Welcome, from the maker of Graph It!

I would like to begin by saying thank you for downloading the program. It took me a while to finally finish it because I kept thinking of things to add. I finally decided to stop, even though I still had some good ideas. Please enjoy it and use it in what ever you can.

Now What?

I would like to go into a little bit on how to use this program. It may seem simple enough but I would like to explain how to use some of the features I incorporated in to Graph It.

The first step when getting ready to graph a formula is to set your x and y axis to a little bit above and below where the graph will be. If you do now how the graph will turn out, guess. You can always change it later. As soon as you select the box, with either you mouse or by using the Tab key, the contents will be erased and ready for you to add in new values. The xMax , xMin, yMax, and yMin should be self explanatory, but the x- and yScl are something a little different. These numbers represent the number of marks made on the graph axis. In the figure to the right, there will be 1 mark made every point representing 1, 2, 3,and so on the positive x-axis. If you entered 10 for xScl, there would be a total of 2 marks representing 10 and –10 on the x-axis.

Now that you have you axis values at least close to what you will need, the next step is to enter in the formula or formulas to be graphed. You can do this one of two ways. One way is to physically type the formula in the box the “Graph the Formula” button. You can do it another way by using your mouse. Look at the bottom left corner of the program. That are is what I call the Formula Maker. It, however, does not do that part for you but will make it easier. All you have to do click on the corresponding button and it will be entered into the box above the “Send to Graph” button. Once you are finished with the formula you want to graph, simply click on the “Send to Graph” button and it will be sent to the right box to be graphed. Making the formulas is as simple as that.

You do have the ability to graph more than one function at a time. You can enter 10 to be exact. The only problem with entering 10 formulas is that the graph gets really busy and it is difficult to tell what is doing what. You can easily remove formulas, just click on the “Remove Top Formula Box” button. You may loose the one you want, but you can re-enter it easy enough.

Let me now explain a little bit how the formulas need to be entered to make use of the program. What you see is all you can do. The program cannot do anything more complicated that Sin, Cos, Tan, and Square Roots. When you do square roots, the xMin value is automatically changed to 0 because the way this is coded, the graph uses the xMin and xMax values to get the outputted graph. Since you cannot do square roots above 0, the result, if xMin is changed, will be an error.

The next thing you need to remember to enter in formulas, is that you cannot enter in things like 6x. If you do that, you will get an error. You need to enter the ampersand (*) in between the 6 and the x, like 6*x, to make a valid formula for this program. That same principle works for all combinations of formulas or this end result will not be a graph, but an error.

The final thing to remember when writing formulas is that you need to remember to close your parentheses, if you used them.

If you do make an error, do not worry; you will get a chance to fix it. The problem function will be deleted from the function list and will be added to your Formula Maker text box to fix. Simple fix and sent it to the graph again.

If you have made it this far, you should have the formulas entered that you want to graph. If you do not, enter them in now. When you are finished, click on the “Graph the Formula” button and just watch the graphs go.

Now that your graphs are graphed, you are now ready to move the axis around to get a better view of your graph. You can do this really easily. As a matter of fact, you can to this in a couple if different ways. You can simply change the x and y axis to show you what you want to see. There is another way.

If your graph is just a little off and you want to move it in that direction, either press F1 or click on Format\Refocus. In the bottom right corner, a few boxes will appear. Enter in the x and y point you want to refocus on and that point will act as the center point and your graph will change accordingly.

If you want to zoom in on a point, like when 2 points intersect, either press F2 or click on Format\Zoom - In. Simply enter in the point that you want to zoom in on and click on Zoom – In. Your graph will automatically change around the point you entered.

Other utility that you can use is Zoom – Out. This is useful when you entered in the wrong values or you zoomed in too much. This works the same as the previous two utilities. You simply enter in the point that you want to zoom-out on and press the Zoom – Out key. Your graph will automatically change.

The Re-Focus, Zoom-In, and Zoom-Out utilities are useful but you need to know the point at which to use. The final utility I have for your graphing will help you get around that. Before you can use it, however, you need to either hit F5 or click on Format/Create Box. You have to first select the box utility before you can use it or you will get an error. Once you have selected to Create a Box, all you have to do is move your mouse pointer a little off, in either direction, of the point or area of the graph you want to see, click with you right mouse button, drag to where you want the end to be, and let go the mouse key. Your graph will zoom in around the box you created. If you select the box by mistake, you can deselect the function by clicking Format/Cancel Box Creation.

That is about it for Graph It. Play around with the program. You cannot hurt it and it is a lot of fun! I thank- you again for using it.

Acknowledgments

I am very grateful for the people at www.vb-helper.com. The various programmers that have given to that site have helped me get over the hurtles of writing this program. I would not have ever finished if it weren’t for them.

If you have any questions or comments, please email them to me at theplainandsimple@yahoo.com. I would greatly appreciate any feedback that you may have.

Ernie Jean