1MAXIMA(1) General Commands Manual MAXIMA(1)
2
6 Maxima - Common Lisp version of MACSYMA symbolic mathematics package
7 released under the GNU Public License
8 rmaxima - A version of maxima that supports command autocompletion
10 Xmaxima - A graphical version of Maxima
12
14 maxima [options]
15 rmaxima [options]
17 xmaxima [options]
19
21 Maxima is a version of the MIT-developed MACSYMA system, modified to
22 run under Common Lisp. It is an interactive expert system and program‐
23 ming environment for symbolic and numerical mathematical manipulation.
24 Written in Lisp, it allows differentiation, integration, solution of
25 linear or polynomial equations, factoring of polynomials, expansion of
26 functions in Laurent or Taylor series, computation of Poisson series,
27 matrix and tensor manipulations, and two- and three-dimensional graph‐
28 ics. Procedures may be written using an ALGOL-like syntax, and both
29 Lisp-like functions and pattern matching facilities are provided.
30 Files containing Maxima objects may be read from and written to disk
31 files. Pre-written Maxima commands may be read from a file and exe‐
32 cuted, allowing batch-mode use.
33
35 -b file, --batch=file
36 Process file in noninteractive mode.
37 --batch-lisp=file
39 Process Lisp file file in noninteractive mode.
40 --batch-string=string
42 Process string in noninteractive mode.
43 -d, --directories
45 Display Maxima directory information.
46 --disable-readline
48 Disable readline support.
49 -g, --enable-lisp-debugger
51 Enable Lisp debugger.
52 -h, --help
54 Display a brief usage summary.
55 --init=string
57 Load the Maxima and Lisp initialization files string.mac and
58 string.lisp at startup.
59 --init-mac=file
61 Load the Maxima initialization file file at startup.
62 --init-lisp=file
64 Load the Lisp initialization file file at startup.
65 -l lisp, --lisp=lisp
67 Use Lisp implementation lisp. Use --list-avail to see the list
68 of possible values.
69 --list-avail
71 List the available Lisp and Maxima versions.
72 -p lisp_file, --preload-lisp=lisp_file
74 Preload lisp_file.
75 -q, --quiet
77 Suppress Maxima start-up message.
78 -r string, --run-string=string
80 Process string in interactive mode.
81 -s port, --server=port
83 Connect Maxima to server on port. Note that this does not cre‐
84 ate a Maxima server; Maxima is the client.
85 -u version, --use-version=version
87 Launch Maxima version version. Use --list-avail to see the list
88 of possible values.
89 --userdir=directory
91 Use directory for user directory (default is $HOME/maxima for
92 Windows, $HOME/.maxima for others)
93 -v, --verbose
95 Print extra information from the Maxima wrapper script.
96 --version
98 Print the (default) installed version.
99 --very-quiet
101 Suppress expression labels and the Maxima start-up message.
102 -X Lisp options, --lisp-options=Lisp options
104 Options to be given to the underlying Lisp.
105
107 Upon initialization, maxima prints a startup message, then a command
108 line prompt:
109 (%i1)
111 All Maxima commands must be concluded with either:
113 1) a semicolon (in which case the result of the command is echoed
115 on a display line, prefaced by %o with an appended sequence num‐
116 ber), or
117 2) a dollar sign (which suppresses printing of a display line).
119
121 (%i1) diff(sin(x),x);
122 (%o1) cos(x)
124 (%i2) integrate(%o1,x);
126 (%o2) sin(x)
128 The user types in commands which create Maxima objects (such as func‐
130 tions and system variables) and which manipulate these objects.
131 On UNIX it may be preferable to run Maxima under Gnu Emacs or XEmacs.
133 You can do this by invoking shell mode in emacs, and then invoking max‐
134 ima. Preferably, install maxima.el from the distribution and use the
135 command:
136 M-x maxima
138 The main advantage of working inside emacs is that it provides a com‐
140 plete history of input/output. If you execute the command
141 display2d: false
143 you will be able to use your output as input, by simply killing and
145 yanking.
146 Lisp is built into Maxima. The function to_lisp() enters the Lisp
148 read-eval-print loop. The Lisp function (run) may be used to return to
149 Maxima. Alternatively, single Lisp commands may be invoked by starting
150 a command line with :lisp.
151
153 The reference manual can be accessed from the Maxima input prompt. A
154 description of a given command can be obtained by typing the command
155 describe(command);
157 or, simply,
159 ? command
161 searches the list of functions for the string command. Demonstration
163 files provide complete examples of problems solved with Maxima, and may
164 be accessed with the command demo(command);. A library of user-con‐
165 tributed command files is also provided (the share library), directed
166 toward a variety of problems.
167
169 The reference manual is provided in both info and html formats.
170
172 This list includes only commands which the beginner might find useful
173 to know about prior to studying the reference manual and other texts.
174 batch("myfile");
176 Execute the contents of file myfile, which is assumed to contain
177 Maxima commands.
178 closefile("myfile");
180 Close session file opened by a writefile command (see below).
181 demo("myfile");
183 Execute the contents of file myfile, which is assumed to contain
184 Maxima commands, one line at a time.
185 ev(infolists);
187 Print the contents of all of the available information lists.
188 functions;
190 Print a list of the names of currently defined functions.
191 infolists;
193 Print a list of the various available information lists.
194 kill(objectlist);
196 Eliminate the object(s) contained within parentheses; kill(all)
197 Delete all objects created by the user, restoring Maxima to its
198 initial state.
199 quit();
201 Leave Maxima.
202 reset();
204 Reset all Maxima control parameters to their default states.
205 values;
207 Print a list of the names of currently assigned scalar values.
208 writefile("myfile");
210 Write record of session to file myfile; only one file at a time
211 can be open, and the closefile command must be invoked prior to
212 leaving Maxima to flush the buffer.
