December 2024

Christopher Mabb From: Dr Christopher Mabb, Scientific Word Ltd.
To: Our Scientific Word/​ WorkPlace/​ Notebook Technical Typesetting list

 

    Welcome to our Christmas mailing! Here are some more Technical Support solutions to start the Christmas holidays and help you get the most from your professional technical typesetting / scientific word-processing software – whether that's v5.5 or v6. As always, the latest version of the programs is available on our download page, with links to the current installation instructions.

 

  1. 30-day trial:    Here are some recent issues relating to Registering the Scientific Word/WorkPlace v5.5 30-day trial:

    1. Repeat requests: Occasionally users request a 30-day serial number several times over. We replied to one such user:
      We see you’ve made further requests for Scientific Word/WorkPlace/Notebook 30-day serial numbers. Our MailChimp AutoResponder will not send you additional serial numbers when it has already sent you them <snip>. If you cannot find them, have you looked in your junk mail/spam folder?
      If you’d like to let us know what you’re trying to do we’ll be glad to help you.


    2. Computer ID: In case of difficulty, sending us your computer ID allows us to generate a licence file for you. One prospective user asked us:
      All the functions to save, print or even use many of the commands are not clickable. Is it what you are expecting or something different on the trial version of the package?
      No, a 30-day trial, when Registered (see the screenshot), is a fully-functioning installation of Scientific WorkPlace with all the options available / no option greyed out. We replied:
      We are proceeding on the basis that you are wanting to run version 5.5 of Scientific WorkPlace. Our Email <snip> said:
      If you are unable to Register successfully (Steps 4 to 8 of v5.5 installation instructions), please let us have your computer ID from Help – System Features (see ComputerID1.png and ComputerID2.png)
      <snip> This will allow us to generate a licence file for you, which you will save as c:\swp55\Licenses\license.lic in order to convert your installation into a fully-functioning 30-day trial.



  2. Activating v6:    An academic in America was having difficulties Activating Scientific WorkPlace v6 by following Step 6 of the v6 installation instructions. He wrote:
    Thank you so much for the instructions. I tried to procedure again, still to no avail. I can see that my texlive 2024 is working fine as I tried to use it using texstudio.
    During the installation, I did get an error message. <snip>
    My computer also shows a "time-out" message.
    We replied:
    Thanks for your reply with screenshots – that’s helpful.
    1. There may be other issues going on, but the error message “The operation timed out when attempting to contact www.mackichan.com” is documented in our May 2022 mailing Item 2. Please see that Technical note and follow the links to see the screenshots of how to fix it.
    2. The Email you received <snip> contains your licence. Your system might have been Activated already in the course of generating that Email: check to see whether you get the gold seal at Help – Licence Information. If not, please save the licence file attached at the address shown in our v6 installation instructions Step 8, of the form
              c:\Users\[Name]\AppData\Roaming\SWP\Profiles\[cht11msu].default\license.lic
      You will then need to close and re-open Scientific WorkPlace; then check you get the gold seal.
    3. I’m not sure what’s causing the error message “Error in math expression”; but let’s sort the other issues out first and see if it persists.
    Please let us know whether you get the gold seal showing your Scientific WorkPlace system is Activated.
    With any problem you're asking us about, please always send a screenshot of the issue so that we can see what’s going on.



  3. Filenames & numbering:    Someone with the 5-hour Support Package Emailed about a couple of problems with Scientific WorkPlace v5.5:
    I started out with T3 And used SW For many years. <snip>
    My first problem is I cannot print a paper. <snip>
    The second problem is I forgotten how to get rid of tags like numbers on equations for example.
    We replied saying:
    1. You would not normally print a document directly: you would create the PDF from Typeset – Preview PDF, and then print it from the Acrobat Reader.
    2. What is the name of the file you’re trying to create? LaTeX does not like spaces in filenames; and there is probably a limit to filename size if it’s an extremely long name. Please send us a screenshot of the error message.
    3. For numbering (and un-numbering) equations, please see our August 2023 mailing Item 5.
      [To remove the equation numbering, double-click to the right of the display to open the dialog, and then select None as the numbering option.]
    subsequently adding:
    That error message usually means there is a space in the file name or folder; typically, because you are saving your documents in "My Documents" .
    <snip>
    And error writing to disk is a separate issue. It might mean you are trying to save to a folder which has Read-only access; or else the file has just become corrupted and you can probably continue by clicking File – SaveAs and saving it as say, NewDoc.tex in c:\swp55\docs\ .

    The filename warning is fairly common. We responded to another user saying:
    The warning message is because LaTeX does not like spaces in filenames, although Scientific WorkPlace has workarounds to make this possible. The space is in NAME-conference (1).tex
    You can either click the box (not to warn you about it again) and continue, or change your filename so it does not include spaces, hyphens, etc.



  4. Quick Assist:    Increasingly, we're providing paid Tech Support using Windows Quick Assist: that means we log on to your machine and fix the problem for you remotely. For those who might be needing this kind of support, here are our simple instructions:
    1. At the pre-arranged time (to be agreed) open Quick Assist from:
      1. Click Start, start typing "Quick Assist"; or
      2. Click Start, scroll down to Quick Assist; or
      3. Press Ctrl + Win key + Q
      Then go to the top section "Get assistance" [please check Quick Assist in advance, in case it needs to update itself]
    2. Enter the 6 character security code we supply by Email at the pre-arranged time (see screenshot) and click "Share screen"
    3. Click "Allow" to let us take control of your computer
    4. We will open a WordPad window for us to communicate any necessary information in writing
    5. We will ask you to demonstrate the problem (you control the computer and we watch)
    6. We will then take over and try to resolve the issue. You will be able to see our actions on the screen, and – if you feel necessary – terminate our connection.
    The Quick Assist codes last 10 minutes, so you'll need to be checking your Email for the security code (see 2 above) fairly promptly at the agreed time. But Quick Assist makes resolving most problems many times easier!



