Triple clicking will select a logical line-- a full expression or equation-- even if it is wrapped around on several display lines of its window.
It is not necessary to add the closing brace to a comment that you place at the end of a line. Comments automatically terminate at the end of a logical line if you haven’t typed a closing brace before the carriage return. (A logical line terminates at a carriage return or end-of-file. If it is too long to fit across the window in one physical line, it will wrap around to the next physical line, thereby occupying more than one physical line.)
You can enter the numeric result of the previous expression evaluation by pressing “⌘E” instead of copying or typing all the digits out. Always check the number inserted to verify that it is the result you intended to insert; “⌘E” references only calculations performed in the Answer & Scratch window, not read-outs of a stored variable’s value, nor activity initiated from the Simultaneous Equation Set window.
There is a very easy and convenient way to submit an expression for calculation based on an expression previously submitted from the Answers & Scratch window. Just edit the previous expression there to create a new one. Then press the “enter” key. Real Answer’s Flex-Calc™ feature will take over. The line you have just modified will be restored to its original state in the Answers & Scratch window, and the modified version you made will be appended to the bottom of the text in that window. Real Answer will then calculate the answer to the modified expression at the bottom.
Holding down the shift key while pressing the “enter” key will bring the insertion point (blinking vertical line) or the selected text into view without modifying anything or causing a calculation to take place. If the insertion point or selected range is not visible, then pressing the enter key will bring it into view without solving or evaluating any expressions. Otherwise, the “enter” key will trigger expression evaluation in the Answers & Scratch window, or a search for a solution if the active window is the Simultaneous Equation Set window.
Real Answer usually will let you hit the “return” key instead of the “enter” key when you want to submit an expression in the Answers & Scratch window for evaluation. Sometimes however, that will add a new blank line in the text, if the Real Answer program cannot guess that you want to evaluate the expression. If the insertion point (the blinking vertical line or “caret” where characters get typed) is inside or at the end of an input expression line in the Answers & Scratch window, then Real Answer™ will interpret hitting the “return” button as being equivalent to hitting the “enter” button.
When the Simultaneous Equation Set window is active, pressing the “enter” key is equivalent to pressing “⌘R”.
In the Answers & Scratch window, “=” assigns a value to a variable. (In the Equation Set window “=” sets a goal for the simultaneous equation solver to attain, and only “:=” performs a one-time value assignment.)
To compute the multiplicative inverse of a number, a short cut is available-- the double slash, “//”. Instead of typing “1/4”, just type “//4”. This works in expressions as well; 2+//3 yields 2.3333… . This feature is especially useful for computing roots; “27**//3” yields 3, just as “27**(1/3)” would, but is easier to type since there is less work with the shift key.
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 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.
Users without extended keyboards can perform page-up scrolling by pushing the up-arrow key while holding an option key down. Similarly, pushing the down-arrow key while depressing an option key achieves page-down scrolling. Hitting the up or down arrow key, while holding down a Command key (“⌘”), will scroll the window to the top or bottom. If the selected range, or the insertion point in the text, is not visible (because it’s outside the view area), hitting the “enter” key will bring the insertion point or selected range into view, instead of causing an expression evaluation to occur. The future version of Real Answer will further ease cursor movement. Hitting the left or right arrows while holding down an option key will move the insertion point one word left or right. Hitting the left or right arrows while holding down the Command (“⌘”) key will move the insertion point to the beginning or ending of a logical line. The planned future version will also support gentle, line-by-line scrolling by holding down the “control” button while pressing the up or down arrow key. It will allow you to select characters by holding down the shift key while typing the arrow keys, and to select words and lines by holding down the shift key combined with the option or command key while typing arrow keys. So send in your shareware fees to us for Real Answer now, so that you can obtain great discounts on the planned future version of Real Answer.
QuicKeys‚Ñ¢ (‚Ñ¢ CE Software ((800) 523-7638) allows users to change key assignments for any keyboard commands-- handy if you are accustomed to other command-key conventions.
Double clicking in the Title Bar of a window will move the window to the upper left and size it to slightly overfill a small Mac screen. You can and may use ResEdit to modify that “oversize” window size and position in your copy of Real Answer. Details for doing so can be found by choosing “Customization” in the “Help” menu.
