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1992-12-08
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┌─────────────────────┐
│ G R A P H - M E ! │
│ by Tom Dibble, │
│ the tomster of wpi │
└─────────────────────┘
THE PROGRAM:
Graph-Me! is a basic two- and three- dimensional graphing
utility. Supported are rectangular, "box" (3-d cartesian),
polar, cylindrical, and spherical coordinate systems. A
full compliment of mathematical operations is also
available, ranging from the basics (+, -, ...) to the more
powerful (sin, asin ... ) and even to the obscure (modulus,
acsc ...). All operations are supported in all modes.
FEATURES:
Full editing of all input values.
Visual interface for most operations, such as rotations,
zooms, and shifts.
Text-based point-and-click interface for major operations.
REGISTRATION:
This program, Graph-Me!, is shareware. This means that you
may use it as an evaluation copy for a few weeks before
actually purchasing it. The evaluation time-period expires
four weeks (one month) after Graph-Me! is first used on a
computer. Registration entitles you to by-mail (or email)
notification of each update of the program, and lasts
through the entirety of the next major revision. This means
that if you register version 1.0, you will automatically be
registered for version 1.1, 1.2 ... 2.0 ... 2.9 when they
come out. You will need to re-register for version 3.0.
Most of all, however, registering gives you tremendous peace
of mind, and the freedom of knowing you don't have to hide
from the Software Piracy Police for the rest of your natural
lifetime ...
The price is set at $15 per user. The registered copy may
be used on more than one computer at once as long as only
one person is using it at any one time, much like a book in
the library.
Why so cheap? Because I do not intend to make much money on
(this version of) this program. Instead, I would just like
to see how wide-spread its use becomes. Future registration
fees MAY INCREASE! so register your copy now! (Actually,
they probably won't, unless further improvements to the
program significantly increase the amount of time I put into
it.) The idea here is that few people register for big,
expensive shareware packages, especially ones which offer
little else besides peace of mind as a reward to
registration, which means I would get little feedback as far
as what needs to be added. I WANT FEEDBACK!
Finally, to register, just print out the file
"REGISTER.$15", fill out the information (especially *how
you want to be notified of upgrades*!), fill out the
questionnaire if you want, and send it (and a check or money
order for the price of registration) to:
Tom Dibble
WPI Box 2466
Worcester, MA 01609-2280
This address will be good until the summer of 1995.
Please feel free to add any comments you can about the
program, especially suggestions for improvements in the
interfaces, etc. Also feel free to comment on this
marketing strategy, the price, and/or similar programs.
(A quick note on "similar programs": Before uploading this
program to the InterNet, I downloaded a few other graphing
programs to see how Graph-Me! stood in relation. As far as
I could tell, very few other programs actually generated
three-dimensional graphs, and of the ones which did, they
were usually just demos for store-bought programs, the
actual price of which hovered between $200 and $350. I
found one which almost sounded like it might be similar for
$25, but I couldn't get it to work -- the command language
was too confusing for the amount of time I had to play with
it. I would really appreciate it if anyone knows of any
other program which does anything even *similar* that you
tell me!)
STARTING UP:
First, Graph-Me! is a relative hog for memory. I know for a
fact that it will *not* run in much less than 350Kb
conventional memory. So, before you start Graph-Me!, type
'mem' to make sure you have enough memory to start out with.
(Graph-Me! may be unkind if you run out of memory ... call
it a bug ...)
Once Graph-Me! is started, it may flash up a warning to your
screen concerning GRAPHICS.COM, the DOS Print-Screen
handler. If you are running a replacement for GRAPHICS.COM
(for instance, one which handles higher resolutions or
colors specific to your printer), or simply do not want to
print any of the graphs you generate out, ignore this
message. You may want to start Graph-Me! with the /NOGRAPH
switch in the future.
After that screen (press any key to clear it) is the
copyright screen, which displays the name of the program,
the author, the version, and the copyright date of
Graph-Me!. Again, press any key to clear this screen.
The final initial screen (really!) is the video-mode
selection screen. Simply hit the numbers which best
describe your system, or hit 'd' for auto-detect (advised,
as setting video for a card which does not match your own
may hang the program ... :-< ). This setting may be changed
at any time through the text interface, so don't sweat over
it.
USAGE:
Once Graph-Me! has started up, a simple point-and-click
interface will appear on the screen. It is divided into
four sections: Plot Data, Options, Screen Data, and Formula.
The Plot Data section holds the basic information about the
plot: the ranges it covers, and the vertical and base
rotations it has undergone.
The Options section holds the zoom buttons and three other
buttons, which will each bring up dialogue boxes.
The Screen Data section holds information pertaining to the
screen, such as the number of screen pixels between graph
calculations, the video mode, and the screen resolution. It
also holds a few miscellaneous tidbits of data which
probably should have been put elsewhere: the current
graphing mode, the plotting directions, and the distance
between sample planes.
The Formula section holds the Dependant/Independent Variable
information, the formula itself, and the "GRAPH-ME" button.
The specific operation of each of these sections is detailed
below.
The text interface itself is by nature simple to use,
especially if you have a mouse (and the driver is loaded
into memory). Simply move the highlighter bar to the field
you wish to change by pressing <Tab> and <Shift>-<Tab>, then
activate it by pressing <Space> or <Enter>. Or, with the
mouse, simply click on the field you wish to alter. For
instance, to enter a formula, press <Shift-Tab> (to cycle
backwards through the fields) twice, highlighting the long
formula bar at the bottom of the screen, then hit <Enter> to
activate the input box. Or, alternatively, simply click
anywhere just above the "GRAPH-ME" button to select and
activate the input box.
Once you have entered a formula and defined the ranges (if
you do not wish to stick with the defaults), activate the
"GRAPH-ME" button. The screen will clear, and three axis
will appear, dead center on the screen. Now the
Arrow Keys:
Rotate the graph in the direction indicated by the
arrow key.
Num-Lock + 'Arrow Keys': (numeric keypad)
Shift the graph in the direction indicated.
Page-Up:
Zoom in.
Ctrl-Page-Up:
Less dramatic zoom-in
Page-Down:
Zoom out.
Ctrl-Page-Down:
Less dramatic zoom-out
T