
 MATHCAD VERSION 2.50 ON-LINE RELEASE NOTES

         This file contains the most up-to-date product
         information on this release of MathCAD, including
         additions and corrections to the material in the MathCAD
         User's Guide and printed release notes.

 HOW TO CONTACT MATHSOFT INC.

         If you require any assistance, please call MathSoft Technical
         Support at (617) 577-1017. We would be pleased to help you from
         9:00 AM to 5:30 PM (Eastern Time), Monday through Friday.
         Please have your serial number ready when you call. (The serial
         number is on the inside cover of the manual.)

         We strongly encourage you to mail in your registration card.
         Registered users receive the quarterly MathSoft User's Journal.
         Registered users will also receive information on future upgrades
         to MathCAD.

         If you think you have found a bug, please call technical support
         and bring it to our attention.

 SEND US YOUR SUGGESTIONS

         Help us plan for new features in future versions of MathCAD. We
         appreciate your suggestions for new features, or for changes in
         existing features.

 MATHCAD DOCUMENTS

         The MathCAD Auxiliary Disk contains many sample documents. You can
         load these documents into MathCAD to see some ways to use MathCAD's
         features.

         See the file DIRECTRY.MCD for a list of these documents.

 UNITS DOCUMENTS

         The MathCAD Auxiliary Disk includes three files that contain unit
         conversions.

         CGS.MCD contains unit conversions in the cgs system, based on
         centimeters, grams, and seconds. All units, including electrical
         units, are defined in terms of these base units.

         MKS.MCD contains unit conversions in the MKS system, based on
         meters, kilograms, seconds, and coulombs.

         USCUSTOM.MCD contains unit conversions based on the U.S. Customary
         units of feet, pounds (mass), seconds, and coulombs.

         You can add these conversions into files you create, or append
         them to the end of your files using the MathCAD append
         command.

 PROGRAM NOTES
 =============

 REDISPLAY COMMAND

         If you suspect that the MathCAD display screen is not accurately
         reflecting the state of a document, or if equations on screen
         have gaps or overlap one another, use the redisplay command by
         pressing [Ctrl]R. This redisplays the whole screen.

         Here are some actions that can cause the display to have gaps or
         unreadable parts:

             1. Regions that overlap one another on the screen.

             2. Error messages from an equation or plot that coincide
                on screen with other regions.

             3. Cutting and pasting equations that overlap one another.

             4. Interrupting the display of a surface plot or sketch with
                [Ctrl]A or [Ctrl][Break]

         None of these problems can cause computational errors; they
         affect the display only. When the information on the screen is
         unclear, press [Ctrl]R to redisplay everything.

 PRINTING DOCUMENTS

        We recommend that you save your documents before printing, in
        case of an unrecoverable printer-interface problem.

        If you try to print with no printer selected, MathCAD shows
        you the menu of printer types. Select one and press [Enter].
        Then use the print command again to print your document.

        If your printer works with other programs but not with MathCAD,
        MathCAD may be having difficulty communicating with your printer.
        Check the following:

        PARALLEL PRINTERS: Specify PRN or LPT1 as the printer device.
        (Specify LPT2 if the printer is on the second parallel port.

        SERIAL PRINTERS: First execute the following DOS commands:

            MODE COM1: 9600,N,8,1,P           (or other parameters as
                                              appropriate for printer)
            MODE LPT1:= COM1

        Then, when MathCAD prompts for a printer device, specify PRN.

        PLOTTERS: First execute the following DOS command:

            MODE COM1: 9600,N,8,1,P           (see your plotter manual to
                                              make sure this is correct)

        Then, when MathCAD prompts for a printer device, specify COM1. DO
        NOT use LPT1 or PRN, even if you have redirected them to COM1.

 WHAT TO DO IF MATHCAD CANNOT PRINT

        First, check that your printer is compatible with a model that
        MathCAD supports. See the description of printing in the User's
        Guide and the descriptions of each printer driver in the printed
        Release Notes in the disk pocket of your package.

        If MathCAD cannot print directly, try printing to a file as follows:

           1. Print the document to a file. Type [Esc] print [Enter].
           When MathCAD prompts you for a print area, press [Enter].
           Then, in place of the printer device, specify a filename like
           OUTPUT.PRN.

           2. Save your document and exit MathCAD by pressing [Ctrl]Q.

           3. At the DOS prompt, type:

                       COPY /B OUTPUT.PRN PRN

           This sends the print file to the printer. Substitute the
           filename you used in step 1 for OUTPUT.PRN and the name of
           the port to which your printer is attached (for example,
           LPT1 or COM1) for PRN.

 REPLACE COMMAND

        MathCAD will not always recalculate equations as necessary
        after using the replace command ([Ctrl][F6]). After a replace
        command, do a process command to ensure that the calculations in
        the document are up to date.

 AT & T 6300 SERIES COMPUTERS

        To run in high-resolution mode (640x400 color or monochrome) on an
        AT&T 6300 series computer, type:

            MCAD /A

        If you do not type /A, MathCAD runs in CGA-emulation mode (640x200
        monochrome).

 SKETCH FILES WITH MORE THAN 8000 POINTS

        The program MCSTRANS.EXE, included with this disk, translates
        HPGL files into MathCAD's sketch format. If the resulting sketch
        has more than 8000 points, MathCAD cannot show the whole sketch
        in a MathCAD document. Instead, you see a partial sketch showing
        only the first 8000 points.

 BLOCK CUT AND PASTE

        If you paste a block of regions and change your mind, just press
        [F3] to cut them again. The manual states that MathCAD will
        prompt you if the pasted regions overlap existing regions;
        actually, there is no such prompt.

 COMPLEX TOLERANCE

        The maximum complex tolerance is 63, not 308 as stated in the manual.
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