You can use the “Font” menu to change the font and size of the text in any window. If you change it away from Chicago 12 or 24, the command-key symbol may appear as a box, “‹”, instead of the propeller shape, “⌘”, that identifies the command key on the keyboard. Remember that when you read text that discusses command-key operations.
Curly braces, “{”, and “}” enclose comments. Real Answer does not mathematically process comments.
Triple clicking selects a logical line (defined by carriage returns, not the edges of the window if a line wraps around).
Word wrap is always on; a line you type that is longer than the screen is wide will wrap around onto the following lines so you can see all of it at once. There is therefore no need for a horizontal scroll bar.
Undo Line (‚åòL): This unique feature of Real Answer allows you to undo all the changes you have made to a line since you modified or created another line. The regular Undo feature (‚åòZ) only undoes the last change you made to a line. Undo Line also can be used to remove only the last change you made to a line (i.e. since backspacing) if the regular Undo would have removed the entire line. A line can have any number of characters, but if it has more than 255, you won't be able to use Undo Line (‚åòL) to reset it back to the unmodified version.
“ ' --> * ”. The Real Answer program forces users to enter an asterisk “*” every time two things need to be multiplied. This would be inconvenient on keyboards lacking a lowercase key for the asterisk. Therefore we have provided a convenient way of entering “*” on keyboards lacking numeric keypads: type an apostrophe ('). (The apostrophe is on the same button as the double quote ".) This feature, intended to reduce futzing with the shift key, is enabled by default only when Real Answer runs on a Mac without a numeric keypad. You can enable or disable it on any Mac by the choosing the item “ ' --> * ” from the “Edit” menu. You can temporarily override it by holding down the option key while pushing the apostrophe key; then an apostrophe is always just an apostrophe.
The insertion point is the blinking vertical line that appears in text when you click the mouse pointer at that point in the text. If you position the insertion point at the end of a line and then push the “return” key, there is an inherent ambiguity about whether you want Real Answer to just add a blank line after the one you're on, or whether you wish to submit the expression on that line for calculation. Real Answer tries to make an intelligent guess. If you wish to force Real Answer to solve an expression when it tends to just add blank lines, use the “enter” key instead of the “return” key. If you wish to force Real Answer to add blank lines when it tends to calculate the solution to the line you're on, position the insertion point at the beginning of a line and hit “return” to add a blank line ahead of it. By holding the option key down when pressing the “return” key, you can force Real Answer to add a carriage return anywhere-- even in the middle of a line.
