1README file for XSpringies 1.12 2=============================== 3 4General info: 5------------- 6 XSpringies is a mass and spring simulation system. It's intended use is more 7like that of a game, than some design package. 8 9 It's written using Xlib only. No Motif or any other widgets sets are used. 10 11 The animation in XSpringies is done using an off-screen Pixmap. The next 12frame is drawn on this pixmap, then is blitted onto the screen. Since the 13frame rate is about 30 frames per second, slower machines (or machines which 14have poorly written bit-blitting code) will be deathly slow and blinky. 15 But now, in the days of fast happy machines, you might find yourself turning 16down the timestep some so you can see what's going on.. 17 18Installation info: 19------------------ 20 21First, if you aren't going to use the Imakefile, 22type "cp Makefile.std Makefile" 23 24Edit the "Imakefile" (or the "Makefile", if you are not using imake), and 25change the value of DDIR to reflect where you want to install 26the xspringies files. Don't forget the trailing / on the end of your 27filename. If you don't have gzip, you will probably want to change 28the compression stuff to be compress. If you don't want any compression 29of saved files, then take out all the compress stuff. 30 31Now, if you are using the Imakefile, type "xmkmf". 32 33 If you have problems at the beginning, and you are using the 34 Imakefile, it might be caused by the strange definition I have for 35 "MKDIRHIER", which I had to redefine because of the silly way Imake 36 is set up. If this happens, type "which mkdirhier" to see what the 37 full path for mkdirhier is, and put this in place of the backquoted 38 expression in the Imakefile. (i.e. - if the full path is 39 "/usr/local/bin/mkdirhier", then you change the line to 40 "MKDIRHIER = BourneShell /usr/local/bin/mkdirhier"). 41 42Type "make install". 43 44Then, just run xspringies and have fun. 45 46--- 47 48If you don't install the man page in a default directory, you can still 49read it by typing: "nroff -man xspringies.man | more" 50 51------------------------------------------------------------------------- 52 53Updates 54------- 55For version 1.12: (11/95) 56 - Fixed problem with division by zero when the mass was zero 57 - Fixed a few types and protypes, and that sort of thing to make compilation 58 a more enjoyable experience 59 - Upgraded solver to RK45 (thanks to Nate Loofbourrow) 60 - Added mass-mass collision (thanks to Martin Lukanowicz) 61 - Files are now saved compressed 62 - Created masses and springs are selected as they are created (a UI change) 63 64For version 1.1: (3/93) 65 Bugs fixed: 66 - Compiles for NEWS system 67 - Keyboard input now works under openlook window manager 68 - Animation no longer gets 'stuck' after like 35 minutes 69 - File format is more compact by removing unnecessary zeros 70 (i.e. - before 1.500000, now 1.5) and has more precision to eliminate 71 tiny errors perceived when saving and reloading a file 72 - Strange ~-expansion behavior for filenames is gone 73 - The GO! button replaces the hard to find Action checkbox 74 - A Delete button was added, which is the same as the Delete key 75 76 New features: 77 - Spring thickness can be specified using the "-st <number>" command 78 line switch (0 is default width - thin line) 79 - Instead of the entire screen being bit-blitted, only the bounding box 80 necessary to draw new objects and cover old objects is drawn. This 81 greatly speeds up the animation when drawing small objects (such as 82 a "jello"). If the bounding box changes size periodically (as in the 83 "pendbees" file), the "-nbb" command line switch disables this feature 84 to allow for slower, but smoother animation. 85 - A cursor, and filename editing features were added. It uses emacs-like 86 keys: 87 ^B/^F = back/forward 88 ^A/^E = goto beginning/end of line 89 ^K/^Y = kill to end of line/yank from kill buffer 90 ^D = delete character under cursor 91 ^U = kill all input 92 ^T = transpose character under cursor with previous character 93 ESC = exit from filename edit mode 94 95Misc info: 96---------- 97 The author of xspringies is Douglas DeCarlo. 98 Email address: dmd@gradient.cis.upenn.edu 99 Please send any bug-reports/comments/suggestions/demo-files to this address. 100