Option variable
contexts
Default value: [initial, global]
contexts
is a list of the contexts which
currently exist, including the currently active context.
The context mechanism makes it possible for a user to bind together and name a collection of facts, called a context. Once this is done, the user can have Maxima assume or forget large numbers of facts merely by activating or deactivating their context.
Any symbolic atom can be a context, and the facts contained in that
context will be retained in storage until destroyed one by one
by calling forget
or destroyed as a whole by calling kill
to destroy the context to which they belong.
Contexts exist in a hierarchy, with the root always being
the context global
, which contains information about Maxima that some
functions need. When in a given context, all the facts in that
context are "active" (meaning that they are used in deductions and
retrievals) as are all the facts in any context which is a subcontext
of the active context.
When a fresh Maxima is started up, the user is in a
context called initial
, which has global
as a subcontext.
See also , ,
supcontext
, killcontext
, activate
, deactivate
, assume
, and forget
.