This document is one of More SageMath Tutorials. You may edit it on github. \(\def\NN{\mathbb{N}}\) \(\def\ZZ{\mathbb{Z}}\) \(\def\QQ{\mathbb{Q}}\) \(\def\RR{\mathbb{R}}\) \(\def\CC{\mathbb{C}}\)

Tutorial: Using the notebook and navigating the help system (outdated)

This worksheet is based on William Stein’s JPL09__intro_to_sage.sws worksheet.

Warning

Some of this tutorial needs to be updated w.r.t. the new Jupyter based notebook.

Making this help page into a worksheet

Go into the File menu, and click on Copy worksheet

Entering, Editing, and Evaluating Input

To evaluate code in the Sage Notebook, type the code into an input cell and press shift-enter or click the evaluate link. Try it now with a simple expression (e.g., \(2 + 2\)). The first time you evaluate a cell takes longer than subsequent times since a new Sage process is started:

sage: # edit here

Create new input cells by clicking on the blue line that appears between cells when you move your mouse around. Try it now:

sage: # edit here

You can go back and edit any cell by clicking in it (or using the keyboard to move up or down). Go back and change your 2+2 above to 3 + 3 and re-evaluate it.

You can also edit this text right here by double clicking on it, which will bring up the TinyMCE Javascript text editor. You can even put embedded mathematics like this $sin(x) - y^3$ just like with LaTeX.

You can also easily make interactive widgets as illustrated below. Try clicking on the sliders to illustrate multiplication below. Also, you can try changing the slider ranges to something different by editing the input cell (make sure to also change xmax,ymax):

sage: @interact
....: def f(n=(1..15), m=(1..15)):
....:     print "n * m =", n*m, " =", factor(n*m)
....:     P = polygon([(0,0),(0,n),(m,n),(m,0)])
....:     P.show(aspect_ratio=1, gridlines='minor',figsize=[3,3],xmax=14,ymax=14)

If you mess everything up, click on Action -> Restart Worksheet at the top of the screen to reset all the variable names and restart everything. You can also click “Undo” in the upper right to revert the worksheet to a previously saved state.

Click the Log link at the top of this page to view a log of recent computations!

How to Get Context-Sensitive Help and Search the Documentation

You find out what functions you can call on an object X by typing X.<tab key>:

sage: X = 2009

Now type X. then press the tab key:

sage: X.

Once you have selected a function, say factor, type X.factor(<tab key> or X.factor? to get help and examples of how to use that function. Try this now:

sage: # edit here

To get full-text searchable help and a more extensive tutorial, click the Help link in the upper right of this page. The help pages are dynamic, and you can play with their examples. You can also access the Fast Static Versions of the Documentation.

If you are ready, you can now go to ``

If you need live help from a person, just click on Help above, then click on Help via Internet Chat (IRC). This brings you to the Sage chat room where you can often get help.