A 3D Dynamic Geometry Software

Calques 3D


Calques 3D - History

Version 2.5.0 (24/01/08)

New features:

  1. Calques 3D is now developed using Microsoft Visual C++ 2008.
  2. Added support for a new 3D-mouse device, the SpaceNavigator. See the instructions about usage and configuration.
  3. Added a German version of the interface (thanks to Alfred Flaßhaar).
  4. Changed the way multiple languages are supported. The various translations of the interface are now available as separate DLLs, in conjunction with a stand-alone executable containing the default English interface.
    Note that only one translated DLL will be installed on your computer, depending on which language you chose at installation. Although possible, Calques 3D does not allow a change of language at run-time (to avoid a clash with the interface layout saved in registry by the BCGControl library).

Fixes:

  1. Fixed bug in the display of Z-aligned lines in the OpenGL view.
  2. Changed the navigation interface of the option dialog box to a tree-like widget.
  3. Switched to latest version of the MFC Grid Control (v2.26) external library.
  4. Cleaned and improved internal data structure (for easier migration to proper open-source code in the future).
Version 2.4.1 (28/10/07)

New features:

  1. A first draft of the conic section object has been added in Calques 3D.
    You can construct it as the intersection of a cone and a plane (from the menu Construction | Intersection).

Fixes:

  1. Changed the behaviour of the user-defined points of view list: the default PoV can now be removed, changed or renamed.
    Note that if all points of view are removed from the list, a default one will be automatically created.
  2. Fixed a bug with the selection of the initial/default point of view in the Universe view.
  3. Fixed a bug in the selection of cylinders and cones.
  4. Several export predicates (Maple and Mathematica) have been fixed or added: common perpendicular line, circle and arc of circle, intersection cone/line, cylinder, polygon,
  5. Several missing icons have been added (for objects and constructions).
Version 2.4.0 (01/09/07)

New features:

  1. Introduction of user-defined point of views in the Universe view.
    By using the define... command (either in the Visualisation | Point of View menu or in the menu-icon in the toolbar of the view), you can save the current orientation of the observer's point of view for future usage. Using the command open a list box where you can save the current point of view, removed previous ones and reorganised them.
    The menu will hold up to 4 points of view, on top of the default one (which cannot be modified or removed). These points of view are saved with the construction.
  2. A new command (Visualisation | Show Hidden) enables the display or not of all hidden objects in the Universe. Hidden objects are drawn in simple shape and with a different color, as long as the command is switched on.
    Note that the color used for hidden objects is hard-coded but will be avaiable for modification in the preferences soon.
  3. The cone has been added as a new object. The object is a right-handed cone with a circular basis. Its construction relies on three points: its apex, a second point defining its axis (and its direction vector and, therefore, its primary nappe) and a third point defining its envelope (and its opening angle).
    Note that the current version is still limited in the detection of hidden part and will be fixed a soon as possible.
  4. The appearance pane of the preference dialog has been updated to provide access to configuration elements of the cone: its default color, whether it has to be treated (and displayed) as a double cone or not and the number of edges displayed on its envelope.
  5. New construction methods, based on the cone, have been added: intersection cone/line and point on cone.
    Note that in the current version, a limitation of the computational algorithms means that both methods are valid only with the primary nappe.
  6. The History view now allows to temporarily display hidden objects while they are selected. An option in the new History pane of the preference dialog enables or disables this functionality.
  7. The display of locus has been improved by introducing a proper (triangular) mesh structure. It allows a better detection of the orientation and surface of the mesh elements. Note that the locus computation has still problem in dealing with discontinuity (see the hyperboloid for example).

Fixes:

  1. A bug in the detection of the hidden parts of the cylinder has been fixed.
  2. The visual feedbacks during the construction of objects has been improved. Some are still missing...
  3. Fixed a bug with the computation of the locus, causing infinite loop at the opening of a saved document.
  4. The description of spheres (i.e. differentiating between a sphere defined by a radius or by a point on its envelope) has been fixed.
  5. The text associated with the designation of cylinders in construction tasks (e.g. point on cylinder, intersection cylinder/plane) has been fixed.
  6. The description of several errors (properties not met for the definition of objects) has been improved.
  7. Various icons for the object and construction commands have been added to the interface (menus and toolbars).
  8. Loading and saving preferences (from/to registry) has been updated.
  9. The preference dialog has been improved (title fixed, improved loading, missing appearance options added, etc.)
  10. A bug in the orientation of lines in the OpenGL view (notably with segments and rays) has been fixed.
  11. The color of objects is now properly propagated in the OpenGL view (except for points that remains red and spherical).
  12. The symbolic export of spheres defined by their radius has been fixed.
  13. A bug in filling the list of variables in the context menu of the MathPad view has been fixed.
Version 2.3.7 (10/07/07)

