Get your own copy of the contouring applet
Below is a copy of the ReadMe.txt file that is contained
in the self-extracting zip file
Contour.exe which you may download from this site. It
contains everything you need to set up your own exercises using
the Contour applet.
(updated 10.29.99)
How to use the Contour Applet for your own teaching.
Here's how to get started:
1. create a subdirectory on your Web server that is
accessible by the server
2. download the Contour.exe file into this directory
3. 'unzip' the contents of the Contour.exe file into
the subdirectory you just created. On Windows, you
can simply run "Contour.exe" from the command line (it
is a self-extracting file).
4. Start up your favorite (Java-enabled) browser and
point it into this directory at the 'MyContour.html'
file. For example:
http://www.yourserver.school.edu/~yourname/cont/MyContour.html
This will run the example. Now you're ready to use it for your
own classroom work. If you look at a listing of the directory
you 'unzipped' into, you'll find four types of files:
1. '.txt' -- ReadMe.txt is this file.
2. '.class' files -- these are the Java code
3. '.gif' files -- the plot and analysis pictures to be
used for this exercize
4. '.html' file -- the HTML that describes the specifics
for this exercize.
For each exercize, you need to supply 3 files: the two GIF (or JPEG)
files and the HTML. On of the GIF files should contain a picture of
the plotted values that the student will analyze (Myplot.gif in the
example). The other GIF file contains a picture of the solution or
analysis (probably overlaid on the plotted values). The analysis file
is loaded on-demand, when the student presses the "Show Solution"
button.
Generally, you should put the HTML and the .class files in the
same directory. Normally, the .gif (or .jpg) files will also
reside in the directory. If you have lots of exercizes, however,
you may want to partition by putting the .gif files in
subdirectories off the base directory which contins the HTML.
(in which case, you'd refer to them as something like:
"mysubdir/Myplot.gif" in the example, below).
If you are not familiar with creating HTML Web pages, please
see:
http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General/Internet/WWW/HTMLPrimer.html
and then come back here. Note if you use a word processor (like
WordPerfect or Word) you must save the file that contains the
HTML in plain text format.
To illustrate how easy this is, here's the HTML that is used to
drvie the example supplied:
Put some instructions right here -- tell folks what the field
is, what their options are ... for example:
Across the top there are a series of buttons:
- Erase last line = this button
erases the latest line you've drawn; pressing twice will erase
the last two lines, etc.
- Colors = Use these to select the color of the isolines you
draw
- Show Solution = If you want to see how we analyzed the data,
press this button
You may also put text after the applet window
In this example, the main "variables" are the names of the files
containing the images you created: one with data points and probably
one with data and the solution analysis. Any graphing tool can
be used to create these files (which can be in .gif or .jpg format).
The "width=" and "height=" need to be set up for the size of
your graphic plus about 200 lines for the buttons and labels.
We have put this sample along with two GIF files in this
directory for you to get and experiment with directly.
If you'd like to have the students draw fronts and Highs and Lows,
just add this parameters:
=======================================
This material was developed by Tom Whittaker and Steven Ackerman
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is Copyrighted, 1998.
You may use this for any non-commercial purpose, and by doing so
accept full reponsibility for the any consequences resulting
therefrom.