given = list of step expressions prepending the solution

group = integer or set of integers, restrict the elements to inspect to the specified group(s)

filter = set(equation), input element filters passed to GetMath

output = output; format of return value

cursorgroup = truefalse, when true consider only elements in the group containing the cursor (Maple Learn only)

stepcheck = procedure, procedure for custom analysis

stepdata = anything, user-defined data passed to stepcheck

The Feedback command analyzes a step-by-step progression of an expression into different forms and reports feedback for each step of the solution.  It is a general front-end interface that dispatches to one of the other "Feedback" commands to report on solving, integration, differentiation, simplification, factoring, etc.

The given argument is a list of expressions that will be prepended to the steps input. When part of an interactive canvas-based application this parameter can used behind the scenes to ensure the correct expression is listed first.

The step analysis can be customized for a particular problem type by providing a stepcheck procedure. The stepcheck procedure takes arguments: proc( allsteps:list, expr, inert_expr, data ).   It will be called once per expression in the given set of steps, passing in the full list of steps, the individual current steps[i], the inert-form of steps[i] (if available), and the provided stepdata.

For example, the FactorFeedback command is built on top of SimplifyFeedback, by providing a stepcheck procedure that can identify special steps like synthetic division, and provide feedback about the end goal, which could be, for example, arriving at a fully factored form.

When the optional argument, group=1, or group={2,3} is specified in conjunction with a canvas-based solution input, only the specified elements in the given group or groups are considered when generating feedback.

The output option can be set to one of the following values:

output = default  When steps is a canvas, the default action is to generate a Script, which will be applied to the active Canvas.  Otherwise, when steps is an Array or list, the default output is a list of strings.

Use output = list to force list-of-strings output even when steps is a canvas.

Use output = canvaslist to return a list of [string,record] pairs, when steps is a canvas. This returns a list of lists, where the [i,1] element is a feedback comment string, and the [i,2] element is the canvas record-object that identifies the expression for which the feedback applies.  The record-object can be inspected as per any object returned by GetMath, or it can be passed as an argument to some Script commands like Annotate.

output = printf uses printf to display text-based lines of expression and feedback

output = script applies when the input steps is a canvas; the output will be a script that applies DocumentTools:-Canvas:-Script operations to add annotations to the given canvas.

output = matrix returns a Matrix where the first column contains the supplied steps, and the second column contains the feedback corresponding to those steps.  

output = table generates an embedded tabular display where the first column contains the supplied steps, and the second column contains the feedback corresponding to those steps.  

The filter option applies to canvas-based input, and will cause the canvas elements to be pruned if they match the given specified properties.  For example, 'filter'={'readonly'=true} will prune out all math containers that have their readonly property set to true.

$\mathrm{with}\left(\mathrm{Grading}\right)\:$

$\mathrm{Feedback}\left(\left[{\left(x+2\right)}^2\,x^2+2^2\,x^2+4\right]\right)$

$\left[''''\,''Check\; this\; step''\,''Ok''\,''''\right]$

The Grading:-Feedback command was introduced in Maple 2024.

For more information on Maple 2024 changes, see Updates in Maple 2024.

The Grading:-Feedback command was updated in Maple 2025.

The output option was updated in Maple 2025.