Using Mathplay

Each Mathplay book is a program file located in a directory of the same or similar name. The directory may also contain other files necessary to read the book. Book names will be designated by all caps, such as CHAOS. Mathplay files for this course are in the Chaos and Fractals course directory

Opening and Reading CHAOS

Double-click on the Class Applications icon, then double click on Mathplay, twice. From the menu bar at the top, choose Workbook, Open. In the popup window, get to the directory which contains the book: choose the drive (bottom right of window, i: or g:), then double click down the directory tree (top right of window). When you get to the Chaos directory, you should see in the left column the program file for the book, CHAOS.MWT. Double click on it. The interface is similar to the Windows environment. You cannot damage the book, so go ahead and experiment. (The worst that can happen is that you get hung up in a very long calculation, at which point you can press Esc. If your computer freezes up, press Ctrl-Alt-Del and End Task.)

Close a Book by clicking on the lower close box: the lower of the two X's in the upper right corner of the screen.

Exit Mathplay by clicking on the upper close box.

Hints for Using Mathplay

• If the Windows task bar covers up any of the page, you can make it thinner by grabbing the top edge with the mouse and dragging it down. It will almost disappear.
• When replacing numerical input in text boxes, be sure to delete previous input. If results are unchanged, surprising, or if you get an error message, place the cursor in the input box and hold down the left arrow key. This will display any input that scrolled up where you couldn't see it. Use only one number per box, no spaces. The same goes for inputting formulas for functions.
• If you save the book in your own Novell directory (g: drive) and run it from there, then you can alter a book and save the changes. The Customize menu allows you to save the current page appearance and to make notes to yourself for a page. The Report page can be used to summarize what you have learned or to create an entire report. This page will hold pictures of your work as well as text. If you go back and forth from the report page, you must save the report every time you leave the page. Right click on the upper margin of the report window.
• If you would like to save or print a picture of a portion of a Mathplay screen, use the Snapshot feature on the Workbook menu. The cursor becomes a pencil with which you block in a rectangle anywhere on the page. You can paste the picture into a report or into Word or Paint. If your picture is large, Paint may ask whether you want to enlarge the bitmap; say "Yes." Now save or print as you would in whichever application you are using.

more about Mathplay
fall 2001 course description
spring 2001 syllabus
back to chaos
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