Entering and editing algebraic expressions
Once you start the program, click on the 
button to create an empty worksheet. You will see the cursor blinking at the beginning of an input line, telling you that the algebraic editor is ready for your input. If the keyboard does not contain a particular symbol which is present in your problem, you can use the special symbol toolbar to enter that symbol. If you need help entering a particular type of algebraic expression, review one of the following topics:
Entering fractions and mixed numbers
Below is a brief overview of some common editing issues:
Exiting a sub-expression
Generally, WYSIWYG (‘What You See Is What You Get’) expression entry is pretty intuitive and should require little explanation. One of the features that does deserve a closer look is ‘sub-expression exit’.
Let’s start with an example:
Imagine you want to enter 
. If you use the keyboard symbol for the exponent ‘^’ and type in a^2b, the editor will produce the following: 
Notice that "b" is now in the exponent, and this is probably not what you wanted. In order to ‘exit’ the exponent you simply need to press the 
key, or click on the right side of a^2
Notice that the size of the cursor is a good indicator of exactly where you are located within the sub-expression.
Here is another example of how the cursor indicates sub-expression position:
Before pressing the right arrow key |
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After pressing the right arrow key |
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The next character will be typed in the denominator |
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The next character will be typed after the fraction |
Here is another example, this time showing ‘exiting’ from the radical:
Before pressing the right arrow key |
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After pressing the right arrow key |
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The next character will be typed inside the radical. |
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The next character will be typed outside the radical. |
Remember this simple rule: the right arrow key will take you one level ‘up’ (to the next larger sub-expression) within your expression.
Moving around an expression
The quickest way to move to another part of an expression is by clicking the mouse on the desired expression segment. If you prefer keyboard input, you can also use the arrow keys – but remember to always keep an eye on the cursor size – the same rules that apply to expression exit also apply to movement:
Example of left arrow movement:
Before pressing the left arrow key |
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After pressing the left arrow key |
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The next character will be typed after the fraction |
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The next character will be typed in the numerator |
Selecting, copying, cutting and pasting sub-expressions
These operations can be done with standard mouse click-and-drag as well as with <Shift> arrow key combinations.
Note that cutting ‘across’ expressions such as 
will produce an extra space holder which is generally not desirable:
Here, a press of either the backspace or delete keys will remove the extra space-holder.
Space-holders and editing
When you enter an expression such as:
delete b and decide to move to another part of the expression:
the algebraic editor will insert a space-holder in place of b. You will have to ‘resolve’ that space-holder before being able to solve the problem (either by entering something in its place, or by deleting it). Note that deleting the space-holder in this particular case will actually delete the fraction and replace it by its former numerator (a).
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