the way all other software that do calculation interpret strings.
for you maybe these strings looks the same:
3-4
3—4
3–4
But only one of them works in Numbers, or Google Sheets…
The others include a punctuation, not a mathematical operator.
And this is an extreme example, other characters not belonging to Mathematical operators are more recognisable.
How does the computer recognises the minus from the other characters?
There is no need to call the now ubiquitous Complex AI, (horrible name for just Applied Statistics)
It’s recognising the different unicode codes.
What matters is the underling code, not the shape of the glyph, and the computer is capable of discerning between a glyph that belongs to the punctuation or arrows cathegory and a glyph that is actually a Math operator.
these are the same Unicode 0+0061 latin small letter a.
From the unicode site:
“The shapes of the reference glyphs used in these code charts are not prescriptive. Considerable variation is to be expected in actual fonts”
This is just for the sake of the discussion, but whoever implemented it, should have included just mathematical operators in the Math parser, and should have accepted the rest as valid point names.
Well, to be honest, I’m kinda done with this discussion as there’s more important issues for me to work on. If you feel there’s a better way you’re free to go for it.
It’s indeed a pity this discussion hasn’t been productive, I understand there are other more important issue to attend to, and If I could code, I would try to implement a solution.
The issues remain though: the naming of points it’s too rigid and can result in formulas that are not easily parseable by humans who like to have meaningful names for things.
The math parser should distinguish between math operators and punctuation but cannot, and it’s a legacy inherited from the past that cannot change.
A way to add comments to entities like points and lines would help, and has been requested, but wouldn’t solve the confusion in the formulas.
I see this as a usability issue, like having menu names in light grey on white background. Can you work like this? Sure! but it would bee much better to have those menus in black.
And there in lies the crux of the matter… since you can’t code I can only assume you don’t understand the complexity of the issue for the parser to simply distinguish between operators and punctuation… actually that’s not what the parser is doing. It’s differntiating between variable names / constants AND math operators - which also includes all the binary ops like &&, ||, !=, (), ?, :, etc… And it’s not that it can’t be changed, but it’s a question of at what cost? The math parser has to be fast, or the app would be so slow as to be useless. We humans can easily add context to a probem… computers can’t without a cost. We can easily distinguish between Line_A1-A2_A3, where the computer can’t, unless you give it the context. We can see it’s a line from point A1-A2 to A3. where as the parser sees it as Line A1 minus A2_A3, and since A2_A3 does not exist as a variable it throws an error.
That being said… give me a list of exactly which chars you think should be allowable as seperators in names.
I still think you’re trying to a make a problem where one doesn’t exist. I went back to your original screencap… IMO your making up names that are more complex than they need to be. If you’re trying to make things human readable, then get rid of the superflous stuff that ain’t In my take it’s clear - a Line from sleeveOutRef to sleeveOuset.
