
_______________________________________________________________________________
WHAT IS CMAP ?

	Cmap is a tool for general numerical computation. Its user-friendly
	environment and C-like syntax is definitely easier to learn and use than
	that of expensive commercial packages of comparable power.

_______________________________________________________________________________
WHO CAN USE CMAP ?

	As an educator, the author has developed Cmap to meet the special needs
	of keen, motivated students and instructors.

	High school students:
		- Arithmetic/algebraic computation
		- Computation with fractions
		- Base and Units conversion
		- Graph plotting
		- Equations solving
		- Learning procedural programming.

	University students in commerce, science or engineering:
		- Calculus
		- Computation with arrays, vectors, matrices and complex values
		- Probability and statistics
		- Finance
		- Least-square Curve fitting
		- Linear and non-linear Optimization
		- Graphics for 2-D, 3-D curves, surfaces and objects
		- Procedural programming using a C-like language
	
	Professors/instructors of science or mathematics:
		- Development of educational software for demonstration of concepts and
	  	  algorithms. CMAP provides ready-to-use user-interface elements and
	  	  extensive graphic capability for rapid program development. 
		- Development of educational software for students use.
		- Teaching procedural programming methodology.

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INSTALLATION and RUNNING CMAP:

	If you downloaded CMAP from Internet:
		- Unzip the CMAP.ZIP package
		- Run the program Setup.exe
		- Run CMAP from the Start menu
		
	If you received floppies containing the files CMAPZIP.EXE and HELPZIP.EXE
	(both are in self-extracted compressed format):
		- Create a CMAP directory in your hard-disk
		- Copy both CMAPZIP.EXE and HELPZIP.EXE into CMAP directory
		- Run both CMAPZIP.EXE and HELPZIP.EXE and specify CMAP as the directory.
		- Create a shortcut icon of CMAP.EXE and place it on the task bar.
		- Run CMAP.EXE
		
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HOW TO GET STARTED:

	- Run CMAP if it is not already running
	- Select menu: Help > Help-Topics
	- Read and follow the instructions in the tutorial sections
_______________________________________________________________________________
HOW TO MASTER CMAP:

	- After the first tutorial (1 hr), you can use Cmap as an expression
	  calculator to compute, and to plot curves.
	- It is a good idea to survey CMap documentation to see what Cmap offers
	  and then learn and use only what you need.
	- The best way to learn is to explore and experiment with the examples
	  provided in CMap-Help.

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IF CMAP IS NOT WORKING PROPERLY ON YOUR MACHNINE:

	You may need a new version of Microsoft's COMCTL32.DLL for CMAP to work
	properly.

	You can download a copy of COMCTL32.DLL from Microsoft's site or from
	http://download.cnet.com/

_______________________________________________________________________________
SURVEY OF CMAP USERS

In order to continue improving Cmap, and to serve Cmap users, I greatly
appreciate your taking the time to respond to the following few questions:

1. I received a copy of Cmap from:
	(a) Friends: ___	(b) Internet download: ___  (c) Other: _______

2. I am:
	(a) Student ___   	(b) Instructor ____ (c) Other: _______________
   
3. My main application area is:
   (e.g. physics, math, engineering, ...)

4. I have also used the following math packages: _________________

5. Additional comments/suggestions for improvements:

6. I would be willing to

	(a) Submit articles to Cmap Web-site:	____
	(b) Help construct Cmap Web-site: 		____

   My contact address is:


_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTACT THE AUTHOR:

	Cmap is being continually developed and it will remain free. If you enjoy
	using Cmap, please kindly send me a POSTCARD of your city or home-town:

				Kinh H. Ha, Professor
				Department of BCE, Rm.BE353
				Concordia University
				1455 de Maisonneuve W.
				Montreal, QC, Canada H3G-1M8
				
				E-mail: HaKinh@alcor.concordia.ca

	I would be interested in knowning how you have used Cmap
	(see Questions in the preceding section).
	
Article contributions:
	There are now thousands of CMAP users all over the world.
	Many have requested that a CMAP-website be established for:

	- posting news and latest developments of CMAP
	- distributing educational material related to CMAP-applications and
	  tutorials on applied mathematics, graphics, science and engineering.

	Please send your comments, suggestions, website-articles by e-mail to the
	above address. Authorship of submitted articles remains with you, of course.

Special Needs?
	If you have a need for special functions in your application
	area, I'll be happy to consider it.
	

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VERSIONS HISTORY

Version	Date		Remarks

6.5		June 3:	Second release for Internet download.
				Add three new array operators (&*, &/, &^) for working
				with tabular data (for details, see Help Topic: Tables).

6.4.5		March 28:	- Numerous new graphic functions have been added to enable
				font options, graphic animation and programmable graphic 
				editing capability. This has created minor incompatibility
				with previous versions' graphic files and programs.
				Old graphic image files cannot be accessed now (sorry!!).
						
				- In all cases, simple program-adjustments can be easily
				made. Please refer to the new documentation on the functions
				or data items that failed.
						
				- In particular, the matrix returned by most graphic
				functions is no longer the Data-Range. The new function
						!Range = getrange()
				should now be used to get the latest Data-Range.
						
6.4.4		March 4: 	- Add 12 new functions for financial calculations.
				- Add new functions for statistics (plothistogram, randfill,
				  randnorm, randnormfill) and common math (log10).
				  		
6.4.3		Feb. 2000	First release for Internet download


6.0		Sept.20,99	Release of first Windows version for use by students in
				engineering courses at Concordia University

5.5		March 98	DOS-based last version

1.0		Sept. 90	DOS-based first version. This first CMAP DOS-version was
				a major revision of MAP6000 (Matrix Analysis Package, 1973),
				which was developed in FORTRAN for learning/teaching of
				Structural Analysis.

CMAP - v1 was written in C using Turbo C and subsequently with Borland C++
CMAP Windows versions were written in C++ using Visual C++ and MFC.
						
The effort and time devoted to CMAP has been enormous, and so has been the
pleasure and satisfaction derived from such a challenge. CMap is dedicated
to motivated students and instructors of all Nations.

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THINGS TO COME

1. string data type and manipulation of strings
2. Full featured debugging facilities
3. Visual editing of graphics

