Writing a scientific paper using a ``mainstream'' word processor such as WordPerfect for Windows or Word for Windows has gotten easier with each release of these products, but the process still can be a chore. Mathematicians have, for many years, used TEX, the mathematical typesetting system created by Donald Knuth and supported by the American Mathematical Society. TEX gives marvelous looking output, but learning the system is not easy. Scientific WorkPlace, from TCI Software Research, is a scientific word processor (and much more) that is powerful, relatively easy to learn and use, and gives that great TEX output. I have been using it for several months now. Here is what I've found.

A REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC WORKPLACE 2.0

by Jack Yurkiewicz, Feature Editor

My hard disk is loaded with symbolic mathematics programs such as Maple, Mathematica, and Derive. It also has WordPerfect 6.1 (my current word processor of choice) and Word for Windows 6.0. I use the mathematics products to make plots, solve systems of linear and nonlinear equations, teach calculus and operations research, make exams, etc. Rarely printing the results, I instead save the output as a file and then import it into WordPerfect. At that point I add the associated text to get my completed article. Frequently I use WordPerfect's equation editor to bring mathematical and statistical formulas into my document. I have long been dissatisfied with Mathematica's and Maple's unforgiving and non-intuitive syntax for entering expressions. Similarly, I feel that WordPerfect's equation editor is cumbersome. Scientific WorkPlace, from TCI Software Research (who released one of the earliest and best scientific word processors for the IBM PC platform, , in 1984), solves both complaints. It combines a topnotch scientific word processor with Maple to give writers a powerful document-producing engine that also solves sophisticated mathematical problems.

People familiar with Mathematica or Maple know that syntax is everything. For example, in Mathematica, you must type

Integrate [1/(x^2 - 1), x]

to get the expression

[SEE HARD COPY FOR MATHEMATICAL NOTATION]

If you follow this with (in the Window's version) the shift-enter key sequence, you get the result

[SEE HARD COPY FOR MATHEMATICAL NOTATION]

If you do not capitalize the word ``integrate'' or forget to use the square brackets and use parentheses instead, you will not get the answer. Maple does not need the capitalization and shift-enter keys, but you must remember to put a semicolon at the end of your expression before you hit the enter key, or you will get an error message. It is thus a chore, especially for the casual user, to remember the many hundreds of commands found in Maple, such as INT or DIFF, and where the correct syntax is essential.

Scientific WorkPlace lets you enter complex mathematical expressions without the syntax. You click on the various operators or symbols to enter an expression. Because the program understands what you are writing, it will (if you click on the Maple EVALUATE menu option) evaluate the expression. It automatically places an equal sign between your expression and its evaluation. Another bonus of the product is that ``it eliminates duplicate'' commands. For example, in Mathematica you use the Factor[polynomial] command to factor a polynomial, but use FactorInteger[n] command to get a list of the prime factors of the integer n. The story is similar with Maple: you enter either factor or ifactor, respectively. With Scientific WorkPlace, you just click on the single Maple menu option Factor for both polynomials or integers. Thus, besides not worrying about syntax errors, there is the added bonus of fewer commands.

In addition, Scientific WorkPlace is a superb scientific word processor. It emphasizes what TCI calls a ``content-based'' approach to writing. The company stresses the difference between the process of getting ideas down on paper and the process of ``page layout.'' Most people now use a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) word processor, in which the goal is to make the screen look as much as possible as the final printed page. Thus, you constantly enter commands that control the appearance of the document. Some of these commands might involve: select text, choose a typeface, change the point size, or center. The word processor divides your text into pages according to their typeset appearance. With Scientific WorkPlace, you do not work with þpages'' because the program makes the page breaks according to a format based on a ``print style'' that you have chosen. There are more than 100 styles to choose from. The default mode is whimsically called þJEEP" (a general purpose vehicle). Others include styles for the American Statistical Association Proceedings, IEEE Transactions, MAA Mathematical Monthly Review, SIAM Journal, letters, memos, exams, resumes, theses, taxes, and even plays.

All the commands for typesetting are replaced by commands based on their content. For example, suppose you want to create a title, write a paragraph, and then include an equation in your document. With Scientific WorkPlace, the format of the title, paragraph, and equation are all determined separately and automatically by the print style choice made. Figure 1 shows a complex mathematical document that can be made using the textbook style sheet.

If all this sounds a bit like a commercial for Scientific WorkPlace, it is. As a long time user of WordPerfect and Word, it took me some time and effort to make the adjustments needed to work with Scientific WorkPlace effectively. However, once I made the mental acclimations and learned the program, I appreciated what Scientific WorkPlace does to facilitate word processing overall, and scientific word processing in particular. I now use the program to write papers, exams, memos, etc. and spend little time worrying about formatting these to þlook good.þ Because there is an appropriate style sheet for each of these kinds of documents, Scientific WorkPlace always formats them correctly, and I can concentrate more on what I am trying to say in the document.

