It's possible for a user to set many defaults within a Maple session. One feature I do not see how to customize is the "point probe" tool. In earlier versions of Maple there was only one mode, and the coordinates of the cursor within a 2D plot were displayed in the context bar of the Maple window.

Now, there are several different modes for viewing coordinates within a plot. By default, the point probe shows nothing about the current location of the cursor. To change the point probe for one plot, right click and select Probe Info from the context menu, then choose one of "Cursor position", "Nearest datum", or "Nearest point on the line".

This has to be repeated for each plot.

Is there a way to set the default?

This works only when the plot "Manipulator" is set to "Point Probe". If it's set to Pan or Scale, this needs to be changed via the icons on the plot toolbar or through the Manipulator entry on the context menu.

Along the same lines, is there a way to set the default Manipulator to Pan or Scale?

Relevant help pages are worksheet,plotinterface,pointprobe and worksheet,plotinterface,manipulatormenu

If not, these would be nice features to have added for Maple 15.

I am trying to create a certain visual effect in a Maple document / worksheet.

Basically, I have a small table with colored cells that I want to embed in a worksheet with an altogether different fill color. This sounds simple enough, but it appears that Maple's tables don't allow this.

I am trying to establish communication with a mySQL database from a maplet provided over the Internet.

It's my understanding that the classpath for the JDBC must reside on the same filesystem as the maplet.

When I test my maplet on any of my computers (all Windows) I have not problem. Because I know exactly where the JAR file is located the following LoadDriver command works:

  JDBC_MySQLdriver:=LoadDriver('driver'="com.mysql.jdbc.Driver",
    'classpath' = "C:\\Documents and Settings/Doug/Desktop/mysql-connector-java-5.1.13-bin.jar");

But, if I put this maplet on one of my websites for others to download, then this path will be meaningless for other users - and even if the path were somehow valid, there is no guarantee they have the right JAR file in this location.

If I serve the maplet with my MapleNet server, then I am (in principle) back in the first case. I can put the JAR file almost anywhere on the MapleNet server. A natural place seems to be in /root/maplenet/jar/. This would mean the following should work:

  JDBC_MySQLdriver:=LoadDriver('driver'="com.mysql.jdbc.Driver",
    'classpath' = "/root/maplenet/jar/mysql-connector-java-5.1.13-bin.jar");

Alas, this is not successful, complaining that the driver com.mysql.jdbc.Driver cannot be found. In case it matters, the MapleNet server is running under Linux and the other setups are different varieties of Windows.

Can anyone give me some pointers on how to make this work? In particular,

1. is it possible to allow users to use a remotely served JAR file?
   Maybe with a reference to the file given along the lines of
   'classpath'="http://maple.math.sc.edu:80/maplenet/jar/mysql-connector-java-5.1.13-bin.jar"
2. What is the correct syntax to specify the classpath on a Linux system that includes a MapleNet server?
3. Can I put the JAR file in the CLASSPATH environment variable on the MapleNet server (in /etc/profile)?

Here's what I am trying to do:

1. I launch a Maplet from a webpage either using a local copy of Maple or over the web via MapleNet)
2. When this Maplet iterminates I want to run a PHP (or Javascript or ...) program.

In order to do this, the web page needs to have some way to detect the termination of the Maplet. Does anyone have a way to do this?

One approach I've considered is to have a Javascript function that starts the Maplet, waits for the Maplet to terminate, then continues with it's job. But, the usual Javascript action is to start a window, after which the script continues to execute. If I could get a process ID for the window displaying the Maplet, I oculd probably have the Javascript spin its wheels until the process ID no longer exists in the list of active processes.

I can also imagine a situation where the Maplet writes a "cookie" somewhere on the client computer. Then the Javascript sits idle until it detects an appropriate trigger in the cookie. But, where to put the cookie? Is there a way to extract the directory from which Maple is run? Or, Maple's lib directory. (Within Maple I know there is the libname command. But, is there a way to send this information to a non-Maple job?

I've thought about using system (or ssystem) but the command to be executed depends on the OS of the system on which the Maplet is being executed.

I'm interested in all varieties of solutions: theoretical to complete implementations.

Thanks in advance,

Doug

How does one get the InequalityGraphics package? I don't see it as a standard package within Maple 14.