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Text File | 1993-01-14 | 25.3 KB | 584 lines

Welcome to HYPERGEO and the realm of the fourth dimension! In HYPERGEO you have acquired a graphical research tool for the investigation of the nature of the geometry of hyperspace. With this software and your personal computer you will have the ability to envision objects that are inaccessible to normal human perception. The insights that may be obtained into the shape and structure of the mysterious universe of four-dimensional hyperspace should prove fascinating to a wide range of computer users, from the beginning or casual student of geometry and algebra to the advanced scholar. All that's needed is a measure of curiosity in things mathematical and the intellectual openness to be intrigued by the subtle complexities of nature. HYPERGEO is ideal for classroom use as an aid to teaching the concepts of solid geometry (descriptive and analytic) in both three and four dimensions. The program's stereoscopic "3D" display and its ability to give the student "hands on" control over the manipulation of solid objects provide a means for understanding through direct perception that cannot be achieved from textbooks that are inherently flat and unanimated. In addition to being useful as a serious mathematical program, HYPERGEO can be enjoyed solely for the visual, aesthetic value of its intricate geometrical displays. This "read me" file is meant to be the first thing you look at when you receive your copy of HYPERGEO. It contains enough information for you to verify that the program is installed correctly on your system and to try an initial run. It also describes the software distribution method known as "shareware" and gives details on the registration process. The full documentation of HYPERGEO is contained in the file HYPERGEO.DOC which is included in the set of files that accompany the program; that documentation is where you should ultimately look for a complete understanding of HYPERGEO and how to use all its features. Both this README.1ST file and the documentation file, HYPERGEO.DOC, are formatted for direct output on any line printer. You can make copies of them by using the DOS COPY command. For example, COPY HYPERGEO.DOC PRN Note: If you have more than one printer on your system, use the appropriate LPTn device name in place of PRN. HYPERGEO is a program for the IBM PC and compatible machines. It was developed under PC-DOS 3.3 and MS-DOS 5.0, and should run under earlier DOS versions as well. The system should have a minimum of about 360K bytes of free memory; more may be required when using the program to study larger, more complex geometrical objects. Either an EGA, VGA, or Hercules display device must be present. A mouse is useful but not required. A math coprocessor (such as an 80287 or 80387) may provide some measurable improvement in the computer's performance but is also not required. (HYPERGEO uses a specially programmed fixed-point mode of calculation that is based on integer arithmetic in order to make a math coprocessor unnecessary.) There is currently no special version of HYPERGEO for either Windows 3.x or OS/2; this version should run without problems as a full-screen DOS program under both environments. Section 1. Files Distributed with HYPERGEO The material you received with your HYPERGEO distribution set should contain all of the following files: README.1ST - This file. HYPERGEO.DOC - The full user's guide and program reference manual. HYPERGEO.EXE - The actual executable HYPERGEO program. HYPERGEO.HLP - File containing the on-line help information. HYPERGEO.ICO - An icon file for use under Windows 3.x. HYPERGEO.PIF - A Program Information File for running HYPERGEO as a full-screen DOS application under Windows 3.x. 5CELL.BIN - Geometry definition files in binary format that 16CELL.BIN describe various three-dimensional and four-dimensional 24CELL.BIN objects that can be viewed and studied using HYPERGEO. BLOCKS.BIN CUBE.BIN DODECA.BIN HG.BIN HYDODECA.BIN HYICOSA.BIN HYOCTA.BIN HYPRCUBE.BIN HYTETRA.BIN ICOSA.BIN OCTA.BIN STELLA.BIN TETRA.BIN HYPRCUBE.GEO - The geometry definition file for the four-dimensional hypercube in text format. GEO2BIN.EXE - A utility program used to process text-formatted geometry definition files into binary format for fast loading into the HYPERGEO program. SYSTEM16.FNT - Font definition files used by the program to display SYSTEM24.FNT text. METWND01.DRV - Graphics drivers used by the main HYPERGEO program. METWND04.DRV METWND05.DRV REGISTER.FRM - A file that can be printed to create a blank form for registering a shareware copy of HYPERGEO. If you did not receive all of these files, you do not have a correct and legal copy of HYPERGEO. You should contact the distributor from whom you obtained the program. ADDITIONAL UTILITY PROGRAMS AND DATA FILES WITH REGISTERED COPIES OF HYPERGEO VERSION 2 Upon registration, users of HYPERGEO Version 2 will receive an up-to-date copy of the basic program material which contains all of the files listed above. They will also receive some additional files which provide a number of added "convenience" features that enhance the use of HYPERGEO. This set of extra files contains the following: CONE.EXE - Utility programs that automate the generation of CYLINDER.EXE binary geometry definition files for six types of SPHERE.EXE object: cones, cylinders, spheres, hypercones, HYCONE.EXE hypercylinders, and hyperspheres. HYCYLNDR.EXE HYSPHERE.EXE 5CELL.GEO - Geometry definition files in