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Re: Presentations Package Announcement

  • To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
  • Subject: [mg83920] Re: Presentations Package Announcement
  • From: sdw <nospam.warwick at jps.net>
  • Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2007 04:30:11 -0500 (EST)
  • References: <fj0ms8$ilm$1@smc.vnet.net>

After 10+ years of Mathematica being in existence,  why Wolfram can't seem to 
include these capabilities directly in the program I do not understand.





David Park wrote:
> I have now released the Presentations package for Mathematica Version 6.
> Presentations is a follow-on package for DrawGraphics. It can be obtained at
> the Mathematica page of my web site below and costs $50. Previous purchasers
> of DrawGraphics have been sent email notices and may freely upgrade to
> Presentations. If you are a purchaser who has changed your email address and
> have not received a notice please contact me with your current address.
>
>  
>
> Presentations is a package designed to facilitate the use of Mathematica in
> studying standard textbook material, in writing tutorials for students, in
> research, and in using Mathematica in technical communications. Although it
> started as basically a graphics package it is now being enlarged to
> accommodate the many new features of Version 6 and to contain generally
> useful features that might not specifically be graphics. 
>
>  
>
> A 'presentation' is my term for any display of data or information about a
> scientific or mathematical concept that goes beyond simple text and
> equations. 
>
>  
>
> Some of the features of Presentations are:
>
>  
>
> 1) Rather than treating graphics as a collection of major plot types that
> are difficult to combine, Presentations treats all graphics including curves
> and surfaces as graphics primitives that may be easily combined in one
> drawing statement.
>
>  
>
> 2) Since graphical elements are all treated as primitives they can be easily
> manipulated and transformed. Routines are provided for that and the new
> geometric transformation routines of Version 6 have been cast in a form
> convenient for this use.
>
>  
>
> 3) There is a suite of routines for generating custom ticks and grids, free
> standing scales, symbolic tick scales, and polar grids to replace the usual
> Cartesian axes.
>
>  
>
> 4) There are 3D arrows with arrowcones that can be drawn in a number of
> styles. There are routines for marking angle arcs and right angle indicators
> on 2D geometrical diagrams.
>
>  
>
> 5) For 2D graphics there are the LocatorDraw and LocatorLine routines that
> allow the user to temporarily add locators to a graphic, position them, and
> then copy the positions into a drawing statement.
>
>  
>
> 6) There is provision for Text3D that allows true 3D text that rotates with
> the image and hides behind surfaces.
>
>  
>
> 7) There is a complete set of routines for complex function graphics. These
> include primitives such as ComplexPoint, ComplexLine, ComplexText,
> ComplexCurve etc., that use complex arguments instead of coordinate pairs.
> In addition there are complex forms of maps, surface plots, contour plots,
> density plots and domain coloring plots that use a single complex iterator.
> There is a BranchArg routine that allows the user to set the branch line in
> the complex plane at any angle. There is a general multifunction with memory
> capability that calculates all function values and orders them to be
> continuous with a previous, close-by, evaluation. There is a Riemann sphere
> routine and a StereographicMap routine. There are information panel
> primitives for providing numerical information along with dynamic graphics.
>
>  
>
> 8) There is an IndefiniteSequences subpackage that allows the formatting of
> expressions that contain ellipses to indicate skipped terms or factors in
> sums, products, tables, free standing sequences and infix expressions. There
> is the ability to do some operations on the expressions and to convert them
> to normal Mathematica expressions.
>
>  
>
> 9) The Presentations package is a natural extension of standard Mathematica;
> it uses the regular Mathematica interface and in no way cuts the user off
> from any regular Mathematica functions, including the regular graphics
> functions.
>
>  
>
> 10) Presentations is extensively documented with individual Help pages for
> each function. In addition there are many extended examples showing
> practical cases of graphics and extended presentations. There are three
> essays on 'Writing Notebooks', 'Writing Presentations' and 'Writing
> Packages' in which I try to give tips on avoiding traps and getting the most
> productive use from Mathematica. One example, EllipseArea, illustrates a
> style of writing notebooks that does everything actively and generates
> embedded knowledge. There is a sample toy package that can be used as a
> model for users who have never before written packages. There is an included
> optional style sheet that, to my taste, corrects many of the deficiencies of
> the WRI style sheets. Currently, the entire package contains 193 files and
> occupies some 3.5 MB (without the graphics being evaluated) - a true bargain
> for $50.
>
>  
>
>  
>
> David Park
>
> djmpark at comcast.net
>
>  <http://home.comcast.net/~djmpark> http://home.comcast.net/~djmpark 
>
>  
>
>   


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