Typing in text blocks a total mess

[RB_13829612]

New Mathcad 10 user trying to get familiar with the program before I need to use it for a new job, and I am getting frustrated with how difficult this program is to work with.

Supposedly Mathcad is designed to be able to do a mix of text and math, but I am finding that writing text is agonizingly difficult and buggy.

In text blocks, it's manageable, but tabs don't line up, it's difficult to stop underlines and bold (4/5 times can't just ctrl+u to stop underlining, have to keep typing then go back and highlight the text and ctrl+u to remove the underline. Same with bold), and it likes to add and remove new lines seemingly at random.

In text boxes, it's almost impossible.

- I typed an X and it jumped down to the next line all on its own

- It did this again when I did a special character like Φ or µ

- I typed something on one line in plain text, I hit enter and start typing on the next line and its suddenly now underlining as I type, though none of the other text in the box is (or ever was) underlined.

- I hit tab between a couple words to give space for an image and it split the text on the line into 2 lines with 4 or 5 tabs, instead of the 1 I typed

- I did a text box before a text block, and then later added lines to the text box, expecting it to push the block after it down with each line, instead it just runs over it (maybe this is a setting, maybe this is a "feature", but i feel like, unless the text box is specifically placed over a text block, adding lines to a text box should move the block after it down).

This is a pretty expensive program to be this buggy and difficult to use.

The math portion is great (though so far I've only done simple algebra), but writing any amount of text seems like text was added to this program as an afterthought, and has not been tested at all.

I've used it all of maybe 5 hours and could log 20 different items that I would consider bugs (though a couple of them could be a weird default setting somewhere [not sure why a creating a new line with each special character typed would be a default setting], but I haven't been able to find many settings, the text function of this program seems very rudimentary).

[LucMeekes]

Weird stuff. Are you sure you don't hit the mouse-pad by accident?

This is what a text box and text block with several tabs look like in my Prime 10:

Success!

Luc

[RB_13829612]

Here's a text block example

Both the first and last indented lines are tabbed over 8 times, they should line up with the "L - Live" above it, yet they don't even line up with each other

And a text box example

Exact same font, size, and number of tabs used as above, this time the first and last indented lines at least line up with each other

Also, on the first line I typed Θ (Alt+233), which worked fine in the text block above, but jumped down to the next line in the text box below.

I have not been able to reproduce the adding multiple tabs when I single tab, or the adding a new line after "X", but I'm doing this with a freshly opened file, so it could be something where errors start propagating the longer the document is open and being worked on.  I'll try to share screen shots and more details if/when they do come up again.

[SPaulis]

But @RB_13829612, you are paying for the math, not text!!!  leave the text to tried and true apps like Word! 

...just kidding!

Mathcad Prime is still a very fresh implementation of Mathcad.  It is not intuitive as it 'could be' since it is developed by mathy minded developers and not the artsy minded, imho, but it is improving.  I am ASD (common amongst engineers) so I avoided using Mathcad for almost a decade,  But I have seen it improve in strides from version 8 to 11. 

It would be helpful to hear your suggestions in the "Mathcad Ideas" furum https://community.ptc.com/t5/Mathcad-Ideas/idb-p/PTCMathcadIdeas. 

Otherwise, give it some more time and practice and you will be able to overcome the nuances and produce excellent looking output!

BTW, I'm not getting that type of behavior in any of these versions, except for the text block/box overlaps.  Mathcad does need some sort of auto sensing of areas that overlap, yet allow it when you purposely do it.  Otherwise I am typing away like normal without the whacky behavior.  But if your keyboard is getting glitchy and sending extra keystrokes, you should be experiencing that in any app.  Haunted maybe?

[RB_13829612]

I can't access the link you sent, it says I need to upgrade my account, but I don't have a customer number (I have an SCN, but no customer number that I can find).  I sent an email to PTC support a week ago asking if they could give me my customer number, but have only gotten an automated response that my message was received.