The program typesets the documents using implementations of TEX and LATEX. Because this is done automatically, you do not have to know anything about TEX or LATEX. Scientific WorkPlace also lets you enter TEX commands in your document. However, since I know a little (very little!) about TEX, I rarely use that option, for Scientific WorkPlace gives me great looking TEX-typeset documents automatically, without my entering any TEX commands. In short, Scientific WorkPlace þtamesþ the TEX interface, which I often found difficult to use.

Using the Program

Writing mathematical expressions is a þquantum levelþ easier with Scientific WorkPlace than it is with WordPerfect for Windows, and an order of magnitude easier than with Microsoft Word. This is not hyperbole. I have struggled with WordPerfect's equation editor for some time, and find myself frequently giving students my handwritten notes rather than type them with the word processor. With the switch to Scientific WorkPlace, I am typing all the results. I found most things very intuitive. Figure 2 shows a set of Scientific WorkPlace giving a set of instructions on how to enter an integral function and then evaluate it using Maple. Figure 3 shows one of my first attempts at mathematical typing with the product. I was able to get these results (and more) within one hour of first using the program, and none of these expressions required my referring to the documentation after that first hour.

Perhaps an even bigger attraction of the program is that I have a symbolic math program, Maple, built into my word processor. Scientific WorkPlace comes with a major subset of Maple. Entering mathematical expressions is easy because, as I mentioned, Scientific WorkPlace relaxes the strict syntax requirements of Maple. Clicking on Maple on the menu bar gives you the various options available via a pull-down menu. Figure 4 shows these options, along with a three-dimensional plot of a function.

I like the fact that the program mixes colors to differentiate between text and mathematical expressions; the former is in black and the latter are in red. All the American Mathematical Society symbols are available. You find them under the nine different pull-down menus. Other features include BibTEX, the public domain program that creates a bibliography by taking items from a database that you have created in Scientific WorkPlace. Other features that you would expect to see in a standard word processor, drag-and-drop, spelling checking, a cut-and-paste, print preview (with a zoom feature), a table editor, importing many graphics formats, etc., are all here. Finally, Scientific WorkPlace lets me import LATEX, ASCII, ANSI, and RFT files. The latter is useful for Microsoft Word 2.0 and 6.0 users because the program recognizes and converts mathematics created with Word's equation editor.

Can Scientific WorkPlace become your primary word processor? Perhaps, but there are some reasons why you might not give up on your mainstream word processor. For example, I still use WordPerfect 6.1 because most of my colleagues at the university do, and exchanging documents with them is easier if I stick with WordPerfect. A larger obstacle to wholesale conversion to Scientific WorkPlace is the new way of thinking you must adopt when preparing a document. For example, in an ordinary word processor, pressing the space bar gives you a space on the screen and in the printed output. If you press it again, you get a second space. However, Scientific WorkPlace adds the correct number of spaces after certain punctuation marks automatically, so that pressing the space bar a second time has no effect. Similarly, pressing the enter key at some point in an ordinary word processor adds a new line and permits the start of a new paragraph. Pressing it a second time adds another line. With Scientific WorkPlace, the second þenterþ has no effect. To get a new line in the same paragraph, you click on the þFragment popupþ icon at the bottom of the screen and select newline. This takes some getting used to, but once you see the rationale, you probably would agree that the entire process makes sense.

Documentation

The program comes with three books. The first, a ninety-page "Getting Started" manual, gives a fine introduction to the Scientific WorkPlace philosophy of creating documents, has easy-to-follow tutorials, and many detailed mathematical examples. The other two, each with more than 300 pages, cover how to make documents and how to use Maple, respectively. All three are excellent. They are clearly written, with many examples, screenshots, and even exercises. The manual for mathematics explains how to use Maple within Scientific WorkPlace, and is much better than the standard book that comes with Maple software. The þCreating Documents with Scientific WorkPlaceþ book shows examples of all the style sheets that are available, making it easy for you to choose the one that is best suited for your needs. On-line help is adequate, but is not as extensive as that found in mainstream products like Word or WordPerfect.

Pricing

Scientific WorkPlace comes in two editions. The professional version has a list price of $595. There is a student version available for $162. The main differences are that the student edition comes with 30 style sheets (as compared to more than 100 in the professional version), does not include AMS fonts, leaves out the style editor, and does not include the book þCreating Documents with Scientific WorkPlace.þ Macintosh and Unix versions are currently under development. There is a 60-day money back guarantee from TCI.

Conclusions

I like Scientific WorkPlace very much. If you are writing scientific documents, you should have this product. It's as simple as that. People who now use Maple should also get it, for it makes that product easier to use and integrates it with a solid scientific word processor, making it easy to integrate your mathematics output with explanatory text.

Scientific Workplace
TCI Software Research
1190 Foster Road
Las Cruces, New Mexico 88001-3739
505-522-4600

If you are interested in writing a software review for a future issue of Decision Line, please contact Professor Jack Yurkiewicz at the address below.

Professor Jack Yurkiewicz
Pace University
212-346-1908
e-mail: yurk@pacevm.dac. pace.edu