Documents vs. Worksheets: Which Should You Choose? - Maple Programming Help

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Documents vs. Worksheets: Which Should You Choose?

Maple offers two different versions of its technical document interface: Document mode and Worksheet mode.  Which you choose depends on both your task and preferences. You'll find details below, but in general:

 • Choose Document when you want to solve problems and create documents in which Maple commands are usually hidden.
 • Choose Worksheet when you want to see and use Maple commands directly.

Choose New Document if...

 • You are following the Getting Started tutorials. These tutorials assume you will be in Document mode, so that is the best choice if you are planning on working through any introductory materials. Don't worry, the vast majority of what you'll learn transfers to Worksheet mode easily.
 • You are using Maple as a mathematical scratchpad, and you want to focus on the math, not the commands.  You want to use standard math notation, and you will probably make at least some use of palettes and menus while solving your problem to minimize the use of commands.
 • You want as much control as possible over the appearance of polished documents and interactive applications.  You don't want to see command prompts, or be forced to adhere to a rigid input/output structure in your document.

Choose New Worksheet if...

 • You are trying to learn Maple commands.  In Worksheet mode, you can still work in standard math notation and use palettes and menus to enter and solve problems, but you get to see the corresponding Maple commands that do the work.
 • You want to enter your problems using Maple notation not standard math notation. (E.g. int(exp(x)/2,x) instead of $\int \frac{{ⅇ}^{x}}{2}\phantom{\rule[-0.0ex]{0.3em}{0.0ex}}ⅆx$ )  If you prefer using Maple syntax, use Worksheet mode and change your default entry from 2-D Math Notation to Maple Notation.  See Changing the Defaults, below.
 • You want to step through an existing sequence of commands one at a time, as a presentation tool or to fine-tune your work.  It is always possible to re-execute computations, in either mode, but stepping through one command at a time is easiest in Worksheet mode.
 • You will be writing Maple code.  It is possible to develop Maple procedures and scripts in Document mode, but most people find Worksheet mode to be a better development environment. Once your code works, you can easily transfer it to a Code Edit Region or the Startup Code inside your document, if that's where it is needed.

Many people will switch between these environments depending on what they are doing in Maple, or even combine elements of both into a single document.  When it comes to referring to documents created and saved in Maple, the terms "Maple document" and "Maple worksheet" are used interchangeably.

Changing the Defaults

In Maple, you can always access any work environment at any time.  By default, you'll start new documents in Document mode, and when you are in Worksheet mode, the input will be in math notation, not Maple syntax.  You can change either or both of these defaults to suit your preferences.

Changing the Default Work Environment

By default, when you start Maple or click the New File icon ( ) in the toolbar, you will be in Document mode.

To change the default to Worksheet Mode:

 1 Open the Options Dialog.
 2 In the Interface tab, set the Default format for new worksheets to Worksheet.

You can create individual documents in either mode at any time using the File > New menu.

Changing between Math Notation and Maple Syntax in a Worksheet

In worksheet mode, by default, you enter all mathematical expressions and commands using standard mathematical notation.

When at a prompt, you can switch between mathematical notation and Maple syntax by pressing F5.  This changes the input mode for the current prompt only.

To change the default for all prompts:

 1 Open the Options Dialog.
 2 In the Display tab, set the Input display to Maple Notation to use Maple syntax for entering all mathematical expressions and commands, or 2-D Math Notation to use standard mathematical notation.

Differences between Documents and Worksheets

This chart outlines the technical differences between document mode and worksheet mode.

Document Mode

Worksheet Mode

 • Quick problem-solving and free-form, rich content composition
 • No prompt (>) displayed
 • Math is entered and displayed in 2-D math
 • Solve math problems with right-click menu on input and output
 • Enter problems at a prompt (>)
 • Math entered and displayed in 2-D or 1-D math
 • Solve math problems with right-click menu on output

Document mode lets you create rich content, and enter text and expressions on the same line. For example, the following solves for x without any commands:  $\frac{\left(x-2\right)}{\mathrm{α}}=1$$\stackrel{\text{solve for x}}{\to }$$\left[\left[{x}{=}{2}{+}{\mathrm{α}}\right]\right]$

This command was performed by using the context-sensitive operations in the context panel on the input.

The corresponding code to perform the same calculation in Worksheet mode is in 2-D math:

 > $\mathrm{solve}\left(\frac{x-2}{\alpha }=1,x\right)$
 ${2}{+}{\mathrm{α}}$ (2.1)

or in 1-D math:

 > solve((x-2)/alpha=1,x);
 ${2}{+}{\mathrm{α}}$ (2.2)

Toggle Math/Text entry mode

Press F5 or choose from    on toolbar

Toggle 2-D/1-D Math entry mode

Press F5 to switch between 2-D black font or 1-D red font

Evaluate math expression and display result inline

Alt + Enter

Evaluate math expression and display result on new line

Enter

Evaluate math expression and display result on new line

Enter

Continue on next line without executing

Shift + Enter

Switch to Worksheet mode (insert prompt)

on toolbar

Switch to Document mode

Edit$\to$Document Blocks$\to$Create Document Block

To start in Document mode

(by default, Maple starts in Document mode)

File$\to$New$\to$Document Mode

To start in Worksheet mode

File$\to$New$\to$Worksheet Mode

For details, see Document Mode and 2-D Math.

For details, see Worksheet Mode and 2-D Math.

Within a Document block in a Worksheet,

 Show hidden commands Edit$\to$Document Block$\to$Show Command Hide commands. Show only results. Highlight commands to be hidden. Edit$\to$Document Blocks$\to$Create Document Block