text format that are the 16CELL.GEO source for all of the binary-format geometry files 24CELL.GEO supplied with the shareware release of HYPERGEO. BLOCKS.GEO These text files are not needed to use the CUBE.GEO corresponding binary geometry files in HYPERGEO. DODECA.GEO They are of interest mainly as documentation showing HG.GEO how the various objects and hyperobjects are HYDODECA.GEO constructed. They can be useful, however, if you HYICOSA.GEO want to make any changes to the geometry definitions HYOCTA.GEO (including adding any configuration information). HYTETRA.GEO They can also serve as models from which the user can ICOSA.GEO derive other related geometry definitions. OCTA.GEO STELLA.GEO TETRA.GEO CUBOCTA.BIN - Geometry definition files in binary format for some STELCUBO.BIN additional 3-D objects. These are the so-called RHDODECA.BIN quasi-regular polyhedra along with their derived ICODODEC.BIN compound and dual forms. STELICOS.BIN TRIACONT.BIN CUBOCTA.GEO - Text-format versions of the above six geometry files. STELCUBO.GEO RHDODECA.GEO ICODODEC.GEO STELICOS.GEO TRIACONT.GEO Section 2. Getting Started If you'd like to take an immediate look at HYPERGEO without totally understanding what you're doing, this section will guide you through a quick trial run using a handful of the program's key features. But please remember that sooner or later you should read the full program documentation which is contained in the file HYPERGEO.DOC. First, be sure you are in the directory with the HYPERGEO program files. For example, if you had installed HYPERGEO in directory C:\HYPERGEO, you would first make drive C the active drive and then use the DOS CD command: C: CD \HYPERGEO (If you're running HYPERGEO directly from a floppy diskette, all you need to do is insert the diskette into its drive and make that drive the active one. For example, if you're using the first diskette drive, drive A, you would type A: to make that the active drive.) Next, to run HYPERGEO, you simply type the name of the executable program file (the .EXE extension may be omitted): HYPERGEO As described in the documentation, there are a number of command-line options that could be used here to select various features of the program, but since this example uses no options, HYPERGEO will apply all of its defaults; in particular it will use the default geometry definition file which is HYPRCUBE.BIN, the four-dimensional hypercube. The geometry definition file is the basic input to HYPERGEO. It contains a description of the structure and dimensions of the geometrical object to be viewed. The program should take a couple of seconds to read the data from the file HYPRCUBE.BIN and to create the initial display. The HYPERGEO Information Window will then appear in the center of the display. This gives a summary of the topology of the current object being examined - in this case a hypercube - plus some additional display parameters. Select the "Ok" button with the mouse to remove the Information Window. (You can also type <Enter> instead of selecting the "Ok" button if your system has no mouse or if you just prefer typing.) Once the Information Window disappears, you should see what looks like a perspective view of a cubical outline. This cube is the three-dimensional shape that results from slicing the four-dimensional hypercube with a three-dimensional hyperplane. The primary means of examining a hypergeometrical object is to rotate it and view it from all angles. HYPERGEO allows you to do this. Try pressing the various function keys F5 through F10. These produce rotations in each of the six planes determined by pairs of the four coordinates of hyperspace. You should notice that some rotations cause the cubical shape to change; its corners may become flattened, and new edges may appear in the faces. This shows different perspectives of the hypercube as it is intersected by the hyperplane at varying angles. If you have a mouse on your system, you can use it to perform the same rotations invoked by the function keys F5 through F10. Move the mouse so one of the selection boxes labelled YZ, XZ, XY, XW, YW, or ZW is highlighted. Hold down either the right or left mouse button. The hypercube will rotate in hyperspace, and the shape of the 3-D intersection displayed on the screen will change accordingly. By default, HYPERGEO starts up in what is called "perspective display mode"; this is what produces the perspective view of the cube's outline. There are five different display modes that can be selected by pressing the appropriate key: Key Display Mode --- --------------------- A Stereoscopic anaglyph H Hidden-line P Perspective R Surface relief S Solid Try pressing each of these five keys to view the different display modes. Note: The stereoscopic anaglyph and surface relief modes require special red-blue "3D" glasses to view. See Section 4 below for details on how to obtain 3D glasses (including a special free trial offer). Another default parameter of HYPERGEO causes it to start up using one of the two available forms of 4-D geometry imaging, namely, intersection with a three-dimensional hyperplane. This is indicated by the entry "4-D Section" under the GEOMETRY heading in the menu area. The other possible technique for geometry imaging is projection onto a hyperplane. HYPERGEO allows you to display either type of image by itself and also to display both types together side by side. The 'G' key cycles among these three alternatives. When you select 4-D projection imaging, the GEOMETRY entry in the menu area