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Mathcad Prime 3.0 deletes selection instead of appending

KN
1-Newbie
1-Newbie

Mathcad Prime 3.0 deletes selection instead of appending

I am evaluating Mathcad Prime 3.0 to upgrade our Mathcad 15, and I am noticing a difference in the math inputs.

I tried to define the math below and after entering number 6, I press the spacebar TWO times to get the entire line underlined with the blue line. Once all the numbers are underlined, I can just press "Shift" + "F" and the letter F gets appended to the end.

mathcad15underline.PNG

This behavior is different in Mathcad Prime 3.0. After entering the number 6, I press the space bar THREE times to get the entire item selected. However, when pressing "Shift" + "F" to insert the unit Farad (F), the entire item is DELETED instead. The old behavior was more intuitive because I have learned from Mathcad that any item under the blue line gets concatentated to the next operation. In fact, I must prefer the blue line more than the gray highlight. The blue line is easier to see.

mathcadprime3underline.PNG

The only way to insert the "F" is to press the right arrow on the keyboard to the right so that F can be inserted. Again, the old method was much more efficient: TWO instead of FOUR keystrokes to get the desired results. Is there anything that I can do to get the old behavior?

1 REPLY 1
Werner_E
24-Ruby V
(To:KN)

This behavior is different in Mathcad Prime 3.0.

You are using different software, so thats no unusual. Prime is not a further development/advancement of Mathcad, although PTC once might have had that plan.

In the example you give you can forget about pressing the spacebar three time and immedeatly can press the right arrow after typing the 6. Typing will replace a highligted expression. So in counting keystrokes you end with two against three for Prime. Nevertheless I find it more awkward to go to the arrow keys in those situations and agree that Mathcads way is more convenient.

I also fully agree with your observation concerning the visibility of the light gray underline as opposed to the blue line cursor.

The behaviour you noticed sure is not the worst you will notice when you play around with Prime. Prime has a few advantages but generally its a big step backwards as its very slow, the GUI is user unfriendly and it lacks a lot of features we are used from Mathcad 15 and below. This forum is full of criticism but PTC isn't a company that listens to its customers and fulfills their wishes.

Is there anything that I can do to get the old behavior?

Yes, use the old software. As sad as it may be my advice is to use Mathcad 15 as long as you can afford it and either look for alternatives now or hope and pray that Prime version 10(??) will be able to live up to MC15.

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