PodState for showing steps in WolframAlpha

Question

I'm trying to use the 'Show Steps' feature of Wolfram Alpha within mathematica to solve equations. I have the following code:

ShowSteps[str_] := 
 WolframAlpha[ToString@str, IncludePods -> {"Result"}]

And from here, I can click "Show Steps" to get the steps. It works fine, but I would rather have it automatically tell me the steps. I know there is a way using PodStates, but I'm not exactly sure how. I've tried:

PodStates -> {"Input__Step-by-step solution"}

But it just gives the same output. How can I make it automatically show me steps?

Answer 1

I've found the answer! Turns out the PodState has to be:

 {"[PodName]__Step-by-step solution"}

And the second argument to WolframAlpha has to be:

{{"[Podname]", 2}, "Content"}

If you have a 1 there instead of a 2, it will just show the answer and not the steps. So, all in all, the function:

ShowSteps[str_, find_: "Result", num_: 2] := 
 WolframAlpha[ToString@str, {{find, num}, "Content"}, 
  PodStates -> {find <> "__Step-by-step solution"}]

Takes the problem, the pod name you want to find (Defaults to 'result') and whether you want to show the steps or not (1 for just show answer, 2 for show steps) and will give an answer! I found this just through trial and error, I would love to hear if someone could explain why the subpodid has to be a 2 to show steps.