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FRACTAL.DOC
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1995-04-06
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_______
The /Fractal\___
\__ Creator \
\________/
* Code copyright 1995 by Jason Rennie *
This program was created with two purposes in mind. First, to give you an
example of what TUGU & JMOUSE are capable of and show you have it can be done.
Second, to give you some instant gratification and an easy way to explore
the Mandelbrot and Julia Sets.
The code is provided for this program so you can see exactly how some of the
procedures and functions are used in real programming. Numerous times I
have found myself trying to pick apart documentation to figure out just how
a routine is supposed to be used and for some reason the docs keep running
around important issues. With this example program, you can see exacltly
what needs to be done in order to work with the routines provided.
On to how to operate the Fractal Creator. The Fractal Creator interface
is pretty simple. It uses the mouse for nearly all of its operations
and is fairly intuitive.
Upon starting the Fractal Creator, you will be asked the number of
itterations you would like the program to run through for each pixel.
This value has a serious effect on how detailed the fractal will be
and also how long the fractal will take to generate. I have a 486dx2/66
and have found that 256 works nicely for my taste. If you do not
have a coprocessor, this value will need to be reduced drastically.
After entering this, you will be shown the overall image of the
Mandelbrot set. In this interface, you may either draw a zoom box and
have the program redraw that area of the fractal in greater detail or
press the right mouse button for a list of menu options.
If you choose to zoom in to the fractal, you will first need to draw
the zoom box before hitting the right mouse button. Press the left
mouse button to choose the upper left corner of the box and release
the button for the lower right corner. If it is not exactly how you
want, you may draw another box and the first will be ignored. Once you
have outlined the zoom box you want, press the right mouse button and
choose "ZOOM IN" with the left mouse button. The program will redraw
the fractal with the limits you desired.
If you find that you made a mistake zooming in and would like to move
back, press the right mouse button and choose "ZOOM OUT." A certain
number of fractal images are saved in memory so that you will instantly
be returned to the previous image instead of having to wait for it to
be redrawn.
Another one of the menu buttons is "RESTART." This will take you back
to the very beginning of the fractal, displaying the full Mandelbrot
Set and erasing any zooms saved in memory.
If you find the colors used to draw the Fractal to be a little boring or
dull, you may choose "CHG PAL" to change the palette. Each selection
of CHG PAL will rotate one notch through the wide selection of color
possibilities.
While the fractals are nice to see on the screen, it is likely that you
will find a few that you especially like and would like to preserve for
future viewing. The Fractal Creator has and option that will allow you
to do so. When you do find one that is appealing, set the palette that
you prefer it in and then choose the "PCX SAVE" option. This will
automatically save the image into a file called "fractal.pcx" When
you exit the program you will probably want to change the file name so
it is not overwritten with future uses of PCX Save.
The final menu option, "JULIA" allows you to explore beyond the
Mandelbrot Set and into the Julia Set. Each point in the Mandelbrot Set
has its own, unique Julia Set, so after choosing "JULIA," you will need
to click a point on the screen according to which Julia Set you desire.
To quit Fractal at any time, simply press the Escape key and you will
be returned to DOS.
That's about all for Fractal. As I said before, the code is included in the
shareware release so you can see just how to implement all of the routines
provided with TUGU and JMOUSE. One thing to make sure of, however. The file
"mandel.pcx" is needed to run fractal - it provides a quick display of the
opening fractal for the standard mandelbrot set.