Everyone who is registered in Math 2280 should automatically have an account set up in our lab. These accounts are created from University class lists so it sometimes happens that late-registering people don't have accounts yet. If you turn out to be one of these people you will need to consult the lab assistant about getting an account. Make sure to bring your student I.D. because the first thing the assistant must do is verify that you are a University student.

If your machine looks asleep jiggle the mouse or hit any key to wake it back up. If necessary type a ``return'' (or ``enter'') key to get the cursor into the ``login name'' box. Your login name is made out of your student I.D. number and your actual name, as follows. All names from classes begin with ``c-''. If your name is Karl Fred GausS, then your login name is c-gskf, following the recipe: c-(first letter of last name)(last letter of last name)(first letter of first name)(middle initial). If there are multiple people registered this term who would have the same login name, say c-gskf, then they are instead assigned login names as c-gskf1, c-gskf2, c-gskf3, etc. Mr. Gauss would not know beforehand which case he fell into, so would probably try c-gskf first, followed by his password. In case of failure he would then try c-gskf1, then c-gskf2, etc, through c-gskf4. Then he would find a lab assistant. After entering your try at a login name, type the ``return'' key and the cursor should be in the password box.

Your initial password is just the c-gskf part of your login name followed by the last four digits of your student I.D. number. If Mr. Gauss has ID number 000735421 then his initial password is gskf5421, regardless whether his login name was c-gskf or c-gskf3. If the login fails try again and then try the different login names suggested above. Another possibility (at least in the fall term) is that your account was created using your social security number (which used to be used for student ID number). If failure continues find a lab assistant and he/she will help you.

Once you are logged in successfully a ``local'' window should appear. Notice that it has various parts: borders on the top (title bar), borders on the side (scroll bar), etc. If you move your mouse on its pad your pointer (called cursor) moves around the screen. If you want to work in a window, the cursor should be in it.

At this point you are ready to get used to the X-windows:

To give you a flavor of what Maple can do, we will try a few commands. They should begin on a line having a command prompt ``>'', and should be ended with either a semicolon ; or a colon : If you end with a semicolon you will see visible output, if you end with a colon the output will be suppressed even though the command is executed. Maple will not execute a command until you type the ``return'' or ``enter'' key. If you have a multiline command use ``shift-return'' to change lines without executing. If you mess up your parentheses or brackets or do something else which makes your command unexecutable you will get a ``syntax error'' message and Maple will try to point out your mistake. After a while you will become good at fixing these mistakes but they can be annoying at first. Spaces are ignored in Maple, so you may use them to make input easier to read. You can enter explanatory comments in a command line by inserting a ``#'' to the left of the comments; Maple ignores any text after the #. Sometimes this is more informative then entering nearby explanatory text, especially if you are explaining various steps in a subroutine.