String as a variable or in a matrix.

[MichalJJBaj]

Hi!
Is it possible to create a variable as a string or place it in a matrix? Like in the Mathcad or Smath?
If so, how can this be done?

[Proektsoftbg]

No, matrices are only numerical.
But in Calcpad this is rarely needed. Unlike Mathcad and SMath, you can use conditions and loops to change directly the report contents on the go.

[imartincei]

I am working on a way to dynamically define strings in a loop using the existing string variables in Calcpad. This is on the list of planned features.

[Proektsoftbg]

Hi!

Thank you. I appreciate it very much. But if you want to contribute on this feature and get your code well fitted into the whole picture, we really need to coordinate this beforehand. In this way several people can work together building the same thing, and everyone his own part. Otherwise, there is a risk to have your work wasted at the end or create merge conflicts that is difficult to resolve later.

So, I can sit at the end of the week to write some specs on what is planned for development and where it goes in the project structure. After that we can discuss and coordinate it with time. This is the correct approach and it will make your contribution much more efficient and useful for the project. If you like, we can try this way.

[imartincei]

That would be great. Sorry for the confusion, I have not started physically coding this but am working on it in the sense that it is planned and I have an idea for how it could be implemented.

There are a few pending features that I have ideas for, and it would be great to bounce that off of you and get something formalized. Most of my time recently has been on vs-code and cleaning up the linter/highlighter.

[Proektsoftbg]

It should be definitely implemented on ExpressionParser stage. We will discuss it on the private repo.

About vscode, it is great that you keep going. Once it is ready and made custom friendly to install, we will replace the old cli based extension with the new and better one. But I think somehow the calcpad server should be included in the extension package.

[imartincei]

Sounds good, I agree this would give it the most functionality long term but would be a bit more effort up front.

I think we can just adjust the Windows version to not use a server at all but do the same local approach as how you set up the CLI version (I didn't realize this was possible initially). I will provide a Docker image for the server as the primary installation method if you want to use Calcpad in the browser.

Are you open to modifying the CLI version with the updated Calcpad.Highlighter and #include features after it is stable? This may be the most direct approach for a simple click and forget vs-code deployment.