Fixes:

  1. A bug with the construction of spheres, preventing the selection of dependent points for its parents, has been fixed.
Version 2.3.6 (21/05/07)

New features:

  1. The construction of spheres has been improved by allowing the definition of a sphere given its center and its radius (specified by an existing segment line). The construction command and the designation mechanism have been updated to reflect this new possibility.

Fixes:

  1. A few bugs in the activation and management of the Verify dialog have been fixed.
  2. A bug in the serialisation of objects, preventing their versioning, has been fixed.
  3. Warning and information icons have been added to the alert indicator in the task bar.
Version 2.3.5 (17/05/07)

New features:

  1. An alert mechanism has been introduced in Calques 3D, in order to attract the attention of the user on issues that are not vital and therefore that don't need to interrupt the use of the system.
    The task bar contains a special indicator that displays a short text (and a tooltip) highlighting the issue:
    The Alert Indicator in the task bar
    A double-click on the message will activate a more detailed description of the issue.
    The current shape of the alert indicator is still crude and will be improved shortly.
  2. This alert mechanism is now used to indicate the existence of objects in the MathPad view, when the user opens an existing document.
    The indicator on the task bar will contain a "MathPad" tag; by double-clicking on it, a dialog box indicates the existence of objects in the MathPad view and asks the user whether the view should now be opened or not. A check box in the dialog also allows Calques 3D to remember the choice and not prompt the user for the same question in the future.
    The choice of asking or not the question can be specified in the MathPad tab of the Options dialog.

Fixes:

  1. A bug in the symbolic export of the intersection of two lines has been fixed.
  2. A bug in the color definition of planes/polygons in the OpenGL view has been fixed.
  3. The background color for the OpenGL view has been changed.
  4. A bug with the display of the surface of polygons has been fixed (or kind of). When the floor or the walls are activated as a system of reference, the surface of polygons is not displayed, their edges are used instead. Surfaces are only displayed when the axes or no system of reference are chosen.
    This behavior can be changed by checking/unchecking the relevant option in the Universe tab of the Options dialog, forcing surfaces to be displayed at all time.
    Note that the problem of properly rendering the hidden parts of polygons (hidden either by other polygons or by the system of reference itself) has still not be fixed and that visual inconsistence are unavoidable.
Version 2.3.4 (29/04/07)

New features:

  1. Calques 3D is now properly licenced under the GNU General Public License (GPL, see the FAQ).
  2. In the OpenGL view, menu options have been introduced to change the way volumes (spheres, cylinders) and locus are rendered: plain, silhouette (i.e. wire) or "transparent" (see the instructions for more information).

Fixes:

  1. Designation text for ray, arc of circle and ellipse fixed.
  2. Designation text for MathPad object (area, distance, equation, ...) fixed.
  3. Property dialog for the OpenGL scene updated.
  4. Context menu fixed in the OpenGL view.
  5. Fixed a bug when modifying the attributes of an object (visibility, marked, ...) in the floating property bar.
  6. The size attribute for the locus has been added to the the floating property bar.
  7. The About Calques 3D... dialog have been modified with the proper web site and email. The GPL licence is summarised and a link to the "online donation" has been introduced.
  8. The translation of Calques 3D has been updated in French and Portuguese.
Version 2.3.3 (20/01/07)

New features:

  1. A new view for real 3D rendering of the construction has been added to Calques 3D.
    This is still a prototype; see the instructions for the manipulation of the view and its restrictions.
  2. When using a command that has an effect in a view other than the Universe, it is now automatically opened and tiled beside the Universe view. It applies when extracting an object in a tracing (the relevant Tracing view is automatically opened) or when constructing the equation of an object or some measures (the MathPad view is opened).
  3. A new command for constructing the intersection between a line and a circle (or arc of circle) has been added. Note that disks are not supported in Calques 3D: the intersection therefore only applies to the contour of the circle and not to its inside. More specifically, the line and circle have to be in the same plane.
  4. A new command for constructing the intersection between a plane and a circle (or arc of circle) has been added.
  5. A new command for construction the intersection between a plane and a sphere has been added.