213
215 Maxima is capable of producing 2- and 3-dimensional plots. Here is a
216 simple 2-dimensional example
217 plot2d (sin(x), [x, -2*%pi, 2*%pi]);
219 and a simple 3-dimensional example
221 plot3d (2^(-u^2 + v^2), [u, -5, 5], [v, -7, 7]);
223 By default plots are made by the gnuplot plotting package. Plots can
225 be made by other means; see "? plot_options". For more information
226 about plotting, see "? plot".
227
229 /usr/lib/maxima/5.43.2/binary-lisp
230 Compiled files for lisp implementation lisp
231 /usr/info primary documentation directory, containing info files which
233 are used for the 'describe' command, and also for viewing
234 under emacs or other info viewer.
235 /usr/share/maxima/5.43.2/doc/html
237 HTML version of info documentation.
238 /usr/share/maxima/5.43.2/demo
240 Maxima demo files.
241 /usr/share/maxima/5.43.2/emacs
243 Elisp files for use with Emacs or XEmacs.
244 /usr/share/maxima/5.43.2/share
246 Contributed external packages.
247 /usr/share/maxima/5.43.2/doc/share
249 Documentation for contributed external packages.
250 /usr/share/maxima/5.43.2/src
252 Complete Maxima source.
253 /usr/share/maxima/5.43.2/tests
255 Test suite.
256 /usr/share/maxima/5.43.2/xmaxima
258 Xmaxima support files.
259 /usr/libexec/maxima/5.43.2/
261 Maxima utility scripts.
262
264 MAXIMA_USERDIR
265 Points to a directory for user customization files. Maxima's
266 default search paths include MAXIMA_USERDIR. Default value:
267 $HOME/.maxima.
268 MAXIMA_PREFIX
270 Maxima looks for its input files in the directory configured at
271 compile time, /usr. Maxima can be relocated to a different
272 directory as long as the maxima script maintains the same rela‐
273 tive position with respect to the Maxima input files. If, for
274 some reason, the maxima script needs to be relocated indepen‐
275 dently, MAXIMA_PREFIX needs to be set to point to the top of the
276 tree holding the input files.
277 MAXIMA_DIRECTORY
279 MAXIMA_DIRECTORY is equivalent to MAXIMA_PREFIX. It is included
280 only for backward compatibility with older versions of Maxima.
281 Maxima uses several other environment variables for communication
283 between the maxima script and the lisp image. All such variables start
284 with MAXIMA_. They should not need to be modified by the user.
285
287 maximarc
288 maximarc is sourced by the maxima script at startup. It should
289 be located in $MAXIMA_USERDIR (see above). maximarc can be used,
290 e.g., to change the user's default lisp implementation choice to
291 CMUCL by including the line "MAXIMA_LISP=cmucl".
292 maxima-init.lisp
294 At startup, Maxima will load the lisp file maxima-init.lisp if
295 it is found in the search path. For user customization, maxima-
296 init.lisp should be placed in the $MAXIMA_USERDIR (see above).
297 Since Maxima typically has a system maxima-init.lisp in the Max‐
298 ima share directory, the user may want to copy the contents of
299 the system maxima-init.lisp into his/her custom file. Alterna‐
300 tively, the user can load a Lisp initialization file with
301 another name or location by means of the --init-lisp or --init
302 command-line options.
303 maxima-init.mac
305 At startup, Maxima will load the file maxima-init.mac if it is
306 found in the search path. For user customization, maxima-
307 init.mac should be placed in the $MAXIMA_USERDIR (see above).
308 Alternatively, the user can load a Maxima initialization file
309 with another name or location by means of the --init-mac or
310 --init command-line options.
311
313 Old Reference: MACSYMA Reference Manual (volumes 1 and 2). The Mathlab
314 Group, Laboratory for Computer Science, MIT. Version 10. January
315 1983.
316 Newer references: http://maxima.sourceforge.net
318
320 Maxima is a complex system. It includes both known and unknown bugs.
321 Use at your own risk. The Maxima bug database is available at
322 https://sourceforge.net/p/maxima/bugs/
324 New bug reports are always appreciated. Please include the output of
326 the Maxima function "build_info()" with the report.
327
329 MACSYMA (Project MAC's SYmbolic MAnipulation System) was developed by
330 the Mathlab group of the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science (origi‐
331 nally known as Project MAC), during the years 1969-1972. Their work
332 was supported by grants NSG 1323 of the National Aeronautics and Space
333 Administration, N00014-77-C-0641 of the Office of Naval Research,
334 ET-78-C-02-4687 of the U.S. Department of Energy, and F49620-79-C-020
335 of the U.S. Air Force. MACSYMA was further modified for use under the
336 UNIX operating system (for use on DEC VAX computers and Sun worksta‐
337 tions), by Richard Fateman and colleagues at the University of Califor‐
338 nia at Berkeley; this version of MACSYMA is known as VAXIMA. The
339 present version stems from a re-working of the public domain MIT MAC‐
340 SYMA for GNU Common Lisp, prepared by William Schelter, University of
341 Texas at Austin until his passing away in 2001. It contains numerous
342 additions, extensions and enhancements of the original. The original
343 version of this manual page was written by R. P. C. Rodgers, UCSF
344 School of Pharmacy, San Francisco, CA 94143 (rodgers@max‐
345 well.mmwb.ucsf.edu) in 1989. It was extensively revised by James Amund‐
346 son in 2002.
347 Maxima is now developed and maintained by the Maxima project at
349 <http://maxima.sourceforge.net>.
350 September 10, 2005 MAXIMA(1)