Mandelbrot Explorer v1.00
by Theo Kandiliotis
ionikh@hol.gr
ICQ: 13315102



Frequently Asked Questions 
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1. Q:
   When I start M.E. I get a blank form , how do I 
   have it draw the Mandelbrot set?
  
   A:
   The 'Generate' item of the 'Fractal' menu will
   plot the fractal according to the settings you
   have defined from the 'Settings' item of the
   main menu.When you start M.E. the settings are
   already adjusted to their default values and 
   you don't have to ever change them unless you're 
   intrested in the math behind fractals.

2. Q:
   Ploting the fractal on the screen takes way too
   long , is there a way to stop the ploting but 
   still be able to zoom in the region of the 
   fractal already ploted?

   A: 
   You may interrupt the ploting of the fractal with
   the Escape key. Then you can zoom in the usual way.

3. Q:
   What usual way, I haven't asked about zooming in
   yet!

   A:
   It's preety straight forward. Push the left mouse
   button when the mouse pointer is over the upper left 
   corner of the region you want to magnify ,move the 
   mouse to draw the rectangular region and then release
   the mouse button.  Ofcourse you must have already 
   ploted a fractal.

4. Q:
   Ok,I've generated a spectacular fractal,how can I
   save it as an image file?

   A:
   Just click 'Copy' in the 'Fractal' menu and then
   paste the image to your favorite image utility.

5. Q:
   What are all those weird options in the form that
   pops up when I click 'Settings' ?

   A:
   Chances are you'll never need to change the first
   4 scrollbars . They can be used to determine the
   rectangular region within the complex plane that the
   fractal will be generated from ,but the program 
   will automatically do that for you if you just
   select the region by drawing it on the fractal
   (see Q&A #3) . The 5th scrollbar (Iterations)
   determines how many times the function will be
   repeated before the program selects what color
   each pixel should have. This is not the place 
   to catch up if you're not into complex numbers 
   and calculus :)
   Just know that you can reduce the iterations
   for faster plotting of the fractal , but you
   will also be reducing the total colors that 
   appear within it.The X-axis and Y-axis scrollbars
   can be used to change the dimensions of the 
   fractal ,but not the detail too. For example
   if you change X-axis scale to 2 and keep
   Y-axis scale to 1 , the fractal will appear twice
   as wide. 

6. Q:
   Will there be a Mandelbrot Explorer v2.00 ?
   
   A: 
   You can count on it , the next version will also
   plot many other famous fractals like the Julia set,
   the Henon map etc. You will also be able to plot
   your own original fractals by typing in a new
   mathematical function.Watch this URL:
   http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Network/5045/misc.htm

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