Fixes:

  1. URL and email fixed in the About... dialog box.
  2. A bug in the scrolling credits (About... dialog box), making it unreadable on some computers, has been fixed.
  3. Zoom factor 150% added to the main menu.
  4. A bug in the Universe rotation sliders has been fixed. The "thumb" of the slider was not properly displayed on some computers.
  5. A bug in the locus, occasionally crashing Calques 3D, has been fixed.
  6. The outline of planes have been improved to take into account (when calculating their bounding box) the intersections sphere/plane and circle/plan.
  7. The Status Bar messages when constructing a polygon have been improved, now clearly indicating how to close a polygon.
  8. The layout of the MathPad view has been improved: pretty background, limits for dragging text objects.
  9. A bug in the MathPad view, preventing the selection of a measure/equation associated with an invalid object, has been fixed.
  10. In the MathPad view, the propagation of invalid values in user-defined mathematical expressions (for example, when using the length of a segment that does not exist because one of its extremities is not defined) was incorrect. This bug has now been fixed.
  11. A bug in the in-place editor of the MathPad view, preventing the variable menu to be properly displayed, has been fixed.
  12. The export of a symbolic description of a construction has been improved: more object covered, distinction between Maple and Mathematica syntax, object names cleared.
  13. Unavailable commands have been disabled from the interface.
Version 2.3.2 (28/12/06)

New features:

  1. A new installer for Calques 3D is now in use for all versions. Much more flexible and reliable for properly uninstalling the software. It uses the default Microsoft setup system which will allow me to setup patches for future upgrades, rather than a full reinstall.
    PLEASE NOTE that, although there is no impact on Calques 3D itself, the new installer is not compatible with the old one so it is recommended to remove completely Calques 3D from your computer before installing this new version. Make sure to keep all the files you modified/added in the default installation :-)

Fixes:

  1. A bug in the Universe/Tracings horizontal and vertical sliders (causing Calques 3D to crash on some computer) has been fixed.
  2. A bug in the use of the Font and Font Size combo boxes (causing Calques 3D to crash on some computer) has been fixed.
  3. Comments in the MathPad view are now properly stored and retrieved.
  4. The path of a macro-construction file is now fully visible in the Macro-construction information dialog.
  5. Bug fixed in populating the Attributes control bar when labels and other text-based objects are selected.
  6. Docking of the Attributes/Structure control bar improved.
  7. The (wrong) description for perpendicular lines - as displayed in the History - has been fixed.
  8. Attributes for text-based objects are properly displayed in the Attribute bar.
  9. Constituents of composite objects are now displayed in the Structure bar.
  10. Various strings updated and added to resources.
Version 2.3.1 (23/11/06)

New features:

