Think of Mathcad as a scripting language that executes like any other programming language, i.e., evaluations occur left to right and top to bottom, just like C or Matlab. Every time you recalculate the sheet, the script runs through its paces.

The <SHFT>~ is a "global" variable assignment, ONLY in the context of its "scope" in M15; in programming, scope refers to the regions of the program where a variable or constant is valid.

If a single instance of z <SHFT>~ 5 exists, then the scope of z=5 is everywhere in the sheet, but a second instance, say z <SHFT>~ 3 is instantiated, then the scope z=5 is only between the the two <SHFT>~, while the scope of the second <SHFT>~ exists everywhere else.

So,
r := z+1 = 3

z <SHFT>~ 5

r := z+1 = 6

z <SHFT>~ 2

r := z+1 = 3


In Mathcad Prime, that paradigm was changed, since the M15 paradigm is a little bit inconsistent, because the left to right, top to bottom, evaluation order is actually violated for the <SHFT>~ assignments, since they're basically assigned and calculated before the rest of the sheet, which should have resulted in z=2 all the time in the example above. If that was the intended paradigm, then multiple <SHFT>~ assignments of z should always take the last assigned value of 2, and there should be no instance of z=3 anywhere in the sheet.

TTFN
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Of course I can. I can do anything. I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!
There is a homework forum hosted by engineering.com: http://www.engineering.com/AskForum/aff/32.aspx

Thanks a lot for those pedagogical explanations.

Best regards,

Sidi