The Define command is a powerful tool in Scientific Notebook, enabling you to define a symbol to be a mathematical object and to define a function using an expression or a collection of expressions. When you choose Define, the submenu that comes up includes New Definition, Undefine, Show Definitions, Clear Definitions, Save Definitions, Restore Definitions, and Define Maple Name. The first four operations are explained in this section for the types of expressions and functions that occur in precalculus. Examples of these operations pertinent to topics such as calculus, vector analysis, and matrix algebra are presented later, in context.
The two items Save Definitions and Restore Definitions provide a way to save definitions with a document and to restore them when reloading the document. The item Define Maple Name provides a way to use Maple functions not included on the Scientific Notebook menus. Click on Techniques for DM5.texWorking With DM5.texFunctions in DM5.texScientific NotebookDM5.tex for greater detail on these items and other aspects of function definitions.