Revision History (MacChemtab) March 13, 1993 in chronological
order:
Version 1.0, Unix
First Unix model. Originally written in C on a VAX 11/780 running Ultrix 3.1.
Moving highlighted menus with arrow-key control, slow but neat.
Screen refresh does not always work as should; written using Curses.
Version 1.1, Unix
Minor bug fixes including a major re-write of the GUI interface; no more menus as above, but number choices which are faster. Choices flash when entered.
* 1st release to Internet, comp.sources.misc.
Version 2.0, Unix
Code moved to a VAX 6540 RISC machine and ReGIS graphics capabilities added to the graphing module.
Element sorting code re-written; Theoretical speed = original speed ^ 2
(linear merge sort, not search-compare sort)
Version 1.0, MAC
Code ported from Unix to MAC, GUI re-written. Bulk of core still the same. Likes to crash frequently and doesn't update windows correctly. Program was released in demo form as shareware.
Version 1.1b, MAC
After receiving a request for the program, I fixed up bits-n-pieces.
Now System-7 compatible and handles pop-up menus instead of radio buttons for selections.
Version 1.2, MAC
There were a few numerical problems with 1.1b. Some menus were not what they claimed to be.
If used under System 7, you can select colors from the Graphing Options menu.
(Not available under System 6 because it was getting to be a big hassle writing glue code for pop-up menus under system 6)
Doesn't crash to my knowledge.
Version 1.2.1, MAC
Okay, so it crashes in one place. But that was fixed. (Using the old version, try to view a single element while a single element window is the front-most window) and you get a system error #25. Yes, I was using theWindow->spareFlag and it was crashing; I don't think it's a spareFlag any more!
Changed the View Selected Elements window; took out most of my code and used the List Manager. Now you can double-click on an element in the list. Space is used more wisely in the vdata window. If only one parameter is used, only one line is needed at the bottom.
You can click on the opening screen now; you don't have to press return.
MacChemtab version 2.0 changes from versions 1.2 and 1.2.1:
• The element sorting algorithm has been re-written. In older versions, when you created one search parameter the sort took a short amount of time. When you created more than one, the sort time multiplied by the number of sorts. In the new version, the sort time is more or less constant for one or ten sorts.
• Yes, the menu bar is now friendly with System 7. For the longest time I could not figure out why the menu bar was not working correctly, then I added a 'mctb' color menu resource to the Apple menu. That fixed the problem.
• When viewing selecting elements, you can now sort in ascensing or decending order on any of the characteristics. Hold down the option key and click on a characteristic label at the top of the window. If you want to change the sort order, click on the ^ or the v (ascending and decending).
• A nicer opening credit screen.
• Completely revised manual and balloon help for most menus, dialogs and windows.
• Periodic table is asthetically more pleasing, and some of the dialog boxes have been improved to be more friendly.
• Menu bar re-organized, with Open and Save commands to open and save windows.
The menu bar should update properly now, all the time.
• Pull up elemental information from a list, GRAPH, or the periodic table.
• We now support Apple Events!
*** What's next for version 3.0?
• Publish and Subscribe of graphs and selected data?
• Pie charts of elemental characteristic distribution?
• Completely re-written using AppMaker 1.5.2 and TCL 1.1.2!
• More element information possibly including graphical
representatio of electron shells and sample chemical
structures of particular atoms with Lewis diagrams.
