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SciMax Toolbox >> copy

copy

Maxima Function

Calling Sequence

copy (e)

Description

Return a copy of the Maxima expression e. Although e can be any Maxima expression, the copy function is the most useful when e is either a list or a matrix; consider:

(%i1) m : [1,[2,3]]$
(%i2) mm : m$
(%i3) mm[2][1] : x$
(%i4) m;
(%o4)                      [1,[x,3]]
(%i5) mm;
(%o5)                      [1,[x,3]]

Let's try the same experiment, but this time let mm be a copy of m

(%i6) m : [1,[2,3]]$
(%i7) mm : copy(m)$
(%i8) mm[2][1] : x$
(%i9) m;
(%o9)                     [1,[2,3]]
(%i10) mm;
(%o10)                    [1,[x,3]]

This time, the assignment to mm does not change the value of m.

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