worksheets, people have been known to change their minds.  😈

     

    Stuart

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    VladimirN24-Ruby IV
    24-Ruby IV
    November 18, 2021

    No. Only manual retyping of the worksheet.

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