Valid names for symbols may be constructed using letters, digits, and the apostrophe, and should not begin with a digit.
i1 : x
o1 = x
o1 : Symbol
|
i2 : q0r55
o2 = q0r55
o2 : Symbol
|
i3 : f'
o3 = f'
o3 : Symbol
|
Some symbols have preassigned meanings and values. For example, symbols consisting of the letter
o followed by a number are used to store output values.
i4 : o2
o4 = q0r55
o4 : Symbol
|
Other symbols refer to functions built into Macaulay2 that provide much of its functionality.
Sometimes, one wants the symbol, rather than the particular value it happens to have at the moment. For example after setting the value of
x to 5, the value of the variable
x is no longer the symbol
x. Use
symbol to recover the symbol itself.
i5 : x=5
o5 = 5
|
i6 : x
o6 = 5
|
i7 : symbol x
o7 = x
o7 : Symbol
|