next up previous contents
Next: Reading Coordinate Values Up: The Lorenz Equations Previous: How to Display Orbits   Contents


Using a Mouse to Generate Orbits

Move your mouse into the view window and click \framebox{SELECT}. Dstool will remember this selected point until you explicitly choose another. Now click \framebox{ADJUST} in the view window. Figure [*] shows a typical result. By default, dstool will compute 5000 points forward along the trajectory starting at the previously selected point. The points will be equally spaced at time intervals of .01. We'll see shortly how to change these parameters. To the right of the Settings button on the command window, you'll see the number of points currently stored by dstool. Each time you click \framebox{ADJUST} another 5000 points are computed and displayed.

If you're using a color monitor, all points of this orbit will be drawn in the first color of dstool's palette. Now click \framebox{SELECT} at another location in the canvas of the view window. Clicking \framebox{ADJUST} will plot 5000 points on the orbit from the newly selected point. On a color monitor, this orbit will automatically be displayed in the next color of dstool's palette.

You can choose initial conditions for backwards orbits by clicking \framebox{MENU} on a location in the view window canvas. This also resets the current orbit direction from forward to backward. Now clicking \framebox{ADJUST} within the canvas will cause up to 5000 points along the backward orbit to be displayed. Your backward orbit will probably rapidly go off to infinity, so dstool will display a message and stop computing somewhat earlier. On a color monitor, this backward orbit will automatically have been displayed in the next color of dstool's palette.

Dstool only remembers one selected point and one orbit direction. So pressing \framebox{SELECT} or \framebox{MENU} within the canvas both sets the orbit direction and replaces any previously selected point. One of the menu entries under the Options menu button of the 2-D Image window is Display... which will allow you to mark this selected point before you change it.


next up previous contents
Next: Reading Coordinate Values Up: The Lorenz Equations Previous: How to Display Orbits   Contents
root
1998-11-02