  5. Columns in matrix:    A user sent us a Scientific Word v5.5 document, asking how to align the columns in a 4x6 matrix. Here's our answer:
    • To line up the columns in the matrix, you need to have a single 4x6 table (not separate rows)
    • On the third row, to have the ellipsis (…) centred, you will need to merge the 3rd and 4th cell using Edit – Merge Cells
    • Note that Edit – Merge Cells is available only if you started from Insert – Table, not Insert – Matrix. You can tell which you have by highlighting all the cells, right-clicking and selecting Properties: the dialog box will be headed Table Properties or Matrix Properties
    You'll probably find it helpful to download the tex file and PDF.



  6. Open source?    We received this Email from an academic with a Scientific WorkPlace v5.5 licence who'd been having problems re-Registering on a new computer:
    I really appreciate your kind help. Unfortunately, MacKichan Software is no longer functioning. They promised to provide an open-source free download, but it does not work. It seems that your company is the only one still operating in relation to SWP. At this point, it looks like I will encounter a similar issue when I switch to a new computer. How can I resolve the issue with re-registration on a new computer?
    We said:
    Yes, we’ve known and worked with the people at MacKichan Software since 1987, and we’ve been their UK distributors from 1990 until they closed in 2021 and left us looking after the users.
    It is not true that they promised an open-source Scientific WorkPlace. That would have been impossible since Scientific WorkPlace contains bundled proprietary software such as MuPAD, for which MacKichan had paid licensing fees. For the details of what was free, see our November 2021 mailing Item 9.
    Yes, it is always the case – and always has been the case – that when installing on a new computer you need to re-Register. We trust this clarifies any uncertainty. All the best.



  7. MuPAD notation:    A new user of Scientific WorkPlace v5.5 asked us about the notation used by MuPAD in returning computation results. He sent us a matrix computation using variables of the form VXT1 and VXT2 asking:
    In the below matrix multiplication how can I keep the variable names with subcript appear in the same order in the result, for eg VXT2 becomes V2XT after multiplication and VXT1 is displayed as VXT in the result dropping the 1 in the subscript?
    We sent a Scientific WorkPlace document in reply, saying:
    ...you can test what is going to happen by applying any Computation function such as Evaluate, Simplify or Factor [to the term itself]: VXT2 becomes V2XT and VXT1 becomes VXT.
    If VXT1 and VXT2 are just two different variables, I recommend you use VXT1 and VXT2. These variables remain unchanged by Computation functions such as Evaluate, Simplify or Factor.



  8. Way Back Machine:    A prospective user was looking for a technical page from MacKichan's website which had been available at https://www.mackichan.com/techtalk/725.htm. Unfortunately we don't have copies of all the pages from MacKichan's website; but the user subsequently wrote to say:
    I discovered the "WAY BACK MACHINE" has the document from Mackichan I was seeking.
    Using that page https://www.mackichan.com/techtalk/725.htm as an example, here's how to find such lost pages:
    1. Go to https://web.archive.org/
    2. In the Search box (to the right of "WayBack Machine") enter https://www.mackichan.com/techtalk/725.htm and touch Return
    3. The response tells you the page was saved 17 times between August 28th 2006 and October 21st 2020
    4. Use the timeline underneath that result to click on, for example, 2020
    5. The 2020 calendar underneath highlights August 5th, August 15th and October 31st
    6. Select one of those dates to open its copy of the page https://www.mackichan.com/techtalk/725.htm
    And now you'll probably find all kinds of uses for the WayBack Machine...



  9. Artificial Intelligence:    With all the noise about AI, I got to thinking the other day:
    When I send an Email, it sometimes occurs to me to think: "I wonder whether the recipient can tell this is actually me – that it's not been written by AI."
    When AI sends an Email, I bet it never thinks: "I wonder whether the recipient can tell this is me – that it's not been written by a human."
    And when we asked Dr Bot on our website:
    Are you alive or are you a robot?
    he(?) responded:
    I appreciate your curiosity! However, I must clarify that I am an AI assistant designed to provide information and support. While I can simulate conversation and provide helpful responses, I do not possess consciousness or life in the way humans do. If you have any questions or need assistance with something specific, feel free to ask!
    For what it's worth, all our Emails are written by a human...

 

We send this circular mailing to users every couple of months or so. But please just let us know here if you no longer wish to remain on our database, and we'll confirm your removal within hours.

This software is way too good to keep to yourself! Why not tell your colleagues and co-authors? Perhaps some Emails... maybe a blog post on a mathematics/economics forum? Even easier is to Share our Facebook page – or any of the Product pages on our website – with your Facebook friends. Thanks a lot.



Cheers,

Christopher
--
Christopher Mabb, Scientific Word Ltd., UK
Tel: +44 (0)345 766 0340; Fax: +44 (0)345 603 9443
Email: christopher@sciword.co.uk
Web: https://www.sciword.co.uk