1.3.11 Warnings and Messages

Mathematica usually goes about its work silently, giving output only when it has finished doing the calculations you asked for.

However, if it looks as if Mathematica is doing something you definitely did not intend, Mathematica will usually print a message to warn you.

The square root function should have only one argument. Mathematica prints a message to warn you that you have given two arguments here.

In[1]:= Sqrt[4, 5]

Out[1]=

Each message has a name. You can switch off messages using Off.

In[2]:= Off[Sqrt::argx]

The message Sqrt::argx has now been switched off, and will no longer appear.

In[3]:= Sqrt[4, 5]

Out[3]=

This switches Sqrt::argx back on again.

In[4]:= On[Sqrt::argx]

Functions for controlling message output.