Chapter 6 - Fitting Data Sets

6.2.1 Accessing the Data

The general issue is to fit a linear or a non-linear function to a given set of data. It is clear that the steps to follow should be:

1. Access the data

2. Load the data in the application

3. Perform the fit

4. Display and analyze the fit

The data could reside anywhere in the directory structure on the hard drive. Therefore, Maple needs to point to the location of the data whenever this may be. Of course, this location must be such as to allow access by the user.

The Maple command currentdir() returns the directory where Maple is currently attached as a character string. Used with an argument, i.e., currentdir( new_default_directory ), it changes the default Maple directory to the location given by new_default_directory.

The fully qualified directory name where your account resides ( your home directory ) is kept by the Maple Kernel in a hidden variable. It is accessible via kernel a kernel call kernelopts(homedir). This command returns the home directory as a string.


Chapter 6 TOC Section 6.2.2      

Any questions or suggestions should be directed to
Michel Vallières at vallieres@physics.drexel.edu