  1. The old Preference dialog has been split into two dialog boxes: the Customise dialog, purely dealing with the interface of the application (i.e. menus, toolbars, etc.) and the Preference dialog, dealing with Calques 3D proper (i.e. initial aspect of objects, macro-constructions, etc.). Both dialogs are multi-pages, most of them should be familiar by now.
    The split was primarily because of problems with the BCGControlBar library - which I could not solve - and because the previous layout was visually confusing. However, I'm still not convinced by the new approach, so things may change again in future releases.
  2. A new toolbar, Format, allows the modification of the appearance of objects (colour, shape, font) on the fly. It comes as an alternative (or replacement) for the Attribute/Structure property sheet.
  3. An in-place editor has been added in the MathPad View. You can now modify the comments and the mathematical expressions directly in the view (rather than using the property dialog box). Just double-click on an item and edit it.
    Note that, for the mathematical expressions, the contextual menu IN the in-place editor contains a sub-menu Variables that allows you to insert a reference to the value of measure objects (such as distance, length, volume, angle, etc.) that have been associated with a variable name in the view.
Fixes:
  1. The detection of previous/current version of Calques 3D for the storage and retrieval of preferences in the registry has been improved.
    Note that major changes (as indicated by a change in the first or second digit of the version number, i.e. from 2.2.0 to 2.3.0) will result in the registry to be cleaned up totally. This is for guaranteeing that changes in the interface (new icons, new menus, etc.) are properly reflected. A message at the first launch of Calques 3D after an upgrade will indicate the problem.
  2. A bug in the Macro Preference dialog has been fixed.
  3. SetCapture/ReleaseCapture disabled from the deformation task, solving a nasty bug (but restricting the mouse movements to the Universe/Tracing view).
  4. Polygons rendering have been improved.
    Warning: because of present incompatibility between polygons and "physical" referentials (i.e. the need for detection of intersections), polygons are only displayed when the referential is set to None or Axes. Dealing with convex polygons properly is outside of the scope of Calques 3D (wireframe geometry).
  5. The bug that occurred when grafting polygons have been fixed.
  6. The bug when trying to undo redefined objects has been fixed. Since this operation is quite complex, it cannot be undone. Consequently, all previous operations are removed from the Undo/Redo lists.
  7. The bug that allowed to "undo" a construction loaded from a file has been fixed. The Undo list is now initially empty.
  8. Contextual menus have been fixed in the MathPad, History and Graph views.
  9. A bug with tooltips in the Universe View, when the window is not in the front, has been fixed.
  10. The (disabled) Apply button in the Object Property dialog box has been totally removed.
Version 2.3.0 (08/05/06)

New features:

  1. The interface has been updated with the BCGControlBar Professional Edition Library version 7.31. As a result, a lot of changes have been made, most of them related to the look-and-feel of Calques 3D and with no impact on how the software is running.
    In particular:
    • The application look of Calques 3D has been updated to reflect current standards in Windows. Several predefined looks can be chosen from, e.g. Office XP, Office 2003, Windows XP theme, etc. Use the View | Application Look command when no windows are open (otherwise the command is not visible).
    • The popup menu/button for object shapes have been redesigned to fit the new look-and-feel.
    • Icons are gradually updated to take advantage of support for 256/16M colours.
  2. The status bar now includes an icon representing the current task activated in the Universe view (the icon is the same as the one in the toolbar). Together with the feedback text, they help to understand the current task and the steps to performed to accomplish it.
  3. Calques 3D now support full screen display (see View | Full Screen). Please note that this feature is operated by playing with the dimensions of the application frame and hiding tool bars. Since the application menu is still available, strange behaviour may happen if you start showing them again. Use this command with care.
  4. The modeless Attribute dialog, for editing the properties of an object (name, colour, shape, etc.) has been updated and activated.
    It is also complemented by a Structure dialog which presents the parents, the dependents and - if applicable - the constituents of a composite object. This dialog is for display purpose only - I'm working on it in order to allow access and navigation through the dependent graph of a construction.
    Both dialogs are freely dockable and activable at the interface, thanks to the BCGControlBar library.
Fixes:
  1. The two sliders used for rotating the Universe and Tracing views have been redesigned and improved (both internally and visually).
  2. A bug in the look-and-feel of front/background windows has been fixed (the title bar of background windows was not drawn properly).
  3. GDI resource leaks have been found and treated.
  4. A bug with the "hidden parts in gray" command, in the colours preference dialog, has been fixed.
  5. The bug with the user macro list in the Preference has been fixed. Browsing for a file is now directly associated with the items in the list. As before, editing the name of the item has no effect, since the name of the macro is automatically extracted from the macro-file.
  6. Internal structures of Calques 3D have been amended and improved. Most of it will not have any visible effect on the application but may improve performance (and reduce the risk of bugs:-).
  7. Labels are now only available for points. This is for (temporarily) solving the problem of attaching labels to objects like lines or planes. I will try to come back to this issue later.
Version 2.2.0 (01/09/05)

New features:

