### xmdb-1.0 README file

    Somewhere around 1986-87 I wrote a set of Mandelbrot calculation/display
    programs for DEC VT340 terminals.  For the past few years, I've been
    sitting in front of various displays but haven't come across anything
    that can handle color sixel.  Therefore, these programs have been sitting
    around collecting dust.

    I was just poking around on a recent Infomagic linux disk the other day
    when I stumbled across libsx.  This is a set of routines which make
    writing Xwindows applications very easy.  Since I had been wanting to
    write an Xwindows display program but didn't know enough about the
    details of writing X applications, I explored this as an option.  xmdisp
    is basically a day's worth of work with libsx.  Kudos to the author!  See
    README.libsx for more information.  The package is available somewhere
    around sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/X11/devel and probably other locations.

    freq.c and dirlist.c were borrowed (ok, stolen) from within the libsx
    examples.  hlsrgb.c includes modified versions of some routines I pulled
    off DEC's internal network many eons ago.

    Included in this package are sources for mcalc, xmdisp and mxwd.  mcalc
    does the calculations and writes a datafile.  xmdisp reads the datafile
    and produces an Xwindows display containing a fractal picture.  mxwd
    reads the datafile and writes an Xwindows dump format file which can be
    read by xwud and xpr.  This can also be used to convert to other file
    formats via pbm or like utilities.

    This kit contains the libsx header file and a static library.  The
    binaries in this kit require the libsx shared library (available from
    sunsite).

    Also included is the file m0000.mdb which is a starter data file.  It was
    calculated with 'mcalc -2 -2 4 1024 2 m0000.mdb'.  This shows the full
    Mandelbrot set.

    The default image size is 600x600.  This can be changed by adjusting the
    values in mandelbrot.h and invoking make.  These values used to be
    800x480 for VT340.  I thought 600x600 might be nicer for an Xwindows
    display.

    Command line arguments to mcalc are:
    	left		coordinate of left edge of box
    	top		coordinate of top edge of box
    	height		distance from top to bottom (or left to right)
    	iterations	maximum iterations before giving up (< 32766)
    	limit		cutoff value (normally 2)
    	filename	where to store the calculated data

    xmdisp takes an optional argument which is the name of the initial file
    to load.

    xmdisp displays and controls include:
        Top Form:
    	Quit		Leave the application
    	Reload		Reload the current image. Useful for watching an
    			in-progress calculation.
    	Load...		Select a file to load
    	File Name	Currently loaded file
        Coordinates Form:
    	Left		Coordinate of left edge
    	Top		Coordinate of top edge
    	Height		Distance from top to bottom (or left to right)
        Parameters Form:
    	Limit		Cutoff value
    	Iterations	Maximum iteration count
    	Processes	Number of processes used in calculation
        Color Form:
    	Cycle		Start/stop color cycling
    	Reset		Reset to initial colors
        Image Display:
    	Press mouse button 1 and dragged across an area.  Press mouse
    	button 3 to start mcalc in batch over the selected area.  This
    	passes the mcalc command as input to 'batch -q J'.  If you want
    	to change this command, modify SUBMIT_COMMAND in submit.h and
    	rebuild.

    mxwd takes two arguments.  The mcalc format input file and the name of a
    file to write in xwd format.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    If you make any modifications to this software, please forward them to
    me.  My email address is pfau@cnj.digex.net.