# Copied Dot expression is incorrect

On a recent answer I ran into a little problem. I wrote $x^3.\{1,1\}$ using Mathematica's 2D input, then copied and pasted the expression here, yielding x^3.{1, 1}. This however is not equivalent:

x^3.{1, 1} // FullForm // HoldForm

Times[Power[x, 3.], List[1, 1]]


Either x^3 .{1, 1} or (x^3).{1, 1} would have been acceptable.

I should have spotted the problem myself but then again I feel I should not have to.

Can we make Mathematica copy expressions like this correctly? I am encouraged that we can:

• FrontEndExecute@ ExportPacket[ BoxData@RowBox[{SuperscriptBox["x", "3"], ".", RowBox[{"{", RowBox[{"1", ",", "1"}], "}"}]}], "InputText" ] one can say it is a bug. – Kuba Feb 6 '17 at 18:56
• Route through expression works fine: ToString[ MakeExpression[ RowBox[{SuperscriptBox["x", "3"], ".", RowBox[{"{", RowBox[{"1", ",", "1"}], "}"}]}], StandardForm ], InputForm ]` – Kuba Feb 6 '17 at 18:58
• Probably related: stackoverflow.com/q/5676993 – Sjoerd C. de Vries Mar 1 '17 at 12:00