Wingeom (996K) for Windows 95/98/ME/2K/XP/Vista
22 Dec: A couple of the following enhancements relate to a new demonstration file. In 3D windows, when defining a collection of new points by pasting in their coordinate triples, it is now possible to include a list of associated linear elements (and their colors). Details of the syntax (and an example) can be found in the help file for the Point menu. So that I could make my own drawing of the 120-cell (the new demonstration file), I have begun to experiment with a new type of animation in 3D. The idea is to obtain input for the Linear|Face dialog from a prepared Table of possibilities. This text is managed by the new submenu Other|Lists|Table. As the demonstration file shows, references to the Table can be controlled by a parameter. Because the History for a complicated file can be larger than the text buffer allows, this text is now paginated so that you can see the entire document. I also fixed an ancient bug that sometimes produced crashes when the user clicked File|Bitmap to Clipboard multiple times for the same window. This new version involves some complicated code, so I expect that anomalies will arise. Suggestions are always welcome, of course.
22 Oct: While working on an elaborate 2D construction, I realized that Undoing a transformation does not undo the automatic filling of polygons that may have been produced by the transformation. This oversight has now been remedied, although it only fixes current constructions; files that have been saved and closed cannot be cleaned up so simply (a design flaw, I'm afraid).
11 Oct: To my horror, I discovered that the 3D label-positioning function was accidentally disabled a couple of months ago. It now works again.
2 Oct: Fixed a hidden-line glitch that was impairing the Zoom (magnify) feature in 3D.
29 Sep: A user reported that the 3D menu item Point|Point on Circle was sometimes grayed out when it should not have been. The problem has been solved.
23 Sep: Added three new examples to the demonstration files.
13 Sep: More corrections — a user reported that the Trace feature was not connecting the dots properly (an unintended consequence of a new, uniform approach to graphical output).
9 Sep: As a follow-up to the changes on 31 Aug, made numerous small corrections to the various graphics output procedures.
31 Aug: At the request of a user, it is now possible to export PostScript graphics from many of the windows. This involved extensive writing, and I await news of unintended consequences.
7 Aug: It is now possible to remove extra steps from the 3D construction history. For example, assigning a color to a face makes previous assignments obsolete, but they are still part of the history. I also forgot to update the version number in macro windows a couple of weeks ago, and that has been fixed.
26 Jul: Some refining of yesterday's update were necessary, and there are new developments. I now realize from user feedback that it is possible to write polygon descriptions that “close” the figure by repeating the first vertex label at the end of the name, as in the pentagon description “ABCDEA.” Although it is perfectly clear what the intent is, the program was not taught to detect and remove the extra letter; in fact, it has been viewing “ABCDEA” as a description for a hexagon. The program has now been modified to make it aware. The challenge (as always) is to teach the program to deal silently with existing files that have already been compromised. In most cases, extra labels have no effect, but complications are possible, and they have been appearing in 3D. The behavior of the color-selection window in the 3D face-edit dialog has also been improved.
24 Jul: Repaired a couple of serious errors, which were discovered when a power user reported difficulty opening some old files. While enhancing 3D reflections in January, I inadvertently changed the code so that reflections in older files could no longer be read correctly; this has been fixed. It was also necessary to repair some ancient code for the label parser, which was occasionally handling primes and subscripts badly. The program now displays a version number, and the Properties|Version tab (which appears when you right-click the program icon) actually displays information (which is of no great significance, but it makes the program look better).
7 Jul: A user reported that attaching imported clipboard graphics to points was not working. The bug has been fixed, I think.
15 May: A Spanish version is now available, thanks to Alejandro Segade.
18 Apr: The Soddy construction has been extended to tangent spheres in 3D.
29 Mar: A power user reported a crash when trying to animate a rotation using the new axis “ZZ”. This otherwise unnoticeable bug has been exterminated.
27 Mar: The 3D rotation dialog now understands “XX”, “YY”, and “ZZ” as code for the coordinate axes.
17 Mar: For most users, this is not an issue, but I just noticed that I forgot to tell the PiCTeX file writer about the new label switch (3 Mar). Now it knows.
9 Mar: It is now possible to import one 2D (Euclidean) drawing into another, using the new Edit|Import menu. This consists of Attaching an external file (figure) to the current drawing, by matching two directed segments (which can be selected with the mouse). I also fixed a couple of bugs (but probably introduced a couple of new ones).
3 Mar: Two significant changes to report. First, it is now possible to import one 3D drawing into another, using the new Edit|Import menu. This consists of Attaching an external file (figure) to the current drawing, by matching designated triangles (which can be selected with the mouse). I hope to have the 2D version of this feature working soon. Second, there are now three modes for displaying vertex labels (in all windows), and pressing Ctrl+L cycles through them. The default mode is to display labels according to their individual on/off specifications (as set in the 2D Edit|Label|Individual dialog box, for example). The second mode is to display all labels, regardless. The third mode is to display no labels. Similar remarks apply to pressing Ctrl+D to adjust the display of vertex icons (bullets and circles). The point is that everything can now be turned off, if that is what you want. I do not know why it took me so long to figure this out.
27 Feb: A user reported that the Translation transformation in hyperbolic windows was not working correctly. I also noticed, while attending to this error, that the window was also rejecting requests to label the intersection of two lines. These bugs resulted from past improvements, of course. I hope that they have been fixed. By the way, there will be couple of interesting wingeom developments coming in the next couple of days, I hope.
16 Feb: Made a slight improvement to the 3D program. When applying a macro that creates colored polygonal faces, the user can decide whether the macro controls the color or whether the host window does. To accomplish the latter (assuming that the desired color has been selected in the host window by clicking Other|Colors|Next Face), just uncheck the host menu item Transformation|Copy Attributes before applying the macro.
13 Feb: A user reported a 3D crash that occurs when you try to slide points when there are only two on the screen. A repair has been made.
2 Feb: In 3D, the slicing feature was performing erratically when the slice plane met both a surface and a polyhedron. I think that the bug has been repaired. All versions are now up to date.
25 Jan: Added two new 3D demonstration files.
17 Jan: 3D reflection planes can now be defined using equations.
10 Jan: A couple of users reported a memory leak, which I inadvertently created when installing the new 3D slow-motion feature a few days ago. It affected 2D and 3D animations of all sorts. I think that the leak has been plugged.
6 Jan: A user reported that the 3D program was not remembering color assignments correctly when retrieving old files. This has been fixed. Another user requested that the Replay in Slow Motion feature from 2D be activated in 3D. That has also been done.
4 Jan: The dihedral-angle syntax has been expanded to cover requests for vector-vector angles and vector-plane angles. A couple of glitches in 3D dotted-line displays were corrected.
1 Jan: When applying macros, the target vertices can now be selected with the mouse. See the Edit|Macro help text.
2008 History
