Re: 3.1 Prime Spellcheck

rscott · ‎Feb 02, 2016

Please tell me this is some sort of joke.

3.1 Prime does not have a spellcheck?

out of all the things this extremely EXPENSIVE software can do it doesn't have a spellcheck?

Someone please tell me I'm just missing it

Werner_E · ‎Feb 03, 2016

Prime does not have a spellchecker, thats true.

But if you don't miss anything else in Prime, maybe some substantial features, you really are a lucky man!

WE

RichardJ · ‎Feb 03, 2016

Please tell me this is some sort of joke.

Yes, it is a joke. Just not a very funny one

rscott · ‎Feb 03, 2016

Well, very simply put

First off i think the program is garbage. They want how much for this and no spellcheck? ITS A WORD PROCESSOR!

I won't be buying another PTC product nor will i continue to use mathcad

I will go back to Matlab and Latex

Both have more capability. PTC should be ashamed of itself.

The software is difficult and cumbersome to use. It takes hours and hours to input simply computation programs that I've already worked by hand anyway.

Therefore ill stay with latex. Really disgusting PTC

LucMeekes · ‎Feb 03, 2016

I know Matlab has a syntax checker, but does it have a spell-checker...?

Does Latex have a spell-check....?

Use the right tool for the task.

MJG · ‎Feb 03, 2016

I've never used Latex or Matlab, but it seems to me that Latex does not perform any calculations (just allows you to display equations) and Matlab does not have very nice presentation. Mathcad is in between: it has nice display/presentation and performs the calculations automatically. Plus, it manages your units!

Mathcad is certainly not perfect, but I'd give it a bit more credit than you seem to.

As Luc points out, you have to use the right tool for the task. For many of us, that tool is Mathcad.

While I would certainly like to have a spellchecker included, my worksheets contain much more math than they do words. I would definitely not call Mathcad a word processor.

RichardJ · ‎Feb 03, 2016

It's already been said, but Mathcad is not a word processor, and was never designed to be one. If you want to typeset math, Latex is a better choice. If you want a whiteboard interface that actually does calculations then Mathcad is the best option available (Mathcad 15 being better than Mathcad Prime, but that's another story). Yes, it needs a spellchecker (which Mathcad 15 has), but if your primary need is a word processor then that shouldn't matter, because you shouldn't be using Mathcad in the first place.

ValeryOchkov · ‎Feb 03, 2016

rscott · ‎Feb 04, 2016

I whole 100% disagree. Mathcad is nothing more then a word processor that had a CAS working behind the scenes

For those of you that kept say "math cad does unit!" That is the funniest thing i have ever heard!

The units are what cause 99% of errors in math cad.

Someone invented spellcheck software ooooo about 50 years ago! Your gonna tell me for $1600 PTC can't get a spellcheck going?

Give me a break

Matlab and latex both have spellchecks and who cares that this thing does the math for you. 99% of do the math by hand on a piece of paper before we try and make a report anyway.

Total garbage but for the sake of completeness I'm going to try 15 now since you say it has a spellcheck because I'm apparently the only enigeeeer enginr engineeeeer that can't spell and is only good at math.

RichardJ · ‎Feb 04, 2016

I whole 100% disagree. Mathcad is nothing more then a word processor that had a CAS working behind the scenes

Other way round. It is a CAS with a whiteboard interface, and therefore some word processing capability. More capability has been asked for for years, but unfortunately with Prime we got less (no spellcheck, and, amazingly for a math package, no subscripts or superscripts in text, all of which was / is available in Mathcad 15).

For those of you that kept say "math cad does unit!" That is the funniest thing i have ever heard!

The units are what cause 99% of errors in math cad.

Then you are not using them the right way, and / or your math is wrong.

vroberts · ‎Feb 04, 2016

I agree that Mathcad is a CAS with a whiteboard interface. The main advantage of Mathcad over other "math" software is that it includes units in its calculations, AND provides a means to format your calculations for presentation to other people. This means it needs to have a spell checker, as Mathcad 15 and earlier versions did. The lack of a spellchecker in Prime 1, 2, 3, 3.1 is inexcusable, however, it is consistent with the lack of other features that are present in Mathcad 15.

If someone does all his or her math by hand, then Mathcad is not the right tool for you. It is far too powerful and expensive to be used as a word processor for calculations you have already done. Also, if Mathcad crashes when you use units, then you are doing something wrong. Units were the feature that drew me to Mathcad decades ago, and, for me, continue to be one of its most valuable and unique features.

Fred_Kohlhepp · ‎Feb 05, 2016

rscott wrote:

I whole 100% disagree. Mathcad is nothing more then a word processor that had a CAS working behind the scenes

For those of you that kept say "math cad does unit!" That is the funniest thing i have ever heard!

The units are what cause 99% of errors in math cad.

Someone invented spellcheck software ooooo about 50 years ago! Your gonna tell me for $1600 PTC can't get a spellcheck going?

Give me a break

Matlab and latex both have spellchecks and who cares that this thing does the math for you. 99% of do the math by hand on a piece of paper before we try and make a report anyway.

Total garbage but for the sake of completeness I'm going to try 15 now since you say it has a spellcheck because I'm apparently the only enigeeeer enginr engineeeeer that can't spell and is only good at math.

Okay! It's clear your mind is made up.

I'm old enough that I did ALL of my math on paper, my calculating aid was originally a slide rule--an HP 45 was a major leap forward, followed by a programmable calculator, then a Sinclair (remember) running BASIC, then finally EXCEL.

Then came Mathcad, and suddenly I had a magic sheet of paper that would do the slide rule/calculator work automatically. AND, I could multiply torque by angular velocity and have my answer in horsepower, without having to remember all those horrible conversion factors--it was done for me. Further, if the formula was wrong and the units didn't balance, when I asked for horsepower a few other units showed up as well; Mathcad balanced the units, and here was a clear indication that there was something wrong that needed attention.

Now, I've been telling my cohorts (all those young engineers that think my slide rule is fascinating and learned MATLAB in college) that Mathcad will do almost anything that MATLAB will, and it will do it with units. So I take extreme issue with your "99% of errors," please dig out your yellow pad and check your math.

If you need a spell checker may I suggest Word; this program has a reasonable one and can even do some rudimentary math. And it has an equation editor so you can eliminate LATEX.

PTC is pushing Mathcad as a report generator; those of us who use it on a daily basis know better!