The World of Computer Software/World_Of_Computer_Software-02-385-Vol-1of3.iso/f/feedback.zip/README.DOC

Text File | 1991-12-15 | 11KB | 280 lines

Added 15 Dec 1991:

GEOM improvements:  Labels are now assigned
automatically by the program.  Connections can now be
entered multiply, instead of singly.  The Vertex Move
menu now includes a trace feature.  (To print such a
figure, which is not stored, one must switch off the
automatic re-draw feature, however).  Intersections now
calculated as if all segments were infinite in extent.
Segments can be extended into rays and lines.  Many of
the old GEOM messages have been disabled, so that the
program will not lock up when procedures are replayed.

Added 1 Dec 1991:

In PLOT, window data can be displayed along with the
graphs; to turn on this feature, go to the Extremes
submenu of the Ctrl-Window menu.  The Observer Tour menu
has been simplified; it is now assumed that all tours
simply circle the z-axis.

The 3-d polyhedra program POLYHE has now been linked
into GEOM as a subprogram.  There have been extensive
changes to (the 2-d part of) GEOM as well:  The labels
A'...Z' are now available.  One can move vertices around
by cursoring, while the figure adjusts.  One can define
points and lines in terms of numerical parameters; when
these parameters are varied, the figure is adjusted
accordingly.  The Ctrl-Quit figure option is now just
Escape, as in quitting any other menu; the program asks
for confirmation, however.  See documentation for more
details.

Added 21 Nov 1991:

The assignment of icons to variables no longer exists in
STATPAC; it is now automatic.  See the documentation for
further details.

Added 15 November 1991:

A number of users have reported that these programs do
not run on their Super-VGA cards.  What usually happens
is that the screen shows only a blinking cursor after
the program is loaded.  This is probably a sign that the
graphics hardware has not been initialized; one must run
a program (called HDILOAD, I think) that is distributed
with the graphics card.  Do this as part of the normal
boot sequence and then all graphics-based applications
should work.

Added 10 November 1991:

In some programs, Ctrl-M was used for a display of
memory data.  Unfortunately, Ctrl-M is the same as
RETURN, thus this item would often appear by accident.
Now the key combination for such data is Alt-M.

Added 18 October 1991:

In GEOM, the calculation worksheet now allows two
description lines per entry, which allows for more
elaborate calculations.  This means that saved examples
will now have a different format, incompatible with
examples created with previous versions.  (Although old
calculations can not be retrieved, however, the diagrams
themselves can be, thus one need only retrieve such an
example, delete the worksheet, then re-enter the desired
calculations.)

A number of enhancements have been added to STATPAC (to
the Fit Equations and Transform Data menus).  See
documentation.

The sound that announces the appearance of a message
(lower left corner of the screen) has been disabled.

Added 5 October 1991:

Minor changes to GEOM:  The calculation worksheet is now
accessible from several menus; it is now called up by
Ctrl-Numerical Data, instead of appearing as
Measurements (in just the Main Menu).  The Division of a
Segment menu has been renamed Point on a Segment.  The
definition of the new point now allows you to provide an
absolute length, instead of requiring a ratio.  It is
still possible to work in terms of ratios, of course;
for example, to mark P at the midpoint of segment AB,
one would set the Length AP equal to AB/2 (instead of
1/2).



The Escape key is routinely used to exit menus, abort
graphs, games, etc.

The Ctrl-Key list of special keys is now a menu, in that
your selections will usually activate the desired
functions at once.  Before, the list was just a help
file; i.e., it was necessary to return to the program in
order to execute instructions.

Added 15 August 1991:

Decimal display now takes two forms, fixed-point and
floating-point.  When floating-point is enabled (the
default is still fixed-point; use Alt-F to switch), the
program will use the format that provides more
significant digits in the allotted space.

PROBA has been absorbed by the larger program STATPAC,
which also includes subprograms for data analysis.

PLOT changes:   The program now attempts to compensate
for slow hardware by timing an initial graph (the
peanut).  If the graph takes more than one second, an
automatic change is made in the plotting density to
speed up all subsequent graphs.  For extremely slow
machines, there is a lower limit of 0.2 for the
automatic density adjustment.  The Ctrl-D option allows
one to readjust the density value, of course.  The Level
Curves option in the 3-dim menu is now fairly automated;
one does not have to contend with the differential
equations menu any more.  Also, the level contours are
set at evenly spaced z-values, as one would encounter on
a topographical map.  The level-curve-tracing feature
has also been extended to the (multi-surface) Tracing
menu.  The differential equations menu has been
streamlined a bit, too.  One now simply requests Draw,
instead of Forward and Backward.

Added 8 July 1991:

FEEDBACK now takes advantage of symmetry in Julia and
Mandelbrot plots.  In other words, the second half of
the image is simply copied from the first half, provided
that the window is centered properly.

