************************************************************** * Parabola v1.0, Shareware Version, * * For Microsoft Windows * * (Parabolic Differentiator/Curve-Fitter) * * (c) 1992 Aiyah Vish. All Rights Reserved. * ************************************************************** How to install Parabola? ----------------------- Copy parabola.exe to any sub-directory and open it as any other window application through program manager. Also copy the file bwcc.dll into the "c:\windows\system" subdirectory. Please ensure that your input file does not contain any header or footer information. If you happen to get an error message number 106, then it probably means that there is some text information present somewhere in the file, which the program will not be able to identify (I shall take this into account in the next version). If this happens, then edit the file and get rid of the text information before running Parabola. This program has been written using Turbo Pascal for Windows (ver 1.1). I am ready to share my source code based on conditions under Registration. I am including two executable files in this zip file (parabola.exe and parabext.exe) the only difference being the array definition. The former has real-variable definition while the latter has extended-variable declaration. "Parabola.exe" should work for x-y values with numerical formats ranging from 1.5e-45 to 3.4e+38 (7-8 digits). The advantage of this program is, it can handle a maximum value of 6000 x-y values. In case the input data file comprises of numeric formats in the range of 3.4e-4932 to 1.1e+4932 then use the program "Parabext.exe" in which the variable declaration is extended ( the limitation is you can have a maximum of 2800 x-y values in the input file.) Both the above programs work under windows exclusively which means that no other program can work in the background (due to the disk operations) which I will be able to take care of in the next version. If you have any specific problems as far as the program goes, please feel free to e-mail me or call me up and I will be too glad to help you out. You may also mail me the ascii file so that I may try it out at my end and send you suggestions back via e-mail. If you have any specific comments or suggestions for improvement please e-mail me and I shall try and incorporate the changes in the next version. Note: ---- This zip file (parabola.zip) comprises of (1) parabola.exe (range of x-y values 1.5e-45 to 3.4e+38, 7-8 digits) (2) parabext.exe (range-3.4e-4932 to 1.1e+4932, 19-20 digits) (3) readme.1st (this file) (4) readme.wri (this file in the Windows Write format.) (5) bwcc.dll (copy this file into c:\windows\system sub-directory) About Parabola(?!) ------------------ Usually, in a practical situation, one is faced with difficulty in getting raw data differentiated or getting its best-fit values. In this algorithm, a parabola is plotted through a number of user specified points from the input file containing the x-y values. One may end up with x-y values from experiments or any other situation which may not always be linear in nature. Under such circumstances it is rather difficult to perform differentiation or achieve a best-fit to the data, either due to the fact that the differentiation gets too noisy or the best-fit may not be a true representation of the original data! In this algorithm, a parabolic curve is plotted through the x-y values, that is, a second-order polynomial equation is incorporated. However, the user needs to specify the number of points through which the parabola need to be fitted. This may vary from one situation to another. To start the program click on File, Go, then it reads in the x-y data values (either comma or tab delimited) and requests the user to specify the data-size window which is merely a number through which the parabola is plotted from the beginning to the end of the file and the differentiated values at the center point of the curve is computed(so you will miss a few points at the beginning and at the end of the x-y values depending on how big or small the data-size window is). It is quite obvious that the minimum data-size window is three (since atleast 3-points are necessary to draw a curve). Please note that it takes longer time if a data-size window of 128 is selected. The program also requests the user for name of files to output the differentiated and best-fit values. I urge the user to compare the best-fit values with the original x-y values to ensure that the best-fit curve is a true representation of the original x-y data. This may depend on various situations and would probably depend on the nature of the original x-y values. So this way one may be able to draw a balance between the data-size window, how noisy or smooth the differentiated output looks like and how close does the best-fit values represent the original data. The true-type font feature has been included just for future incorpora- tion, so that when there is simultaneous graphing of the data one may be able to change the fonts on the ticks and labels of the graph. I am also currently working on both higher-order polynomials and non-polynomial equations. (The only restriction will be that the unknown coefficients must be linear.) REGISTRATION: ------------ I have decided to make this first version available free of charge, although donations would be greatly appreciated and certainly expedite the release of future versions with additional features like graphing the data simultaneously, etc. :-> If you are interested in the source code and more details on the algorithm please send $15 to address given below. DISCLAIMER! ---------- Parabola is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY. I do not accept any responsibility to anyone for the consequences of using it or for whether it serves any particular purpose or works at all. Acknowledgements! ---------------- Turbo-Pascal is a product of Borland International Inc. Windows is a product of Microsoft International Inc. *===============================*===========================================* | Aiyah Vish | Internet: viswanath@sask.usask.ca | | c/o Dept. of Electrical Engg. | or: via36@porter.usask.ca | | University of Saskatchewan, | FAX : (306)-966-8710 | | Saskatoon, SK, S7N OWO | Phone: (306)-955-5291 | | Canada | or: (306)-966-5401 | *===============================*===========================================*