3D v0.xx

                                   (c) 1997
                           M&M Corporation Budapest

                 3D rotating, a little bit of molecular geometry.


Usage 
~~~~~
  3D.EXE <3D datafile>
  where <datafile> defaults to 3D.CFG in the current directory.

  First you have to select a molecule, or chrystal structure. After it had
been displayed, you can rotate it with the cursor keys on the numeric keypad.
In versions 0.10+ ZOOM and R-ZOOM are also available. Zoom in with the 'I' key,
and out with the 'O' key. Increase atomic radius with '[' and decrease it
with ']'. You can store the current image with the 'F12' key. The images
will be written into the defined directory (see below), as 3D_XXX.BMP
(256c oBMP format).

  You can use a couple of programs to convert the images to another graphic
format. I use Image Alchemy v1.9 (c) 1990-1996, Handmade Software, Inc.

  If you want to create your own molecule designs, just edit the config file.
It should be zipped with this document. If not, you can either download it
from my HomePage (see below) or you can create a brand new file, according
the following steps: (a sample config file is described below!)

  1. The header of the file MUST be '[3D]'
  2. Empty lines and those beginning with ';' are ignored.
  3. There are TWO MAIN ITEMS, called '[COLOR]' and '[ATOMS]'
     The first one defines the drawing color and the background, the second
     one contains the data for the used atoms.
  4. A simple structure description contains the chemical symbol of the atom
     or ion, and three coordinates, X, Y and Z.
  5. The maximum number of 
      - atoms
      - molecules
      - atoms per molecule
     is limited! (See 3D.EXE /? for current limit)
  6. The last item in the file MUST be '[EOF]'. After this item, you may put
     your comments.


A config file of minimum length looks like this
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[3D]
[COLOR]
#LINE 8
#BACK 3 ; DarkGray on Cyan
[COLOR]
[ATOMS]
; Symbol    Weight    Radius    Drawing
;           (100x)     (pm)      color
    C        1201       77         0 ; Black
    H         101       32        15 ; White
[ATOMS]
[Methane]
; CH4
C       0    0    0
H       0    0  109
H     103    0  -36
H     -51   89  -36
H     -51  -89  -36
[Methane]
[EOF]

Switches
~~~~~~~~
  There are TWO different types of data entries: molecules and functional
  groups. Each of them uses different types of switches, that must follow
  the header of the data entry:

  Type      Switches (*: required)
  ~~~~      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Molecule  #SAVE <save-path>
            #ZOOM <zoom-factor>
            #ALPHA <starting radius>
            #THETA <starting radius>

  Group   * #GROUP <quick-reference-name>
          * #FROM <neighbouring atom x y z>
            #ANGLE <rotate, 0-359 or 'RANDOM>
          * #ATOM <central atom>


Plans
~~~~~
   - There will be LOTS of more switches, so I strongly encourage you to get
     and read through the ORIGINAL 3D.CFG file for the current opportunities.
   - At the moment I'm still working on implementing functional groups,
     such as -NH2, -OH, -CH3, -COOH and so on. Why use these groups?
     Once a group description is complete, you can refer to it in ALL your
     molecules. You can refer to a group more than one time in one molecule
     as well. (v0.20+ only)


Test
~~~~
  This is still a test version of 3D. Please be patient, I'm working on it!
  Hardware requirements: (not really)
   - VGA card with 256+ KB video memory
   - AT286+ :-)
   - MS-DOS 3.0+


Mailware
~~~~~~~~
  This program is 'MAILWARE'. So if you use it, you are encouraged to send me
  an E-MAIL (or a SNAIL-MAIL) message.


Comments & Ideas to:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
E-MAIL:
  mark@ludens.elte.hu

VISIT MY HOMEPAGE AT:
  http://ludens.elte.hu/~mark/

SNAIL-MAIL:
  Molnár Márk
  Dél utca 29.
  1239 Budapest
  Hungary