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* Search for an answer in our [https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/help-octave/ mailing list archives] | * Search for an answer in our [https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/help-octave/ mailing list archives] | ||
* Contact our user community using our [https://octave. | * Contact our user community using our [https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-octave help@octave.org mailing list] (feel free to subscribe to this mailing list for the latest updates and discussions) | ||
* Contact our user community using our [https://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=octave IRC chat room <code>#octave</code> in Freenode] | * Contact our user community using our [https://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=octave IRC chat room <code>#octave</code> in Freenode] | ||
<div class="tocinline">__TOC__</div> | <div class="tocinline">__TOC__</div> | ||
=General= | =General= | ||
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John W. Eaton, David Bateman, Søren Hauberg, Rik Wehbring ({{Release Year}}). | John W. Eaton, David Bateman, Søren Hauberg, Rik Wehbring ({{Release Year}}). | ||
GNU Octave version {{Release}} manual: a high-level interactive language for numerical computations. | GNU Octave version {{Release}} manual: a high-level interactive language for numerical computations. | ||
URL https:// | URL https://www.gnu.org/software/octave/doc/v{{Release}}/ | ||
A [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BibTeX BibTeX] entry for [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaTeX LaTeX] users is: | A [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BibTeX BibTeX] entry for [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaTeX LaTeX] users is: | ||
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author = {John W. Eaton and David Bateman and S{\o}ren Hauberg and Rik Wehbring}, | author = {John W. Eaton and David Bateman and S{\o}ren Hauberg and Rik Wehbring}, | ||
year = <span>{</span>{{Release Year}}}, | year = <span>{</span>{{Release Year}}}, | ||
url = { | url = {https://www.gnu.org/software/octave/doc/v{{Release}}/}, | ||
} | } | ||
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The following steps have been the solution to several bug reports and help requests. Please try them before asking for further support. If nothing below helps, please give us the following information: | The following steps have been the solution to several bug reports and help requests. Please try them before asking for further support. If nothing below helps, please give us the following information: | ||
* Operating system: e.g. [https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/13443/windows-which-version-am-i-running ''' | * Operating system: e.g. [https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/13443/windows-which-version-am-i-running '''Windows 10 (version 1909)'''] or '''Ubuntu 20.04''' | ||
* GNU Octave version: e.g. '''Version {{Release}}''' | * GNU Octave version: e.g. '''Version {{Release}}''' | ||
* Installation method: e.g. '''Downloaded and installed "octave-{{Release}}-w64-installer.exe" from https://www.octave.org/download.html''' | * Installation method: e.g. '''Downloaded and installed "octave-{{Release}}-w64-installer.exe" from https://www.octave.org/download.html''' | ||
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* After Octave upgrade the GUI does not open / shuts down immediately. | * After Octave upgrade the GUI does not open / shuts down immediately. | ||
** '''Solution:''' | ** '''Solution:''' Delete the folder {{path|C:\Users\YOUR_USER_NAME\.config\octave}} | ||
* Missing/conflicting files. | * Missing/conflicting files. | ||
** '''Solution:''' Remove/Uninstall all existing Octave versions. Restart the system. Install GNU Octave again. | ** '''Solution:''' Remove/Uninstall all existing Octave versions. Restart the system. Install GNU Octave again. | ||
* Permission errors. | |||
* Permission errors | ** '''Solution 1:''' Consult your malware detection (a.k.a. AntiVirus) software, if files are blocked. | ||
** '''Solution 1 | ** '''Solution 2:''' Did you install Octave on a network-drive? Do you have the execution permissions? | ||
** '''Solution | |||
==I do not see any output of my script until it has finished?== | ==I do not see any output of my script until it has finished?== | ||
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==Why is Octave's floating-point computation wrong?== | ==Why is Octave's floating-point computation wrong?== | ||
Floating-point arithmetic is an approximation '''in binary''' to arithmetic on real or complex numbers. Just like you cannot represent 1/3 exactly in decimal arithmetic (0.333333... is only a rough approximation to 1/3 | Floating-point arithmetic is an approximation '''in binary''' to arithmetic on real or complex numbers. Just like you cannot represent 1/3 exactly in decimal arithmetic (0.333333... is only a rough approximation to 1/3), you cannot represent some fractions like <math>1/10</math> exactly in base 2. In binary, the representation to one tenth is <math>0.0\overline{0011}_b</math> where the bar indicates that it repeats infinitely (like how <math>1/6 = 0.1\overline{6}_d</math> in decimal). Because this infinite repetition cannot be represented exactly with a finite number of digits, rounding errors occur for values that appear to be exact in decimal but are in fact approximations in binary, such as for example how 0.3 - 0.2 - 0.1 is not equal to zero. | ||
In addition, some advanced operations are computed by approximation and there is no guarantee for them to be accurate, see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rounding#Table-maker.27s_dilemma Table-maker's dilemma] for further references. Their results are system-dependent. | In addition, some advanced operations are computed by approximation and there is no guarantee for them to be accurate, see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rounding#Table-maker.27s_dilemma Table-maker's dilemma] for further references. Their results are system-dependent. |