  1. Good news! Calques 3D seems to have been reactivated after a long, long sleep.
  2. The interface has been updated with the BCGControlBar Library version 6.3.
  3. The Exportation of a symbolic description of figures (in the menu History) now supports two formats:
    1. DOT for graph layout (see Graphviz)
    2. COCOA for the discovery of geometrical properties (see Lugares)
    Note that both formats are used for purpose that are slightly outside the scope of Calques 3D and are a bit of no use for most users. I may remove them from the standard distribution.
    Alternatively, if you are interested in exporting Calques 3D constructions for usage in different software, I may consider implementing more export formats. Please let me know.
  4. A new option of the Deformation task allows you to draw the Trace of points when the figure is deformed. The command is available from the contextual menu of the Deformation task. Just activate the command and select one of the points of the construction. Repeat this operation for all the points you need.
    When the figure is deformed (by dragging bases-points), all the points thus selected will leave a trace of the their previous location before the deformation.
    The traces left are drawn in space, meaning that if you change the point of view, they are properly updated and displayed. They will remains on screen as long as the Deformation task is activated. Once you quit it for another task, all the traces are removed.
    This command could be useful to introduce student to the Locus command (and concept).
  5. A new toolbar for the Exploration tasks (deformation, extraction, locus, etc.) has been added at the interface.
  6. A new interface for visualising and modifying the attributes of geometrical object is under development.
    Instead of using the dialog box by double-clicking on an object, a modeless property-sheet is automatically filled when the object is selected in one of the view.
    For the moment, it only supports the visualisation of attributes and properties (like dependents and composites). Modification of the values will be implemented shortly.
    This feature in UNDER EVALUATION, as a balance between usefulness and annoyance has to be found (in particular regarding the remembrance on the screen, not everybody having a 19'' monitor).
    Please feel free to give me your feeling about it.
Fixes:
  1. A visual bug in the Ambiguity context menu has been corrected (the title Ambiguity had an arrow, wrongly indicating a submenu).
  2. A few issues with the look-and-feel have been resolved:
    • transparency of the logo in the splash screen
    • icons in the tabs of the configuration dialog box
  3. A couple of memory leaks have been fixed (fortunately, they had no impact on the software).
  4. The drawing of the border of planes has been fixed. The borders on the front are usually bigger than the back ones, but when a large line was used for the plane, the back borders were in fact bigger. Now the front borders are drawn with a line twice the size of the back borders. It keeps the perception of the orientation of the plane correct but, for large lines, the rendering is not particularly good (end of segment are round). This is a limitation of GDI, the drawing toolbox used with VC++ 6. I'm thinking about switching to GDI+, which offers better drawing capabilities.
    Also remember that, due to similar restrictions, the rendering of thicker front borders cannot be done if the line used is discontinued (dashed, dotted, etc.).
Version 2.1.9 (08/12/02)

New features:

  1. The interface has been updated with the BCGControlBar Library version 6.0 (check the new DLL in the Calques 3D directory). The main significant change is the new appearance of the menus (i.e. Windows XP style).
  2. New objects added in the Construction menu: Intersection Sphere-Sphere and Trisection of a segment (dedicated eventually to become a n-section of a segment).
  3. The Measure Angle command now works with three points.
  4. A new command Centre on... allows you to re-centre the figure on the universe. Select any point of the figure and the whole construction will be translated so that this point will coincide with the origin of the referential.
  5. All the measures (i.e. angle, distance, length, etc.) had a visual feedback in the Universe and the Tracings when you select the item in the MathPad view. They are now normalised as a visual indicator (i.e. in a similar way to the plane's normal vector or the point's projection lines). The Property dialog for the values now has a widget Marked (as for the other geometrical object): if the attribute is on, then the visual indicator will be displayed as long as the option Show Marked is active in the Universe/Tracing views.
  6. In the preferences (new name for the old "configuration" command), the Appearance pane has been modified. The left part of the pane contains a hierarchical list that you can use to define the default appearance of EVERY objects of Calques 3D (and not only the points as in the previous versions). The options are grouped by object category (i.e. point, line, plane, etc.) and can be modified using edit boxes, drop-down menus, etc. The list of options should be self-explained but, at the bottom of the list, there is a help field which provides a short description of the selected option. More options will be added soon.
  7. The Undo and Redo operations are now implemented and work on the whole history of commands (i.e. not on the last command only as previously implemented). Actually, four types of commands are undoable/re-doable: constructing an object, destructing an object (and its dependents), moving and object and modifying an object (i.e. changing its colour, names, presence in a tracing, etc.). On the main toolbar, the two icons for Undo and Redo have a popup menu attached (available by clicking on the small triangle beside them). Each menu contains the list of the commands that can be undone (or redone). Obviously, these lists could be giantesses, so only the last 7 commands are displayed in them. They are for information purpose only: you cannot select them in order to undo, say, the last 5 commands in a single operation. I am thinking about a better interface for allowing such a shortcut.
  8. The Macros menu (in the Universe view) has been reorganised in order to ease the configuration of Calques 3D by adding user-defined macro-constructions (see the instructions). The Macros | Description... command allows you, when you've open a macro-construction file (extension *.m3d) to modify the information about the macro, i.e. its name (displayed in menus), its description (displayed in the History) and its help (displayed in tooltips during designation).

