mailing-list for TeXmacs Users

["el.douwen" <address@hidden>]

hi everybody
in lycée classes in France we teach tableaux de variations

these are "blocks" with
one line for the variable, x, containing the values of x that are  
important for the fonction: -inf, +inf, boudns of definition set,  
extrema, zeros..
one line for f'(x) with the sign of the derivee on each interval
one line for f(x), with arrows, erpressing if f increases or decreases

the problem that maths teachers in lycee often encounter when they  
must decide wether they type their documtns on the computer, or they  
write them, is the difficulty to produce well-looking tableaux de  
variations

it would be great to have e a system to create easyly such tableaux  
with texmacs

i encounter some dark points:
- in a block, would it be possible to make tabulars, not being obliged  
to type a lot of " " space caracters to set the position of a number  
where we want.
- i use for the moment some littel arrows that texmacs give in one of  
the maths tools. I use a little arrow that goes down and the sister  
littel arow that goes up. Is there a mean, in texmacs, to get easyly  
bigger arrows ?
- if i manage to create a satisfying tableau de variation, how can i  
proceed in order to reuse it each time i need it ? Shall i save my  
ready-to-use tableau de variation in a special file on my desktop,  
open it behind the file i am working on, and use a copy/paste ? is  
there a quicker and simpler means to do ?
- i have not reflected at all about the mean of generating  
automatically such a tableau, when the function f is given. But i knwo  
that, for example, some programms on Ti89 do it. You type the  
function, and the tableau appears. Of course this question is diffrent  
from the former ones, one time for one thing. But if anybody already  
has any idea on this point i take. For myself i am trying to discover  
maxima, which i think could be the tool to make such a tableau de  
variation generator.

Vincent