#### about maple functions dll and dde with maple (6.1.99)

##### LEE C.Y.

I am trying to use Maple as a ’helper’ program to perform some calculations for another main program. Is dynamic data exchange (DDE) possible with Maple? On the other hand, are there any DLL ﬁles with Maple functions available?

If the above are possible, it would be very useful for me to know where information on the commands/parameters/functions...etc for the DDE or in the DLLs could be found.

##### Michael McCabe (15.1.99)

What you want is Mathedge, i.e. the Maple kernel. A couple of years ago I pioneered its use in DLL mode by linking it to interactive multimedia material developed using Asymetrix Toolbook. Others have used the more cumbersome DDE approach. Although I developed some extremely exciting and innovative courseware for vector calculus within the UK Mathematics Courseware Consortium, it remains still to be released since agreement over Mathedge licencing has still not been agreed.

I used Mathedge corresponding to Maple release 3 - others may be able to advise on whether there is a later version.

##### Claus Gotfred Rasmussen (15.1.99)

I’m also using Maple to perform some calculations for a another main-program (i.e. SAS), so I’ve also tried to use DDE in Maple - without success however. Instead I was able to make my main-program export the relevant data in Maple-format. For instance it exports a simple txt-ﬁle containing the following lines:

a:=2.4;
b:=3.7;

Then I’ve written Maple-code that reads ( read c:/.../filename.txt; ) these txt-ﬁles and executes the contents. Then there are some Maple-calculations and in the end of my Maple-ﬁle I’ve exported (writedata(c:/.../filename.txt, variable); ) the results to a txt-ﬁle, which the main-program can read.

Be sure to notice the syntax of the read and write statements, especially the characters ` and /.

Please feel free to email me, if you have any comments or questions.