[Maxima-discuss] questions about simp_inequality, was: %and is not an infix operator

[Robert D. <rob...@gm...>]

On 2020-02-02, Barton Willis via Maxima-discuss <max...@li...> wrote:

> (%i1) load(to_poly_solve)$
>
> (%i2) simp_inequality((x > minf) %and (x < 0));
> (%o2) x<0
>
> The user documentation says to use this function, you need to
> load(fourier_elim).  Maybe the user documentation is out of
> date--I'm not sure.

I've updated the documentation for simp_inequality (commit 83e6ae3).
Thanks for pointing it out.

Reading the documentation for simp_inequality, I came across something I
don't understand. It says in part:

  Limitations The function 'simp_inequality' is limited in at least
  two ways; first, the simplifications are local; thus

       (%i1) simp_inequality((x > minf) %and (x < 0));
       (%o1) (x>1) %and (x<1)

What does it mean that the simplifications are local? How does the
example illustrate that?

Also, I tried the example with a recent build and I get a different
output:

  (%i2) load (to_poly_solve) $
  (%i3) simp_inequality((x > minf) %and (x < 0));
  (%o3)                         x < 0

Is that the expected output? It does seem to make sense. 

Thanks for any info, and all the best.

Robert Dodier