E-Z Solve

Infobox Software
name = E-Z Solve



caption = E-Z Solve running on Windows XP, attempting to solve a series of linear equations.
developer = Intellipro, Inc.
latest_release_version = 1.0
latest_release_date = September, 1998
genre = Technical computing
license = Proprietary
website = [http://ca.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0471329738.html John Wiley & Sons Inc, the publisher]

E-Z Solve is a numerical computing environment. Created by Intellipro, Inc., E-Z Solve allows the user to write virtually any combination of differential equations (ODE's) and algebraic equations, including parameters, user defined functions and lookup tables.

According to the developer, the program's other features also include:

* the ability to create user defined functions implementing logic and looping structures to be referenced in equation sets;
* the capacity to store multiple equation sets in one file (or session), providing an excellent tool for comparing results from different models;
* the "Sweep" function, which allows to solve the system for a set of varying parameters and/or initial conditions;
* the ability to view solution results in a spreadsheet link data grid, or graphically on 2D and 3D graphs;
* the capacity for plotting any number and combination of variables and their functions, on 2D and 3D graphs, to produce component-vs-time, phase plane or any type of user-defined graph.

E-Z Solve offers some variety in the numerical methods offered, including the Euler method, Runge-Kutta (4,5) pair, Adams-Moulton orders 1-12 and BDF orders 1-5 (MATLAB, for example, only offers the Runge-Katta (2^nd and 3^rd) and (4^th and 5^th) order methods).

However, the processing capacity of E-Z Solve would be inadequate for anything but medium- scale projects, as the number of variables per session is limited to 50, and the number of first order differential equations cannot exceed 30.

Additionally, E-Z Solve has relatively obscure error messages, and sometimes seems to struggle even with linear equations. A sample error message can be seen [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
] . The descriptive text reads as:

"Error. Out of range."

Consulting the software's documentation results in 0 matches for the error message.

Sometimes even seemingly innocuous functions such as:

:$quad\; B(a)=670$:$quad\; G=e^\{frac\{B\}\{127$

can lead to the error.

Debugging Capabilities

These are nonexistent. Error messages are vague at best, and rarely (if ever) point one to the true cause of a problem. Some choice error messages are: "Possibly too many unknowns." and "Error. Overflow." It is impossible to trace a solution step by step, and the user is left to his own devices relatively often.

External links

* [http://cape.uwaterloo.ca/dept/software.htm Brief Overview of the Program] , at the website of the Chemical Egineering Department of the "University of Waterloo".
* [http://ca.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0471329738.html Publisher's web site] , at the website of "John Wiley & Sons".