May 2013
1 post
February 2013
4 posts
Version 2.2.1 submitted to App Store
Yesterday I submitted a minor release for both the Mac and iOS versions to the app store. This addresses a few fairly minor issues and adds a couple of new functions as well as relaxing restrictions on the if function:
Added defunit function to return the name of the default unit of a numeric value passed to it.
Added an alert function to produce a notification dialog with a message.
...
Version 2.2 for Mac Approved
My comments yesterday about the long wait for Mac app reviews was apparently outdated, for late in the day Math Minion 2.2 for the Mac was also approved and has now been released to the store. :-)
Version 2.2 for iOS Approved
I have just released the newly approved version 2.2 of Math Minion to the App Store and it should show up in all regions over the next 24 hours or so.
In the past I have alway delayed releasing the iOS version until the Mac version was approved, but as this can, for some reason, take an additional two or more weeks, I have decided to release the iOS version right away.
For those of you using...
Version 2.2 of Math Minion has been submitted to both the IOS and Mac App stores. The waiting begins. :-)
January 2013
4 posts
December 2012
8 posts
2.1 is a Go!
The Mac version of Math Minion finally emerged from the review process today, so I have released both it and the iOS version to the App Store. It may take up to a day for them to migrate to all the regional stores though.
With the new version now available, I will be trying to post some blurbs in the coming days about some of the new features, as well as about some interesting previous...
Whoops
I found a problem running version 2.1 on iOS 5, so I rejected the approved binary and resubmitted a fixed version for review. Fortunately the iOS reviewers seem much faster than the Mac ones, so perhaps they will still both be ready before everything shuts down for Christmas. Sigh.
More about Complex Numbers
In version 2.1 of Math Minion, complex number handling is being implemented by means of a series of functions, which operate on standard numeric values that have two columns. The first column represents the real component, with the second being the imaginary part. All the functions return table values with the first column labeled “r” and the second “i”.
The functions...
Facebook page
I have created a Facebook page for Math Minion at:
http://www.facebook.com/MathMinion
for those that prefer that venue. I shall try to post my stuff to both Tumblr and Facebook whenever practical.
October 2012
1 post
May 2012
1 post
Math Minion 1.4
Version 1.4 of Math Minion has been released to iOS and Mac app stores, with the following goodies:
ml unit was incorrect (10-9 m^3 instead of 10-6 m^3)
Added fluidoz unit (quart/32)
Added an index shortcut, such that you can use 0 as a row index to select all rows, assuming there is a column index. Thus x[ 0, 2 ] is equal to x[ 1:{rows x}, 2 ]
The above actually made it into...
April 2012
1 post
December 2011
3 posts
Improved graph labels in 1.2.1
A minor update (version 1.2.1) has just made it to the App Store.
Now if graph axis formulas have comments (text following a single quote), they will be used for axis labels instead of the whole formula. If a comment is not present, the formula will still be used as the label.
There are also some minor changes to iterate, solver and optimizer to improve behaviour for nested operations.
Version 1.2 Arrives
Version 1.2 is now ready and its main claim to minor fame is the introduction of an iterator tool.
Because of its array and matrix handling, combined with its solvers and optimizer, I thought an iterator would not be needed in Math Minion. However there are still situations, such as case studies, where it can be useful. This could be faked before with the ODE Solver, but this new object is...
November 2011
3 posts
New Tutorials
A couple of tutorials have been added to the website. These are introductory tutorials and intended to introduce the basic skills needed for simple calculations and for browsing the Getting Started session, where more complex concepts are described.
Also, an example of using a Math Minion matrix object to calculate a series expansion, in this case Taylor series, has also been added to the...
The Minion on iCloud
Math Minion 1.1 has been approved and should be filtering into the App Store as I write this. The big news for this version is that Math Minion now supports iCloud document handling.
Implementing this turned out to be a bit more involved than I expected, but the results are definitely worth it, if you have more than one device running Math Minion. Do some work on your iPad and then later...
