On 1/22/06, Arthur <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > [Snip] Hi Arthur,
I'm documenting the process as I go along, in a nitpicking fashion. Also, I'm doing it as someone who is just interested in getting a quick look at the program, more out of curiosity. My experience will *not* mirror that of someone interested in teaching or doing research in geometry. *** Apologies to all for the rambling style of this post; I just want to give a glimpse at a real-life experience of a first time user. **** ------------------- Going to vpython website; the link brings me to the vpython version for Python 2.3 (I have 2.4 on my machine). I don't want to install an older version. I decide to look around and find the version for Python 2.4 Your website mentions prominently that NumPy is required as well as VPython, but I miss the comment that NumPy is included with VPython later on. Downloaded and installed PyGeo without a hitch. Look for it in the startup menu or the desktop (it never gave any indication it was creating a shortcut): no shortcut present. This is ok, but an option to create a shortcut on windows might be nice for the casual windows user. (I've never done it myself, but still!) Hunt for PyGeo... found a help file (txt) in the pygeo folder, but no readme. A readme.txt file would be nice. Guessing that I have to call it using vpyframe.py... Wrong guess... Look around (I should have read more carefully your website perhaps), and find the documentation, including the quickstart.html Try the Hello Point example using PythonWin... crash PythonWin (on the fourth line) :-( Try with the interactive python shell.... crash it on the second line. This is not going well for me. Try it with the shell included with rur-ple ;-) Similar as PythonWin IDE. rur-ple seems to hang when the display.pickloop() is called. However, I can move around the point, with the mouse (it changes color as I move it around). [The "hanging behavior" should not surprise me; it's most likely a conflict between the wxpython mainloop and tkinter.] Ok, playing with it. Call help; I can enlarge the help window, but no additional text it shown. However, I can scroll down and see the rest of the text. Back to reading the documentation... ok, there's a lot more there that I should have looked at first. Reading some more, I found out why rur-ple became irresponsive once I activated the pickloop() (My own fault for not reading). Ok, now I'm puzzling how I'd get out of the loop to continue experimenting and try the line example. Can't find out how; kill rur-ple to get out. Try the second example with Idle. The "output" in the terminal window is different than before and different also from the documentation; the lines with "vector" are not displayed as a response (they were when using PythonWin or rur-ple), but LineFromPoints is (which is different from the documentation) >>> from pygeo import * >>> display=display() >>> p1=FreePoint(1,4,5) >>> p2=FreePoint(5,11,9) >>> Line(p1,p2) LineFromPoints(<1, 4, 5>,<5, 11, 9>) I try to play with it without "starting" the loop and I find out that the right mouse button allows me to move things around. It is fairly reponsive. I find that, after I call the pickloop() method, I can kill pygeo (without killing idle). I try again with rur-ple - killing the pygeo window kills rur-ple altogether. Browsing the documentation gives a good feeling. One "surprising" observation: on the complex/index.html page, on the left hand side (navigation sidebar?) there are links to Complex Numbers, Complex Plane and the Riemann sphere elsewhere on the documentation; on the right-hand, the same three terms have external links, one to wolfram stuff, the other two to wikipedia entries. (find out it is the same elsewhere). I have a problem with links to exactly the same phrases on the same page pointing in different places. ============================ Time for some "concluding" observations. It looks like a powerful package, with a lot of thought having gone into it. (I don't say that to be nice!). The pictures on the website are tentalizing ... but how do I get to draw them. To parody an old ad: "where's the code?". I crave for a "tutorial" showing, step by step, what it is good for. If part of the stated goal is to have "elementary schools students and their teachers"... I say that there are many things missing. I can't imagine an average elementary school teacher even beginning to grasp how to potentially use it in the classroom. (Of course, kids are a different matter ;-) As a fellow developper, I am *very impressed* by the quality of what I see. All in all, it looks like it is ready for a 1.0 release to a specialized audience. It does need more work (in my opinion) on the accompanying writeup. Then again, perhaps it is there and I have simply missed it in my hasty way to look at it. ==== Back to working on my own stuff. I hope that, one day (next release perhaps ;-) Arthur will have the time to document in the same cavalier fashion his attempt at playing with rur-ple !! André _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