Added 24 June 1991:

One can now do Julia promenades in FEEDBACK, as part of
the Animation menu.  To allow more room for such memory-
grabbing routines, it is possible to give up the memory
normally reserved for the pull-down windows.  Use Ctrl-G
from the main menu to restart the program; when it asks
you about the little windows, respond No.

The 2-function menu in PLOT has been altered slightly,
to allow the definition of new examples without having
to return to the main menu; request New.  The arrow keys
now control the display of the First and Second function
displays.

The Measurement menu in GEOM looks a little different.
One still works it the same way, however.  Just start
typing the desired measurement; it appears on the proper
line.

Added 3 April 1991:

PLOT now has improved performance in the Extreme points
and Intersections menus.  See the documentation.

FEEDBACK now has the capability of producing Zoom slide
shows in the Fractal and Mandelbrot subprograms.  In EGA
graphics, one can fit about forty small images in RAM,
which are then played back rapidly (depending on the
speed of your machine).  The collection of slides is of
course saved to a disk file, because it takes a while to
produce.

Added 12 March 1991:

The programs now allow the *.DOC files to be viewed
while the program is running.  Press ?.  If the program
can find the program-specific *.DOC file, it will
display the text in the graphics window, where it can be
viewed one page at a time.  The program looks for these
files in the current directory.  To facilitate paging
through a *.DOC file, it is now possible to request
specific text strings.  Press ENTER to activate the
process, then ENTER again when the target string is what
you want.  The program will scroll to the first
instance where the target string is found on a single
line of the display.  The search is not case-sensitive.

The parser now accepts expressions SUM(b,F) and
PROD(b,F).  The former stands for the sum (and the
latter stands for the product), for n=1 to n=b, of a
function F(n,x).  The default index of summation is n,
but this can be redefined, via the Ctrl-F menu; the
initial value of the summation index can also be
redefined.

To see credits in the main menu, press Home.

New in PLOT:  Because series and products are now
available in all programs that accept function input,
the Series and Product Menu is now unnecessary, and so
it has been removed.



The way to end a program is Ctrl-END.

The Ctrl-W menu:  There are two types of zoom window.
One is the 10X zoom.  The other is a "flexible" zoom
box, whose shape and size are determined by the user.
First one Marks a corner, then moves the cursor to the
opposite corner of the desired rectangle; the box is
updated during the moving process.  Pressing ENTER
actives the new window.  One may also define new windows
by specifying the Extreme values for each of x and y.

The identifiers PI, SQR, and SQ (or ^2) are available in
traditional form; that is, the correct mathematical
symbols can be inserted in the text.  They are obtained
with Ctrl-P, Ctrl-S, and Ctrl-E, respectively, but only
on those (newer) machines that have the necessary
characters stored in ROM.

PLOT features:

The main menus in all of the subprograms (PLOT2D,
PLOT3D, EULER) are all the same; there is a function on
display, along with menu items New, Edit, Remove (which
means drop from the catalogue), Interval/domain, and
Draw.  The main PLOT2D menu offers Zeroes, Highs/Lows,
and Tables of values; this data can be printed or
displayed on screen.

The Advanced PLOT menu offers Animation effects, which
allow the user to (for example) display several views of
a surface in succession; these can be saved to disk.
The animation window is of necessity small for a high-
resolution color card (EGA, VGA), because a lot of RAM
is needed to store the images.  In black-and-white
modes, however, the window can be larger.  In any event,
the window (whose default position is in the upper left
corner of the graphing window) is movable.

GEOM features:

Geometric/numerical input can be provided in a variety
of ways.  One can input the radius of a new circle as
2AB, for example, if A and B are points that already
appear in a diagram.  One can ask for measurements by
typing expressions such as <ABC or AB:AC or AC/(AB+BC)
or PA*PB, etc.

It is possible to add points to a diagram via
transformations - that is, via rotations, reflections,
translations of given sets of points.

MATPAC features:

The maximum sizes for matrices are 12-by-12 in rational
mode and 20-by-20 in floating-point mode.  In the
former, integers may have lengths up to 252 decimal
digits.  Large matrices (many entries or large formats)
are displayed in part if the whole matrix does not fit
on the screen.  The arrow keys are used to scroll hidden
entries into view.  The Home and End keys move a whole
page horizontally, while the PgUp and PgDn keys move
pages vertically.  A display at the bottom of the screen
indicates which columns/rows are on display, if there is
anything missing.

In the New matrix menu, there is an item (Variables)
that allows the user to set up a matrix of functions,
whose values depend on certain variables.  One can
change the matrix by simply adjusting the variables.
The function entries can be edited, saved, and recalled.

Read the ASCII files *.DOC for up-to-date descriptions
of how to use the various programs.  These files can be
printed or edited with your word processor.