ianmccr

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18 years, 183 days

MaplePrimes Activity


These are replies submitted by ianmccr

@janhardo 

I have made the assumption, since I don't think it clearly documented, that the internal AI connection inside the UI is specifically trained with maple code and documentation, so it is extremely useful as a programming aid and a debugging tool. I have for example copied in a code snippet and asked why it isn't running correctly. Turned out that the problem it found was a typo, but it save me a lot of time and frustration. I have also asked Maple questions like what is the best practice for using tables or some other Maple construct in a certain context described with a code snippet. I do read the docs but sometimes I don't read them correctly. The AI usually provides example code snippets. Also, the internal AI will copy the code snippets into a worksheet or its entire response into a Maple document. 

OTOH, I have been using ChatGPT as a math tutor to explore some particular topics in abstract algebra; eg. category theory. Now I have always had a comprehension problem with the level of abstraction and particular notation used in category theory, but ChatGPT is a very patient tutor not averse to providing fairly non-trivial examples that illustrate the concepts. What is really  neat is that with the Maple MCP connection in my account, ChatGPT can write working Maple modules that illustrate the concepts in code.  For example, my first generated package, HopfWords, implemented the free asociative algebra of words on an alphabet. This is about the simplest mathematical structure that captures the idea of a span. The code implemented the shuffle product( repeated characters alllowed), concatenation product, deconcatenation and unshuffle coproducts, along with the calculation of the Antipode of both coproducts. Essentially, it demonstrated algebra, coalgebra, and hopf algebra in a basic module.  This didn't come free of effort. Surprisingly, the ChatGPT module ran out of the box, but still required considerable debugging to get working.  I suspect that the AI is "thinking??" in Python and translating this into Maple Programming Language. Still, a real neat piece of work.

In general, the code it produces usually works, but requires a lot of polish to put a shine on it.  Still, if you can define your project, getting a thousand lines of code to start with is definitely a leg up.

This is a long way around to saying that the internal AI is great for debugging, querying programming best practices, and building on the  maple documentation. and that ChatGPT is great for actually writing code if you can define you problem adequately. The difference, I suspect, is that the internal AI is perhaps a little more limited that a paid account in terms of AI effort. It took about a minute to generate approximately 1000 lines of code in my HopfWords module, for example.

It being said that I really love the AI in Maple 2026, trying to do any significant amount of writing in the new UI is a complete no-go. The import documents feature does really work fairly well, but I haven't found a good way of getting ChatGPT conversations into Maple like the internal AI does.

Also, it would be nice if Maplesoft would just provide a standard installation package into which one could just plug in a module and upload to the MapleCloud. Similarly, some additional automation for generating help in packages would be nice. 

@C_R  Here is the rest of the information contained in the firewall screen. The upload is blocked at Stage 2 when I press upload the file. I can't get to stage 3.

@C_R This is a screenshot that I got when I started to upload my worksheet. 

@C_R 

You are correct. The worksheet I was going to upload to illustrate the probem I am having with the default styles in my installation contains code that was loaded from the AI, both the on-board AI and from ChatGPT. other worksheet with no such code will upload. Off hand, it appears that worksheets with AI generated code cannot be uploaded to this site. I can understand why this is so, but it does pose an interesting connundrun.

@sand15 

Down the ol' rabbit hole on Easter yet!  I was unaware of the "function of a function"  syntax with operators. I'll have to play with this a bit to see how to use it properly. Much appreciated. 

@acer 

Thank you for your reply. I appreciate the link to the documentation. I picked up the syntax using op from some very old Maple code when I was starting to learn the syntax and never bothered to search help further.  

@dharr 

Thank you?  The makes sense. The document template containing the link was an older version so the reference could have been removed since it was created. I find the new application library interface quite difficult to use unless you browse or know what you're looking for in the first place. I much preferred the older interface that let you browse by categories.

I have completed configuration of ChatGPT to use Maple MCP. Is there a protocol in place to comment on or ask relevant questions about the tool.

It's good to see some of these old packages updated.  I noticed that searching in the Application Library for Moise brings up the original version. I was wondering whether the application library can be flagged somehow to point out the link to the updated version.

I am impressed by the technology demonstration included in Maple 2025 for AI documents. I tried the feature out of the box to see what I could do with it. The result is attached below. It shows how little work was necessary to produce a working procedure from the AI output.

I find the capability useful to me because I use maple to clarify my understanding of mathematical concepts and notation that are often unclear to the student as stated and do not clarify how to make computations with the concept. I am neither a mathematician nor a programmer, at least professionally. However, I can use Maple to do the kind of non-trivial calculations that illuminate the ideas behind the notation and to identity the assumptions/ limitations that are often left unstated if I am able to generate non-trivial examples. While it might be more difficult for me to create a procedure without a full understanding of the concept, I can turn such a procedure into working maple code quite readily. AI documents seems likely to find a useful example more quickly and effortlessly than will the usual search though the Web or textbooks.

However, the example produced by the AI document also left me wondering what really are best-practices in Maple programming. What the AI produced was compact and elegant except for the attempt to process lists with the CAT command. Initially the procedure executed, even with minor syntax errors and type mis-matches, even if the results were wrong.  Just how far should someone go with type-checking and recommended parameter-processing, as specified in the help files.

aisheet.mw

@JarHrd 

Hi

I also noticed that the download page disappeared during covid. I suspect that the author retired from TnTech during this period. Also I noticed they totally revamped their website. Presumably the down load page wasn't retained.

However, I found the other day a zip file with the maple 2017 version of clifford and bigebra. I am not certain it is installable in more recent versions, but source code is included so it should be possible to get it into an mla format. I found in the past the installation was quite messy. If you contact me through my maple username, I can forward you the zip file.

@dharr 

 The polite thing to do would be to ask before rewriting code this way.

Thanks, I see the error now. 

On a note of curiousity, working in the start up code editor, I noticed that the editor occasionally rewrites certain expressions when they are copied into the editor.  For example, when I originally copied the operator in question into the code editor without the local declaration, it rewrote the expression to include the local declaration. Another example I have noticed is when I copy an expression such as  A minus B where A,B are sets, the editor will rewrite to the alternate notation `minus`(A,B).  I know the editor contains templates, but I don't recall any mention of rewriting expressions pasted into the editor. Is there a way of controlling this feature?

@dharr 

Thank You.  The problem then rests solely in 2-D notation.  After you pointed out that 1D does work, I found that my 1D expression was missing the final set bracket, which caused the error. 

This might be an attractive addition to the Maple App. 

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