

Copyright (C) Tommy Pylant ssn 423942832.
May 1996, addendum May 31, 1997...
All Rights Reserved.


 
To install this software just unzip it and copy the directory's
disk1 and disk2 to either the C: drive or a temporary directory.
The important thing is that the disk1 and disk2 be in the same
directory.

 
This is the second version of MathGraph. I hope it doesn't have many
bugs in it. The interface will work fine, but there might be a 
few bugs in the equation parser.  Trying to cover all the possible
combinations of factors in any given equation is a hard thing to
figure. I sat down and wrote this parser from scratch with few if
any source code from other projects for reference. Getting the 
parentheses levels to sort out in the right place at the right 
time proved to be pretty hard. For example consider these partial
equations:
5 - x
-(5-x)
-(-5-x)
(cos(-x))
-(cos(-x))
-(cos(-x-5))
Getting the parentheses to work in the right pattern with the 
negative sign operator proved to be the hardest part of the 
design process for the software. I'm still not sure if I've 
covered all the bases on it. I hope that MathGraph doesn't cause
you to mess up on a math homework problem or a business 
calculation. If it does, I hope you know that you use this 
shareware at your own risk. I regret the mistake, but I accept
no responsibility for it. The Help menu will give you all the
instructions for using the software.  I did make a small mistake
in the design of the help menu. I had planned on having context 
sensitive help for this version of MathGraph, so the project was
compiled with that option on. Now that its not going to have context
sensitive help, there is a small bobble when accessing the help menu.
Just keep clicking buttons until you get there. I would have had to 
copy all the functions in the view file to a new project and reconstructed
all the dialog boxes to fix the small problem, so I just left it alone.
He He...The software was written in Visual C++ vers. 4.00 and 
5.00. There will probably be at least onemore version of MathGraph 
shareware. I want to add the capability for saving the screen 
to a Bmp or Pcx file.  Then you could import any of the 
graphs straight into your homework with some desk top publishing 
software or word processor. That would take care of the need for 
printing also. This version will print, but the graphs are 
rather small. I suppose I should have taken the time to scale the 
printing to twips, but I want to upload the shareware NOW because I'm
slightly worried about having copyright problems. I did find a few bugs
in the equation parser, most notably an error by the fourth or fifth 
decimal place when using the solve function. This bug is covered in the
Help menu of mathgraph 2.0 as is most of the other stuff. Read that
before using the program, it will make things easier.
There may be a version of MathGraph called MathGraph Pro in a 
few months. It will not be shareware, but it will be reasonably 
priced. This version of the shareware is not free. I request 
that you send me $5.00 for its use. If your in college, think 
about how much of your money goes for tuition. If you flub 
a few homework problems because you did it all with a hand 
calculator, think about the diference in your grades. Use 
MathGraph to study for tests. With MathGraph you can cover 10 
times as many example problems while studying than you could 
with a hand calculator. If you cover 10 times as many problems, 
then figure how much better you will do on those finals.
If MathGraph makes just ONE letter grade diference in a whole 
year, (which it probably will), isn't it worth the $5.00 fee?
Pretty cheap compared to going down to the bookstore and paying
over $100.00 for MathCad or something else. MathGraph doesn't 
have all the frills of MathCad but it has a whole bunch of 
calculating and graphing power. Please register and send $5.00
(five dollars, cash, check or money order) to:      

Tommy Pylant
454 Riverton Dr.
Rainbow City AL. 35906.
ph# 205-442-5323

If you have any comments, questions, gripes, or found a bug you,
can email me at the following address as of 05/31/97.

tpylant@peop.tdsnet.com

Thanks for trying MathGraph 2.0 and I hope you get a lot of good
use out of it.

