Eagles Nest BBS 5/Eagles_Nest_Mac_Collection_Disc_5.TOAST/Science & Religion/MacAtoms301/MacAtoms301/Manual/About MacAtoms

Text File | 1990-10-30 | 4KB | 68 lines

                MacAtoms V3.0.1


MacAtoms is a program for making realistic pictures of molecules.  The program
is designed to give you interactive control over the parameters that
determine the appearance of the picture.  For example, you can change the
viewpoint by just moving the mouse and observing the effect.  You can also
change the radius and color of any atom by moving the mouse.

MacAtoms lets you select atoms or groups of atoms using the usual point and
click technique.  The selected atoms can be moved independently of the other
atoms.  You can use this feature to move some atoms aside in order to see
inside a structure.  Or you can use it to make stereo pairs to help
visualize things in depth.

MacAtoms lets you combine selected atoms into groups and then combine the
groups to make more complex groups.  You can use this to build molecules out
of simpler components or to organize the atoms so that clicking on one atom
of a group causes the entire group to be selected.

MacAtoms supports multiple windows, and it is possible to cut and paste atoms
between windows.  The program takes its data for each window from a simple
text file that describes the atom positions, radii, and colors.  Each window
can have a separate data file.  You can use these features in many ways.  For
example, you can compare similar data sets by bringing each one up in a
different window.  Or, you can have one window that contains a library
of useful molecules, and another window that contains a complex structure
built from the molecules of the first window.

MacAtoms places essentially no limits on the number of types of atoms, the
number of atoms of each type, or the number of groups of atoms, beyond the
obvious limitations imposed by memory.  While it is at its best on the
Macintosh II line of computers, the program can also generate realistic
pictures on older Macintoshes that do not support gray scale and color
displays, such as the Macintosh 512K or SE.  However you may be a bit
constrained for memory on the smaller machines.

MacAtoms can produce hardcopy prints on any printer, but it produces
especially realistic pictures on Apple's LaserWriters.  MacAtoms can also
drive several other types of recording devices, such as video tape recorders
and optical disks.  MacAtoms can be made to run freely, reading data from
a data file and plotting the results on a recording device, all without
human intervention.  You can use this technique to make movies.

MacAtoms is distributed with a manual written using MacWrite V4.6.  It should
be readable using most word processors.  A number of demonstration data files
are included as well.

This version of MacAtoms is being offered as "Freeware", which means you don't
have to pay me for it unless you just want to.  However, the program is not in
the public domain, and I retain all rights to it.  I am encouraging users to
distribute the program widely, subject to very few restrictions.

Version 3.0.1 is a bugfix release.  The most important fix is that this version
no longer leaves the screen unreadable on those Macintoshes whose video cards
it doesn't understand -- such as the Mac IIfx and Mac IIci.  Printing has also
been improved.  The shadows are printed correctly when the light source is
off-center, and you can you can now get multiple copies.  For more information
and changes in this version, read the release notes in the manual.


    Hilary D. Jones
    Sandia National Laboratories
    CompuServe:      74666,167
    ARPANET:  [e-mail]