Topic: Syntax for Sum, Product, Integrate
Had trouble with the syntax of Sum. Documentation is unclear to me. The issue probably relates to Product and Integrate functions as well. In custom functions, define f(x)=x. Then all these:
g(a,b)=Sum(f,a,b) <-as per help file
g(a,b)=Sum(f(),a,b)
g(a,b)=Sum(f(x),a,b)
produce an error msg. It appears the syntax must be
g(x,a,b)=Sum(f(x),a,b)
with x required as a dummy variable in the function name. But this means Sum is not useful in a graph equation, since x will be determined by Sum, not the x axis. Instead, a graph equation would have to call the custom function as g(0,x), with the first argument being an unused placeholder. Do I understand this correctly? It would be nice to specify the increment variable (and step value?) and not require the placeholder. Intuitively, I expected
g(a,b)=Sum(f(x),x,a,b[,step])
which could be used anywhere. An optional step value, though not essential, can be convenient.