changes to "4-D Project", and when both image types are displayed together, the menu entry is "4-D Dual". With 4-D projection imaging (and for the dual image display) only two of the five display modes are available: stereoscopic anaglyph and perspective. There is on-line help available that gives a quick description of each of the commands that can be used to perform interactive manipulations of the geometry in HYPERGEO. You can bring up the on-line help system by pressing F1. Feel free to experiment with any of the commands listed there, but remember that the documentation file HYPERGEO.DOC should be referred to for a full understanding of the features of the program. To exit from HYPERGEO and return to DOS, press 'Q'. Section 3. Special Installation Notes for Version 1 Users If you installed the new version of HYPERGEO into the same directory in which you had Version 1, the installation procedure will have asked you to confirm the overwriting of all those files that have the same names in the two versions. The correct thing to do is to go ahead and overwrite all of the old Version 1 files with their new Version 2 replacements. The only possible difficulty with this concerns the text version (extension .GEO) of the geometry definition files; if you have made any modifications of your own to the Version 1 copy of any of these files, you will lose those changes by overwriting it with the new Version 2 copy. If you were unsure about overwriting the old version and answered "N" to any of the prompts issued by the installation procedure, you should re-run that procedure and confirm all of the file overwrites by responding "Y" to the prompts. Note, however, that if the point made above about having made changes to any .GEO files applies, you can safely choose not to overwrite just those files (assuming that you wish to preserve the changes you made). But all of the other files that comprise HYPERGEO must be updated to the Version 2 copy. If you do choose to keep you original version of a .GEO file, it will have to be processed into the new binary format for geometry definition files using the new GEO2BIN utility described below. Users familiar with Version 1 should be sure to look at the section on "What's New for Version 2" which is Appendix F in the main user's guide (contained in file HYPERGEO.DOC). That appendix describes all of the new features included in this release and also discusses several areas in which Version 2 has a different way of doing things that the experienced user needs to be aware of. Most notable of these is probably the GEO2BIN utility and the new binary format of geometry definition files. The implications of this new feature are discussed in the following paragraphs. GENERATING THE BINARY GEOMETRY DEFINITION FILE The key point to be aware of is that for Version 2 all user-created (or user-modified) text geometry definition files must be processed into a binary version using the GEO2BIN utility before they can be used by the HYPERGEO program itself. HYPERGEO is supplied with a number of geometry definition files for various three and four-dimensional geometric objects. All of these files are supplied already processed into the binary format for fast, immediate loading into the HYPERGEO program; they have the extension .BIN. Only one geometry file, HYPRCUBE.GEO, is included with the installation material in text format (since this is the four-dimensional hypercube which is the program's default geometry). This HYPRCUBE.GEO file is of use primarily as a sample of the text format of a geometry definition. Because the binary version, HYPRCUBE.BIN, is also included, there is no need to run GEO2BIN on the hypercube text geometry file to use it in HYPERGEO (unless and until you make changes to it on your own). However, since for Version 1 all geometry files existed only in the text format, if you have created any such text geometry files beyond those supplied with the program, you will have to convert them into the new binary format before they can be loaded into HYPERGEO Version 2. This is done with the utility program GEO2BIN which is provided with the Version 2 release of HYPERGEO. How to use the GEO2BIN utility is described fully in Appendix A of the new copy of the HYPERGEO Reference Manual, which is in the file HYPERGEO.DOC. Section 4. Special Offer - 3D Glasses FREE!!! A pair of sturdy, plastic-frame 3D glasses is included with every registered copy of HYPERGEO. However, to make it possible for those who are evaluating HYPERGEO under the temporary shareware license to experience all of the program's features, I am making available red-blue 3D glasses for free (or almost for free) while supplies last. These trial glasses have plastic lenses fitted in a cardboard frame and are typical of the inexpensive style of 3D glasses that are supplied with such items as 3D comic books. They are definitely not as comfortable or durable (or as optically reliable) as the plastic-frame glasses sent with registered versions of the program, but they are entirely adequate for observing and appreciating the vivid effects of 3D depth created by HYPERGEO's stereoscopic displays. To receive a pair of these free evaluation glasses send a stamped self-addressed envelop to: WareCraft P.O. Box 139 Bedford, MA 01730 Section 5. Registering a Shareware Copy of HYPERGEO HYPERGEO is not public domain or free software. It is a copyrighted computer program that is made available and distributed as "shareware". Shareware is a method of marketing commercial software