HyperCuber is a rather straight-forward program, though it is based on some truly tricky concepts. Like a popular board game, it takes “a minute to learn, a lifetime to master” HyperCuber. This is the section where you learn it.
Starting HyperCuber
To run HyperCuber, just double-click on its icon in the Finder. The Finder will launch HyperCuber, and a window will appear containing a colored hypercube. HyperCuber displays this document each time you launch it. If you’re new to HyperCuber, you might want to play with this document for a while (also see the Fun With HyperCuber chapter).
The New NCube… Command
This menu command, which is in the File menu, lets you create a new object; specifically, it creates an n-dimensional “cube.” HyperCuber will ask you for the dimension, and then it will create and display the n-cube. The allowable range of dimensions is 3 through 15. Though in theory HyperCuber can create and display cubes of any dimension, the algorithm I use to create n-cubes is really only practical up to about 15 (besides, once you’ve seen a 15-cube you’ll probably be able to guess what a 16-cube looks like....) Be warned that creating a 15D cube will take a long time (though it should be done in less than an hour on a reasonably fast machine). Note also that HyperCuber builds its n-cubes out of only white line segments, which is not necessarily the most intuitive color scheme.
The Open... Command
This menu command, which is in the File menu, lets you select a file for HyperCuber to open. The file should contain a description of an n-dimensional object (see the Object File Format chapter). HyperCuber does not yet do any error checking when it’s reading in an object file, so it is your responsibility to ensure that your files are correct before you feed them to HyperCuber. An incorrect file is very likely to crash HypeCuber.
The Close Command
This menu command, which is in the File menu, closes the foremost document and all the windows containing the scroll bars which control it.
The Save As PICT… Command
This menu command, which is in the File menu, saves the picture displayed in the object window to a PICT file. PICT files are the standard Macintosh format used to store pictures. If antialiasing is turned off (see Antialiasing), HyperCuber will save the image as an object PICT file. In such a file, lines are described by their endpoints, so you can load the file into your favorite drawing program and edit it as a collection of lines. Also, object PICT files print out at the maximum resolution of any device, so they look really good printed on a laser printer. If antialiasing is turned on, HyperCuber will save the image as a bitmap PICT file. In such a file, each pixel is represented separately, so it is not editable as a collection of lines (though you can edit it as a bitmap if you have a program which can deal with bitmaps). This format preserves the antialiasing so the image will look very good on a color screen.
The Quit Command
This menu command, which is in the File menu, quits HyperCuber and exits to the Finder.
The Copy Command
This is very similar to the Save As PICT... command, but instead of writing the picture to a PICT file, it copies it to the Clipboard.
The Antialias Lines Command
This menu command is in the Options menu. You can check and uncheck it by selecting it. When it is checked, HyperCuber will antialias each line segment it draws. This means that it will add additional pixels near the line segment to smooth out the jagged edges (“jaggies”) of the segment (see Figure 1). Antialiasing looks great, but slows down drawing considerably. When this menu item is not checked, HyperCuber will just draw each line segment normally (and quickly), complete with jaggies. See The Save As PICT... Command for information on how HyperCuber saves antialiased images. Note that when antialiasing is on, the background color will be black, regardless of the selected background color (see The Colors... Command).
 
The Viewing Mode Submenu
This menu is a submenu of the Options menu. It lets you change the viewing mode to Mono, Two-Image Stereo, or Two-Color Stereo. Briefly, Mono displays the object as a single image from a single viewpoint, Two-Image Stereo displays the object twice, side-by-side, from two slightly different viewpoints, and Two-Color Stereo displays the object twice, superimposed and in two different colors, from two slightly different viewpoints. Selecting one of these from the Viewing Mode submenu will change the viewing mode to your selection. See the More About Stereo chapter for more information.
The Colors… Command
This menu command, which is in the Options menu, brings up a window which lets you change some of the colors used to display the object. You can change the background color, and the left and right eye colors used to draw the object when viewing in Two-Color Stereo (see The Viewing Mode Submenu). Note that the background color is always black when antialiasing is turned on (see The Antialias Lines Command).
The Key Controls… Command
This menu command, which is in the Options menu, brings up a window which lets you change the currently defined key controls. Key controls are shortcuts which allow you to change the value of a parameter (an angle or a perspective parameter) by pressing a combination of keys. For more information, see Using Key Controls in the Changing The View chapter.
The Mouse Controls… Command
This menu command, which is in the Options menu, brings up a window which lets you change the currently defined mouse controls. Mouse controls are shortcuts which allow you to change the value of a parameter (an angle or a perspective parameter) by clicking and dragging with the mouse in the object window. For more information, see Using Mouse Controls in the Changing The View chapter.
The Hide Menubar Command
This menu command, which is in the Windows menu, hides the menu bar (the white bar at the top of the screen which contains the menu names). When the menu bar is hidden, there is more room on the screen for the object window. To show the menu bar again, click at the top of the screen, where the menu bar would have been. The Hide Menubar command can only be used when the image window is full-screen (see The Full-Screen Command).
The Full-Screen Command
This menu command is in the Windows menu. You can check and uncheck it by selecting it. When you check this item, the object window will expand to take up the entire screen. When you uncheck it, the window will shrink back to its original size. To get even more space for the object window, you can hide the menubar (see The Hide Menubar Command).
The 3D Controls, 4D Controls... nD Controls Commands
These menu commands are in the Windows menu. You can check and uncheck them by selecting them. When you check one of these items, the floating window containing the correspinding dimension’s scroll bar controls will be shown. When you uncheck one of these items, the floating window will be hidden.
Using Balloon Help
HyperCuber supports Balloon Help. To show the help balloons, choose Show Balloons from the Help menu at the right of the menu bar. You can then point at anything on the screen and HyperCuber will tell you what it is and how to use it. When you are done with Balloon Help, choose Hide Balloons from the Help menu.
