Technical Computing Magazine - Issue 40

Mathcad Prime 2.0: Empowering Every Engineer

Learn how PTC plans to cater for every potential user in an engineering organisation with Mathcad Prime 2.0 - providing power to experts, while accommodating the occasional user too.

In last year’s issue of TCM, Mathcad’s creators, PTC, introduced the whole concept of the software’s re-engineering and the shift to the new Prime generation. Now with the pending launch of Mathcad Prime 2.0, TCM took the opportunity to quiz the development team again. You can read the exclusive interview as they review a landmark year and look ahead to the future:

Question: How do you think the new version has been received since Mathcad Prime 1.0’s launch in January 2011?
Answer: I think the overall reaction to Mathcad Prime 1.0 has been very positive. Even though Mathcad Prime 1.0 stays true to core Mathcad, it feels like a very different product, so it will take some time for our current users to get used to it. Most complaints we have received relate to missing functionality compared to Mathcad 15. This is expected and we are planning to fill this gap in the upcoming releases of Mathcad Prime.

Adept’s Mathcad product specialist wanted to put forth some questions on behalf of his customers – they relate to anticipated new features/enhancements in Mathcad Prime 2.0:

Question: At the moment, users must have v15 installed for the Worksheet Converter to function. Naturally, having to install two programs provides an added complication. Will the worksheet converter be included in Mathcad Prime 2.0 to stop annoying potential upgraders?
Answer: This will remain unchanged in Mathcad Prime 2.0, although we are simplifying the licensing process for those users that need to upgrade to Mathcad 15 in order to use the converter. In the future we may bundle the required functionality in the converter itself.

Question: Another issue is that the converter tool doesn’t convert old worksheets properly. Has this been fixed?
Answer: The fidelity of the conversion process depends on the level of support for the features that are present in the original worksheet. For example, the Excel component and 3D plots (except for contour plots) are not supported in Mathcad Prime 1.0. So old worksheets containing these features will not convert well. Mathcad Prime 2.0 supports these features, so naturally, the results will be much better. There are still gaps in the list of supported features, so users should expect differences. Nevertheless, with more supported features and a number of customer reported issues fixed in the conversion process, we expect users will see significant improvement in their converted worksheets.

Question: The symbolic engine was buggy in v15. PTC has already mentioned symbolics as a key feature highlight of Prime 2.0. Can you tell us more?
Answer: Mathcad Prime 2.0 will use the same symbolic algebra engine as Mathcad 15. This will ensure higher fidelity of converted worksheets. We are fixing a number of bugs that have been reported against Mathcad 14/15.

Question: PTC has also hinted at Embedded Excel Objects and 3D Plots as two more key new features of Prime 2.0. Can you elaborate?
Answer: Both will be in Mathcad Prime 2.0. Embedded Excel Objects (or Excel Components) offer integrated Excel functionality within Mathcad worksheets, enabling calculation with, and display of, tabular data. Mathcad Prime 2.0 brings usability improvements and is much more robust than previous versions. 3D plots in Mathcad Prime 2.0 will include surface, curve and scatter plots. Besides usability improvements similar to those experienced with contour plots in Mathcad Prime 1.0, users will also find it easier to plot a variety of data and functions. We’ve made it simpler to specify the functions or data to be plotted, as well as handle imperfect data.

Question: Any last words or thoughts you’d like to leave with our TCM readers while you’ve got their attention?
Answer: We are all excited about the release of Mathcad Prime 2.0. It is an ambitious project, but we believe we are building a better product. Mathcad Prime 2.0 brings many more enhancements under the hood, including improved computational power, 64-bit and multi- core support, plus a new optimisation solver. With the emphasis on usability and learnability, Mathcad Prime is a product that is much easier to adopt. This leads the way for Mathcad to go beyond a calculation toolbox towards collaboration, knowledge capture and support for engineering processes.

This is just a summary of the full interview. If you’d like to read the unabridged version, you can download it from our website and watch this space for news of the official Mathcad Prime 2.0 launch soon.

Download the full Mathcad Prime 2.0 Interview, or visit the Mathcad home page