Glypher allows users to formulate basic symbolic algebra problems in a natural, visually clear manner and aims to provide the full functionality of SymPy interactively illustrated in pretty Linux Libertine fonts.
To provide an efficient and powerful equation editor, the initial learning curve is necessarily a bit steep, but after a few examples it will all become familiar!
Glypher is inspired by, and aims to maintain some usage compatibility with, the excellent scientific editor TeXmacs.
Conceptually, Glypher represents equations as a combination of Entities, grouped in Phrases, and then into PhraseGroups. An Entity might be the letter c or the vinculum of a fraction, a Phrase, the token cos and a PhraseGroup, the combination of function name, bracketed Phrase and variable, cos(x). This hierarchy allows consistent and predictable rendering of Glypher equations into SymPy objects. Entities representing a unicode symbol are called Symbols. Note that this terminology contrasts with SymPy - a SymPy symbol is generated by a combination of one or more Glypher Symbols in a Phrase, allowing words to be used as SymPy symbols.
One defining characteristic of Glypher is its insistence on handling bracketing internally. Brackets are implied, as each phrase will be treated distinctly. If two adjacent characters share a phrase, they should always have a green underline. Where brackets are required for clarity of reading, they are usually automatically inserted (and removed) by Glypher. For example, a*a^2 will be appear, rather than (a)*((a)^2).
The cursor will allow you to attach to Symbols and Phrases. If you insert a PhraseGroup, such as an integral or binary expression, the active sites that it expects you to fill in, called TargetPhrases, will be highlighted with grey borders, shaded where they have not yet been filled-in by the user. To help you see the (major) PhraseGroup your cursor is located in, an orange bar appears along the top.
To delete a PhraseGroup, you may need to empty some or all of the TargetPhrases first.
Primarily for simplifying SymPy objects, Glypher performs a series of automatic simplifications, such as reducing nested (associative) binary expressions into a single n-ary expression, or cancelling double negatives in a summation.
To get Glypher to do anything useful, you need to write a command. Commands are split by spaces, normally forming a natural language sentence. For instance, Do followed by a space and an expression is equivalent to calling SymPy's obj.doit() on the equation's SymPy object. Unlike most n-ary expressions, you can usually press the spacebar from deep in a set of nested PhraseGroups and Glypher will assume you want to add a term to the top space-separated expression.
| Set A=EXP | assign the expression on the right to every future occurance of A |
| Unset A | cancel the above |
| Sub A=EXP1 into EXP2 | substitute A=EXP1 into EXP2 |
| Do A | call S.doit() where S is A's SymPy object |
| Expand EXP1 | call S.expand() where S is A's SymPy object |
| Expand EXP1 about x=0 | do a Taylor expansion to order 4 of EXP1 (can add, e.g., ‘to order 5') |
| Evaluate EXP1 | call S.evalf() with optional subsitutions |
| Evaluate EXP1 at x=0,y=1 | |
| Plot EXP1 | calls sympy's plot function |
| Source EXP1 | creates a new Source for subsequent plotting in the Plot tab |
To execute a command, simply press Return. The statement and response will be added to the list below and can be accessed subsequently through a reference of the form [s4] or [r4], respectively.
Many characters have one or more alternatives that can be accessed using Tab (or Shift+Tab, or by holding down Super, usu. Windows key, and pressing Up or Down) when attached to the Symbol. These are, in general, compatible with TeXmacs. All basic Greek characters are obtainable from the Latin characters.
Some phrases may have alternatives, such as a product for a summation. This is indicated by a small, green triangle in the upper-left corner of the relevant Phrase. When attached, the keys above will let you move between the possibilities.
Ctrl+Y will let you automatically sympify and render the clipboard text into Glypher.
| Alt-F | insert a fraction |
| Alt-i | insert an integral |
| Alt-d | insert a derivative |
| ^ | add superscript; use Ctrl+Super+Right to swap power/index |
| _ | add subscript; use Ctrl+Super+Right to swap derivative/index |
| Ctrl+( | turn preceding word into a function |
| Alt-c | insert a summation |
| Alt-[ | insert a reference to a previous statement or response |