Fixes:

  1. The visual feedback for the angles has been modified (different colour, a better angular markup).
  2. The display of the History view has been speeded up when collapsing, expanding, adding or removing nodes (i.e. objects).
  3. The display of the 3D loci (i.e. constructed from a plane or a sphere) has been upgraded. There is an inner and an outer side of the locus, determined by the normal of the initial plane or the envelope of the sphere: the outer is displayed with the object's apparent colour, the outer with the object's non-apparent colour (as for the polygons). It helps to visualise the locus.
  4. Various help messages displayed in the Status Bar are updated and fixed (some may still be incorrect - I am still looking for them).
  5. A bug in the Extract All and Remove All options of the extraction to a tracing has been fixed.
  6. The dimensions of the Verify dialog box have been reduced (by removing the list of the selected object). I try to have that dialog box as unintrusive as possible.
Version 2.1.8 (19/08/02)

New features:

  1. The command Verify... now verifies also the alignment between three points. Also, the Show counter-example button now moves the base-point(s) with a small animation, which makes the counter-example much more obvious.
  2. In the Object Properties dialog box, an edit widget allows you to modify the number of points used to draw a locus.

Fixes:

  1. The Help button in the configuration dialog now opens the proper help topic (i.e. the topic corresponding to the active pane of the dialog).
  2. The Help file was updated (but still need some upgrades).
  3. A bug in the deformation task is corrected: the dependent points in a composite object are not designable any more.
  4. The Label command applied to objects other than points resulted in strange behaviour of the software, even crashing it. This is now fixed (the labels are only available for points).
  5. The Verify command had some problem with the designation of the target objects (it was possible to designate objects even after the command was successfully applied). This is now fixed.
  6. Starting Calques 3D with a profile is now working properly.
Version 2.1.7 (12/06/02)
New features:
  1. A new command allows you to redefine an object. See the help file for more information about this feature. Also, be careful with it, as it is still under test!
  2. A new command, in the Construction Menu, allows you to construct the cross-product of two lines (i.e. a line perpendicular to two distinct lines).
  3. The command Verify... is at last implemented, even partially: it allows you to verify the parallelism of lines and planes, to verify that a point is on an object (i.e. line, plane, sphere).

Fixes:

  1. The Properties Dialog Box offers a new graphical widget to select the shape of the object.
  2. Bugs corrected in the MathPad View:
    • variables are displayed for the mathematical expressions;
    • variable names can be deleted from the objects;
    • format of the result of mathematical expressions corrected;
    • mathematical expressions with variables are now correctly updated when loading the construction.
  3. The "range" of the symbolic description now takes most of the objects of the construction into account.
  4. Suppression of polygons linked to the target object is now fixed and does not crash the software anymore.
  5. A bug in the detection of coplanarity of the points of a polygon is fixed. (Note: in some configurations of the construction, there is still a problem with the convexity test. I am working on it).
  6. A bug, which caused the name of an object to be dismissed when modifying the object's properties, is now fixed.
  7. Various help messages displayed in the Status Bar are updated and fixed (some may still be incorrect - I am still looking for them).
  8. The help file is currently updated and (at last!) in the process to be completed.
  9. A bug in the Dependence Graph, when displaying the children of a node, is fixed.
Version 2.1.6 (18/04/02)
New features:
  1. In the MathPad View, you can add two new types of objects:
    • a comment, i.e. an editable piece of text;
    • an editable mathematical expression .
      You may use any mathematically-correct formulas, including brackets, with the following limitations in the language:
      • Mathematical constants: E and Pi
      • Arithmetical operators:+ - * /
        • remainder : %
        • power: **
      • Logical operations and relations:<> = > <
      • Functions:
        • cos(x), sin(x), tan(x), atan(x), asin(x), acos(x)
        • exp(x), ln(x), lg(x)
        • sqrt(x), abs(x),
        • frac(x) - returns the decimal part of X
        • trunc(x) - returns the integer part of X
        • floor(x) - returns the largest integer that is less than or equal to X
        • ceil(x) - returns the smallest integer that is greater than or equal to X
        • round(x,precision) - returns a number rounded to a specified number of decimal places
        • sgn(x) - returns 1 if x >0, -1 if X<0, 0 if X=0
        • neg(x) - change the sign of X
      • Variables: before using a variable in an equation, you HAVE to define it by assigning a variable name to any values (i.e. distance, volume, another expression, etc.) available in the MathPad View. You can do that by double-clicking in a value and set the name in the dialog box. Once done, that variable is available for use in an expression. You can either select it by the menu located below the edit field in the dialog box or just by typing it. There is no automatic check of duplicated variable names, so you will have to do it yourself.
        Extracting values from an equation (e.g. the X-coordinate of a point or the Y-component of the equation of a sphere) is not possible. This will be fixed in the following releases.
      Various error messages will tell you if any mistake has been found in the expression (but you will have to find the EXACT location of such a mistake).
    The commands for the two objects are available in the MathPad menu.

