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Application "Math Helper" for programmers, based on the Wolfram Alpha API

Posted 5 years ago

Hi to all from Italy, I am writing an application based on the Wolfram Alpha API, and I am registered as a Wolfram Alpha application developer.

My "Math Helper" app. is registered in the Wolfram Alpha database the 03 August 2019 and the Wolfram organization has released for it the APP-ID GA4T4H-xxxxxxxx (changed the last part to xxxxxxxx because I do not know the rules of this thread about the APP-IDs)

The "Math Helper" app. helps to translate CSharp, VbNet, C++ and other programming languages equations, to math notation. Then to solve them for a different variable, and finally to restore the original notation and the original variable names used in the programming languages.

My app. demonstrates that it is possible to translate the programming language notation to the Wolfram Alfa math notation. And then to translate back the math notation to programming languages notation.

This is a very difficult and tedious translation for an human and a great help for a programmer (non-mathematician). I hope that in the future Wolfram Alpha versions, these functions will be included directly in the Wolfram Alpha engine.

If someone is interested to contribute to this development, this is the link of the last version: http://www.theremino.com/wp-content/uploads/files/Theremino_MathHelper_LastBuild.zip (in the ZIP you will find the Open Sources and the compiled app)

Being also a member of the Theremino System community (Open Source, No Profit, No patents and zero Advertisements), soon I will publish this app, as Open Source, on our site: https://www.theremino.com/en

POSTED BY: Livio Cicala
3 Replies

Hi, I saw your Math Helper project, and I think it's amazing! I'm currently working on a similar iOS app where I use Vision Framework for OCR to recognize mathematical equations (e.g., x²-8x+16=0). I format these equations nicely with MathFormatter and then send them to Wolfram Alpha API v2/query.

However, even though the API returns success:true, I get numpods:0 in the response, so I'm unable to retrieve a solution. The OCR and formatting parts work perfectly, so I believe the issue lies in my WolframAlphaService.swift integration with the API.

Have you encountered a similar problem or have any ideas on what might be going wrong? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

POSTED BY: Talha Eroğlu
Posted 1 month ago

Hi, Sorry but I can't think of any possible causes for your problem. I tried our application now and the API returns success:true, and the numpods is a non-zero number.

It's been a long time since I wrote it but I don't remember having that problem. So I would suggest you compare my code with what you wrote and look for what could be different in the request you make to Wolfram Alpha.

You will find the relevant functions in the files ModuleWolfram.vb and ModuleWeb.vb.

Another idea is to use a Windows PC with Visual Studio 2008 Express and explore the objects and strings in my application and compare them with the similar objects in your application.

POSTED BY: Livio Cicala
Posted 5 years ago

The "Math Helper" application does not require installation. You download the ZIP and, after extracting the files, it works immediately.

Here is a screenshot of the application that solved a simple equation and then restored the original "BorderSize" identifier. The Math Helper app. solving a simple equation.

The next image shows the version 2.9 with the options in the status bar. The equation in this example is similar to the equations that a programmer needs to solve, when plotting on the screen and then clicking with the mouse on the screen itself.
The Math Helper version 2.9

We used simple examples, but the application has also been tested with very complex equations, and the limit is only the Wolfram Alpha capability to solve them.

The next image shows the most complex equation that we were able to get back during the tests:

equation image from Wolfram Alpha site

For the curious mathematicians, here is the formula that generated the monster:

Solve for x y = a * x ^ 4 + b * x ^ 3 + c * x ^ 2

POSTED BY: Livio Cicala
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