[seqfan] Re: OEIS Wiki: Offsets

[Felix Fröhlich]

A reason why I am proposing this change is because my personal rule for
determining the offset when submitting a sequence is like this:
"Is the definition of the sequence a function assigning to each argument n
a value a(n)? If yes, set the offset to the smallest n used. If no, the
sequence is (usually) a list and has offset 1." After this decision I also
know, for example, whether I need to use -1 or 0 for values n where a(n) is
undefined/nonexisting or whether this is not necessary (because of the
sequence being a list and as such normally does not have
undefined/nonexisting values). Constants are (under this rule) a special
case.

This usually works well for me. But I am fine with keeping the Wiki page
unchanged.

Best

Felix

2015-04-13 18:45 GMT+02:00 Alonso Del Arte <alonso.delarte at gmail.com>:

> I do like how Felix elaborated the offset 3 example.
>
> But we need to keep in mind that the offset is one of those fields that
> *must* be filled in for a new entry. You have to enter something in that
> field before you can save the first edit. This makes the offset field very
> different from, say, the Maple field, which is perfectly fine to leave
> blank.
>
> This means that Neil wants us to think about offsets when proposing new
> entries, not just grabbing some rule of thumb value.
>
> Al
>
> On Mon, Apr 13, 2015 at 11:53 AM, Joerg Arndt <arndt at jjj.de> wrote:
>
> > I much dislike:
> > "As a rule of thumb, the offset of a sequence should usually be 1, ..."
> > We already have enough problems caused zero-phobia in the OEIS.
> >
> > My personal rule is
> > "Think long and hard whether a(0) is naturally defined. If yes, add it."
> >
> > The old text was shorter and clearer as well.
> >
> > Best regards,  jj
> >
> >
> > * Felix Fröhlich <felix.froe at googlemail.com> [Apr 13. 2015 17:35]:
> > > Hello sequence fans
> > >
> > > what do you think of the following change:
> > >
> > > https://oeis.org/w/index.php?title=Offsets&diff=1593046&oldid=1590987
> > >
> > > Is that change okay?
> > >
> > > Also, I am interested in doing some further editing of that page, so if
> > you
> > > have any suggestions regarding how to make that page better, just let
> me
> > > know and I can do the editing.
> > >
> > > Best regards
> > > Felix
> > >
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>
>
>
> --
> Alonso del Arte
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> <https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/AlonsoDelarte>
> Musician at ReverbNation.com <http://www.reverbnation.com/alonsodelarte>
>
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