Magma provides extensive online help facilities that can be accessed in different ways.
The easiest way to get some information about any Magma intrinsic is by typing: (Here we assume you to be interested in FundamentalUnit)
> FundamentalUnit;Which now will list all signatures for this intrinsic (i.e. all known ways to use this function):
> FundamentalUnit;
Intrinsic 'FundamentalUnit'
Signatures:
(<FldQuad> K) -> FldQuadElt
(<RngQuad> O) -> RngQuadElt
The fundamental unit of K or O
(<RngQuad> R) -> RngQuadElt
Fundamental unit of the real quadratic order.
Next, to get more detailed information, try
> ?FundamentalUnit
But now several things could happen depending on the installation. Using the default, you get
===========================================================
PATH: /magma/ring-field-algebra/quadratic/operation/\
class-group/FundamentalUnit
KIND: Intrinsic
===========================================================
FundamentalUnit(K) : FldQuad -> FldQuadElt
FundamentalUnit(O) : RngQuad -> RngQuadElt
A generator for the unit group of the order O or the
maximal order
of the quadratic field K.
===========================================================
Second, a WWW-browser could start on the part of the online help describing your function (or at least the index of the first character). Third, some arbitrary program could be called to provide you with the information.
If SetVerbose("Help", true); is set, Magma will show the exact command used and the return value obtained.
Defines the external browser to be used if SetHelpUseExternalBrowser(true) is in effect. The string has to be a valid command taking exactly one argument (%s) which will we replaced by a URL. In case two strings are provided, the second defines a fall-back system. Typical use for this is to first try to use an already running browser and if this fails, start a new one.
Tells Magma to actually use (or stop to use) the external browser. If both SetHelpUseExternalSystem and SetHelpUseExternalBrowser are set to true, the assignment made last will be effective.
This will tell Magma to use a user defined external program to access the help. The string has to contain exactly one %s which will be replaced by the argument to ?. The resulting string must be a valid command.
Tells Magma to actually use (or stop to use) the external help system. If both SetHelpUseExternalSystem and SetHelpUseExternalBrowser are set to true, the assignment made last will be effective.
Returns the currently used command strings.
Returns the currently used command string.
The first value is the currently used value from SetHelpUseExternalBrowser, the second reflects SetHelpUseExternalSystem.
Magma has a very powerful internal help-browser that can be entered with
> ??