products that eliminates some of the problems that arise from traditional methods of retailing. In particular, it allows a prospective customer who is interested but hesitant an opportunity to try out the program and evaluate it for free (or after paying at most a nominal fee for the cost of the diskettes and their shipping). The recipient of a shareware copy of a software product is licensed to use the program for a limited time (typically 30 days) for the purpose of deciding whether or not it is worth purchasing. At the end of that evaluation period, to avoid being in violation of United States and international copyright laws, the user is obliged to do one of two things: 1) cease using the program and never, ever use it again, ever; or 2) send money. Anyone receiving a complete and legal shareware copy of a software product is free to (indeed, is encouraged to) make additional copies of the product and distribute them to other prospective customers. The registration price of HYPERGEO is $20. By paying this amount and becoming registered customers, users of HYPERGEO will receive the following benefits: 1) They will be shipped a copy of the latest version of HYPERGEO; this is liable to contain fixes and features that are not yet available in the shareware version. 2) They will receive a pair of red-blue "3D" glasses that can be used with the program's stereoscopic (anaglyph) display modes. The glasses are of reasonably high quality plastic and are quite a bit more comfortable and durable than typical cardboard 3D glasses. 3) They will receive six extra utility programs that automate the creation of geometry definition files for parameterized families of six different types of object: cones, spheres, cylinders, hypercones, hyperspheres, and hypercylinders. These objects all possess curved surfaces which must be modeled by an approximating three or four-dimensional gridded topology. Creating such complex geometrical structures by hand (especially for the 4-D hyperobjects) would be challenging to say the least. With these utilities the user can generate the geometry files in seconds. 4) They will receive six additional geometry files (in both binary and text format) which contain the two "quasi-regular" 3-D convex polyhedra, the cuboctahedron and the icosidodecahedron, plus their compound and dual forms. 5) They will receive a set of text-format geometry definition files which are the source for all of the binary-format geometry files supplied with HYPERGEO. These text files are instructional as a reference showing how the geometrical objects are constructed, and they can serve as models to assist users in developing additional geometry definitions of their own. 6) They will receive a HYPERGEO Quick Reference card which can be kept handy near the computer and which contains a brief description of all of the program's interactive commands. 7) Registered customers will receive priority treatment when requiring technical support. In particular, any registered customer who reports a major bug will receive a free fix as quickly as I can program it. 8) Registered customers will be placed on the HYPERGEO mailing list and will be notified of forthcoming upgrades to the program. 9) Registered customers will all have clear consciences and will make their mothers very proud of them. The file REGISTER.FRM, which is included with the HYPERGEO distribution material, can be printed to create a blank form to use in registering. (This form is also included at the end of this README.1ST file.) The $20 registration fee includes free shipping (U.S. mail) within the U.S. and Canada. Massachusetts residents should add 5% for the state sales tax. Payment should be made by check, payable to WareCraft. Cash is also OK. For all orders outside the U.S. and Canada, add $5 for shipping and handling. Payment should be via an International Money Order denominated in dollars. Cash in your local currency is also acceptable for foreign orders; use the current exchange rate as published in a recent issue of a reliable newspaper and round up (i.e., no coins, please). Section 5. Technical Support I can be reached for technical questions during normal business hours (U.S. east coast time) at 617/862-8968. Please feel free to leave a message requesting a return call if you reach the answering machine instead of a live person. The cheapest way to contact me quickly is through my Compuserve address, 70521,1036. Messages posted there will usually be received daily. General comments, suggestions, complaints, and miscellaneous communications (not to mention registrations) can always be sent by mail to: WareCraft P.O. Box 139 Bedford, MA 01730 USA HYPERGEO Customer Registration Form To: WareCraft P.O. Box 139 Bedford, MA 01730 USA Name and Address: ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ Diskette size: 5-1/4" ( ) 3-1/2" ( ) HYPERGEO - includes latest version of HYPERGEO and utility programs, and one pair of plastic 3D glasses: _____ copies at $20 each = _____________ Additional 3D glasses: ______ pairs at $2 each = _____________ Massachusetts residents add 5% state sales tax = _____________ Shipment outside of U.S. and Canada add $5 = _____________ Total = _____________ For domestic orders payment should be via check payable to WareCraft. Foreign orders should use an International Money Order denominated in dollars. For either domestic or foreign orders cash is acceptable. (Please use the back of this form for any comments, suggestions, or criticisms you have concerning the HYPERGEO program.)