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PERIODIC.TXT
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1995-02-06
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P E R I O D I C
===============
A program to display the periodic table and information
about the elements for the Psion 3a. Version 1.414...
(c) Anthony Kucernak, February 1995.
[ark1000@cus.cam.ac.uk]
This software is provided free of charge on the basis
that it may only be distributed provided that this is
done for free. Any distribution must include all of the
files listed below in their original form.
Filename Size
Periodic.opa 11652
Periodic.dbf 23580
Periodic.pic 9620
Periodic.txt 10328
WHAT'S NEW
==========
The following changes have been made to this version of
Periodic:
o Improved display of information on the
elements.
o Better editing within the section devoted to
molecular weight calculation
o Changes to the information on some of the
elements.
o A bug which stopped the program running off
some SSDs has been fixed.
INSTALLATION
============
NOTE:
This installation procedure differs from the previous
version of this program. The data files are now stored in
a subdirectory of the APP directory in keeping with
common practices.
The OPA for this software, PERIODIC.OPA, should be copied
into the \APP\ directory of any drive. A subdirectory
should be created in this \APP\ directory called
PERIODIC, i.e. \APP\PERIODIC\. The database file,
PERIODIC.DBF, should then be copied into this directory.
If you wish the program to start up quickly then you can
also copy the screen image file, PERIODIC.PIC, into this
directory as well. If you are short of space then you can
omit this file. It can be re-created from within the
program at any time.
The information relating to where the files are stored is
summarised below.
\APP\
periodic.opa
\APP\PERIODIC\
periodic.dbf
periodic.pic (optional)
The OPA file should be installed from the main screen as
for other applications (using psion-I).
START UP
========
On start-up the program should display the periodic table
followed by an information screen detailing creation date
etc. The program requires cA. 34K of memory to run.
FINDING AN ELEMENT
==================
Elements may be selected either by using the cursor keys
or typing the symbol for that element.
Using Cursor Keys
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The up/down/left/right arrow keys changes the currently
selected element; similarly, pressing the PSION-key along
with one of the arrow keys moves to the edge of the
table. If an element remains selected for more than about
one second, then information for that element is
displayed in a window.
Typing the symbol for an element
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By typing the characters that make up an elements symbol
(e.g. Ru for ruthenium) it is possible to directly jump
to an element. As there are a number of elements which
have as there symbol only one letter (e.g. O, oxygen; F,
fluorine), you must be fairly quick about typing in the
two characters otherwise the cursor will lock onto the
element which has as its symbol the single character
which you have typed. For instance, If you wish to jump
to iron (Fe) and press F, but wait a little too long, the
cursor will remain on F and display information for
fluorine. If this happens you must start again. If you
type a wrong character, press ESCAPE or SPACE to cancel
the character typed. Once you have found the element you
want, information on that element will be displayed in
the window above the table. Accessing information in
this window is described in the following section.
DISPLAYING INFORMATION ABOUT AN ELEMENT
=======================================
Once an element has been selected, information about that
element will be displayed in a window above the periodic
table. By default the information displayed is about
radioactive isotopes. Information about the element is
stored as a scrollable list. Pressing the DIAMOND key
will select the next item, pressing SHIFT-DIAMOND will
select the previous item (SHIFT-right arrow, and SHIFT-
left arrow may also be used). The current selection type
will lock so that you can move across the periodic table
and compare the selected characteristic across different
elements.
MENU ITEMS
==========
The different menu items are accessed by pressing the
menu key. There are two pull down menus. The first is
COMPOUND, and at the moment only contains one component:
MOLECULAR WEIGHT, this item is further discussed below.
The second menu is labelled SPECIAL and contains three
items: VERSION, SAVE IMAGE, and EXIT. VERSION shows the
startup screen produced on entering the program, SAVE
IMAGE is discussed below, and EXIT is obvious. Each of
these items may be accessed without going through the
menu system by pressing the Psion key and a letter at the
same time. The mappings for these are given below:
Key Menu Item
~~~ ~~~~~~~~~
Psion-M Molecular Weight
Psion-V Version
Psion-I Save Image
Psion-X Exit
MOLECULAR WEIGHTS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This program will determine the molecular weights of
compounds typed in. This option is invoked either
through invoking the menu system or pressing Psion-M.
When entering molecular formulae you should type them in
the same way as you write them. The following notes
should be observed:
-You must type the characters as they appear in
the periodic table. i.e. you must type the
correct case of the letters. e.g. Fe and not FE
or fe for iron
-Numbers always follow what they refer to. e.g.
K2PtCl6
-You may use brackets (all of ({[<>]}) ) to
include sub-units e.g. Fe3(CN)6
-Fractional stoichiometries are allowed e.g.
WO3.33
The cursor keys may be used to move through the formula
to edit it. The delete key may be used to delete the
character to the left of the cursor. Psion-left arrow and
Psion-right arrow move to the beginning and end of the
formula; Psion-Delete clears the entire formula; ESC
exits the formula calculator; ENTER calculates the
molecular weight for the current formula.
FAST START-UP (SAVE-IMAGE)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On start-up the program checks to see if the file
'periodic.pic' exists in the \APP\PERIODIC\ directory,
and if it does, it uses it to quickly display the
periodic table. If it does not find this file then it
generates the image of the periodic table (this takes
slightly longer). It is possible to save this image for
fast start-up by using PSION-I (save image).
THE DATABASE
============
The information for the periodic table is stored in a a
database (periodic.dbf) in the \APP\PERIODIC\ directory.
To my knowledge the information is correct, although
there may be some mistakes. You can update or change the
database by using the standard database application. The
fourth field containing the atomic weight information
should not be moved as the program will complain (the
molecular weight routine assumes that the atomic weights
occur in the fourth field of the database).
The program will accept up to 20 fields in the database.
I have filled in 17. Units for items in the database are
assumed to be bracketed and stored with the field labels
e.g. if you look at the field labels you will see that
the fourth field is:
Atomic weight(g/mol)
The program splits out the (g/mol) and places it