# Mathematica output doesn't work as input

Sometimes when I do, for example, a series expansion Mathematica gives me output that it won't take as input. For example if I do a series expansion:

````Series[Hypergeometric2F1[a,x,y,z], {a,0,0} ]
````

produces:

````Out[xx]= 1+ a Hypergeometric2F1^(1,0,0,0)[0,x,y,z] + O[a]^2
````

If I literally then click on this cell and evaluate it as input, or alternatively cut and paste this term into another input line and evaluate it returns the following error:

````Syntax::sntxf: "(" cannot be followed by "1,0,0,0)".

Syntax::sntxi: Incomplete expression; more input is needed .
````

So it doesn't seem to like the exact form as input that it just gave me as output. What gives?

EDITS:

1) I apologize for the formatting errors in the posting and the confusion that resulted, that should be fixed now. Thank you to those that pointed them out.

2) I have tried the suggestions to use `InputForm[%]`-the thing this, the expressions I am dealing with are very long, and when I put it into input-form they become unwieldy. I would prefer a way to retain the standard-form expression and manipulate that - but this might be impossible (it seems like it is impossible).

Thanks for the help so far anyway.

-
This indicates that you took derivatives in the wrong way somewhere. To track it down, you have to provide a minimal example of the code that produced this output line. – Jens Jun 6 '12 at 15:27

3
Some types of output can't be interpreted as input if you re-type them yourself. One example would be $f^{(1,0)}[x]$. However, when these are produced as output, they usually contain hidden information (in the form of a `TagBox`) that allows the system to interpret them again without ambiguity, even if you copy and paste them in full. Try for example evaluating `Derivative[1, 0][f][x]` to produce such an output. If you copy and paste them partially, or edit them, this information may get lost. – Szabolcs Jun 6 '12 at 15:30
Please include Mathematica-Code as `Code` in your post. Click on the help button in the editor to see how this works. – halirutan Jun 6 '12 at 15:48
`HypergeometricF1` isn't a Mathematica function. Do you mean `Hypergeometric2F1`? – Sjoerd C. de Vries Jun 6 '12 at 15:51

3
The safest method to copy previous output is to use the key combo Shift+Ctrl+L; that way, any (invisible) formatting is preserved. – J. M.♦ Jun 6 '12 at 16:00
show 7 more comments

## 2 Answers

Use `InputForm` to get something you always can copy&paste:

````Series[Hypergeometric2F1[\[Epsilon], x, y, z], {\[Epsilon], 0, 1}]//InputForm
(*
==> SeriesData[\[Epsilon], 0, {1,
    Derivative[0, 1, 0, 0][Hypergeometric2F1][x, 0, y, z]}, 0, 2, 1]
*)
````

If you want it as normal expression, use `//Normal//InputForm` instead.

-

You need to convert the power series into a normal expression using

``Series[Hypergeometric2F1[\[Epsilon],x,y,z], {\[Epsilon],0,1}]//Normal ``
-

Actually I did this in the actual code myself but it doesn't help. I just left it out here. As you can see from the errors the problem is with the (0,1,0,0). Thanks for the help though. – DJBunk Jun 6 '12 at 16:35
lang-mma
{"extraction_info": {"found_math": true, "script_math_tex": 0, "script_math_asciimath": 0, "math_annotations": 0, "math_alttext": 0, "mathml": 0, "mathjax_tag": 0, "mathjax_inline_tex": 1, "mathjax_display_tex": 0, "mathjax_asciimath": 0, "img_math": 0, "codecogs_latex": 0, "wp_latex": 0, "mimetex.cgi": 0, "/images/math/codecogs": 0, "mathtex.cgi": 0}, "config": {"markdown_headings": true, "markdown_code": true, "boilerplate_config": {"ratio_threshold": 0.18, "absolute_threshold": 10, "end_threshold": 15, "enable": true}, "remove_buttons": true, "remove_image_figures": true, "remove_link_clusters": true, "table_config": {"min_rows": 2, "min_cols": 3, "format": "github"}, "remove_chinese": true, "remove_edit_buttons": true, "extract_latex": true}, "english_confidence": 0.907628059387207, "perplexity_flag": "middle"}