Fixes:

  1. A bug in the determination of the angle between two planes is fixed.
    Note: This angle is taken between the normal lines of the two planes, so their orientation is important. If the two planes are parallel, then the angle will be either 0 or 180 degree, depending on the direction of both normal lines.
  2. The name of a variable assigned to a value is now displayed in the MathPad View.
  3. The visual feedback between an object and any value defined from it (i.e. a volume, a distance, etc.) is now fixed. When the object is selected in the Universe View (or in a Tracing View), then any values related to the object is highlighted. When a value is selected, then the related object is highlighted in the various views.
  4. The area of a sphere is now calculated correctly.
  5. The display of values (e.g. volume, area, distance, etc.) and equations (e.g. point coordinates, etc.) are now updated and fixed. All numerical values can be represented either as a real number (e.g. 4.5) or as approximation by fractions (e.g. 4 1/2). The precision of both representations can be determined in the preferences.
Version 2.1.5 (01/04/02)
New features:
  1. Convex polygons are now available. They need at least three co-planar points to be defined. Once they are all selected, select again the first point of the polygon to "close" it.
    A point constructed on a polygon will stay inside it (there is a bug when the polygon is deformed, I am currently fixing it). Intersections (i.e. between two polygons or between a polygon and a line) behave currently as build on planes. It will also be fixed as soon as possible.
    A polygon can be either opaque, transparent or just displayed by its contour (with the same shapes as for the plane).
    If opaque, don't use the walls or the floor as system of reference: the polygons are just "painted" above and do not reflect their position with respect to the system of reference (i.e. behind, in front of, partially behind, etc.). Also, the visual intersection between two (or more) polygons and their overlapped parts are not (yet) handled, which could cause visual ambiguities. Use them carefully.
    If displayed by their contour, then the polygons use the system of reference to materialise its intersections with it (as for a segment).
  2. The Graph View allows you to display all the base-points related to the target object (i.e. the base-points that could be used to deform the target object). The dependence path is displayed in green, with ALL the base-points framed in green as well.
    Only the closest base-points are such like displayed: if the normal line to a plane going through a point on the plane is targeted, then only that point will be displayed, and not the three points that define the plane.

Fixes:

  1. Locus construction, when the source point is part of a composite, is now working properly. Calques 3D is no more claiming that both points are not related.
  2. The display of loci in the Universe View is now a bit better. There is still a problem with the discontinuity of some constructions (see the hyperboloid for example).
  3. The symbolic construction now exports the "range" of the construction. It is arbitrary set to the visual dimension defined by the universe (i.e. depending on the position of the observer and on the zoom factor). Further work will try to calculate a range based exclusively on the construction.
Version 2.1.4 (21/02/02)
New features:
  1. A construction can now be exported as a symbolic description (i.e. predicative), saved as a text document. The command is in the History menu, available when the History View is open.
  2. A new command, Animation (in the Exploration menu), allows you to automatically animate a base-point (i.e. a point constructed on a line, a segment, a circle, etc.) along its support object.