October 2011
1 post
Setting the Minion Free
Alas, sales of Math Minion have not exactly been robust to this point. Of course I think it is a great tool and would like to see more people using it, so I have decided I might as well make it free, at least for the time being. Hopefully that will tempt more folks to at least give it a try.
The change has already been made as I write this, but it may take a few hours for the changes to...
September 2011
9 posts
An Update Already?
Just a day after Math Minion arrived in the App Store, I have submitted 1.0.1 for approval. This includes fixes for some minor, or at least rare, issues that came up while waiting for 1.0 to be approved. The only new feature is a sign function that returns 1 or -1 depending on whether the argument is positive or negative.
Although I am pretty comfortable with Math Minion’s stability and...
Math Minion 1.0 is in the App Store
To my delighted surprise, Math Minion made it through the Apple App Store approval process on its first try and is now available in the store!
Off for Approval
I have sent version 1.0 to the Apple App Store for approval!
Will this be the actual version that ends up in the store? Probably not as Apple is likely to find something not to its liking in a new app this involved and of course new issues could pop up during the approval interval. Still it seemed like the program was at a stage where I should at least get the process started.
Only a few...
Solver tuneups - 0.3.04
There isn’t much new to be seen in this issue, but I did manage to solve, I think, a long standing problem that occurred when a table was both an input and an output, perhaps indirectly, of a equation or ode solver. It is a bit tricky because of the recursion and threading, but it seems to now work as I hoped.
I also added the ability to launch Math Minion from the mobile Safari, with a ...
Minion 0.3.03
Mainly just an important change to the ODE solver:
Revised ODE so that recorded values are cleared on every restart, not just on resets. Also now saves the final T and Y values with the session if auto start is off. This allows you to continue from a previous result in a saved session. Finally when auto start is off, changing a value that affects the dy/dt calculation no longer causes a...
And a couple more things - 0.3.02
Added an undocumented ability to paste white space separated text tables into a model, creating a matrix with one row per line. The number of columns is determined by the number of white spaced tokens on the first line. Each column cell formula will be the corresponding line, column token.
Fixed a problem with the object browser not working correctly for input expressions when it was...
A couple of quick fixes beget 0.3.01
Fixed embarrassing problems with concat and redim function not working correctly.
Added memory check which attempts to stop long running calculations when memory gets low, such as when too many ODE recorded values are accumulated.>/li>
As usual the file is on my iDisk public folder:
http://public.me.com/craiggmorris
More Fiddly Bits
The big time drain in getting this version out, was a complete reworking of the undo/redo system. Gone are the different undo lists for different models. The replacement is a much finer grained and hopefully more robust system. For many, but not all, circumstances, iPad users can use the undo with an object popover window open and the window will update correctly. Where this would be...
August 2011
10 posts
Minion 0.2.06
Yet another Math Minion. Today’s goodies are modest. Thoughts on the change from the “i” icon to the up-down arrow and whether that will be more finger attracting for new users would be appreciated.
Changed the “i” icon to an up-down arrow icon on object views.
Added the available formula parameters for objects to the help.
Added functions sumrows,...
Fresh Solver with a Side of Colour
Version 0.2.05 has been put in the usual place. The changes are:
The most visible is that the names on object icons are now colour coded, with those of objects that have already calculated their values being dark green, while those that are yet to be calculated are displayed in dark orange. This not only helps figure out problems when things aren’t being calculated as expected, but...
Minion du Jour
Thanks to feedback from one very helpful tester, there is another new version of Math Minion, 0.2.04, on my normal Mobile Me site.
The changes are small, but some quite useful:
Snap objects to a fine grid when dragging
I have often not been a fan of having things snap to a grid, but thought this suggestion at least merited investigation.
To my surprise I discovered I liked it a lot in...
Math Minion 0.2.03
I just put another of what I am sure will be many new versions of Math Minion at the usual place. The changes were all either cosmetic or with the documentation, with the most obvious being that icon names are now scaled so the entire name fits in the icon without truncation.
Math Minion Screenshots →
There is now a better selection of screenshots at this link.
Math Minion Home Page →
There is now a basic home page for Math Minion.
