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Announcing Version 5.5!

Animate, Rotate, Zoom and Fly!

 

Features in Version 5.5

Support for creating PDF files now combines with Beta support for Beamer so that you can create typeset PDF presentations from your Scientific WorkPlace and Scientific Word documents. Beamer support provides dynamic transitions and many predefined slide styles to help you create professional-looking presentations, handouts, and transparencies that contain text, mathematics, graphics, and even animations.

Version 5.5 adds the following features to the compatibility, typesetting, and computation capabilities of Scientific WorkPlace, Scientific Word, and Scientific Notebook:

• Compute and plot with MuPAD. In SWP and SNB, compute and create plots right in your document with the MuPAD 3.1.1 computer algebra engine.
• Animate 2D and 3D plots. With newly-implemented renderers, create animated 2D plots in polar coordinates, animated 2D and 3D plots in rectangular coordinates, animated 2D and 3D implicit plots, and animated 3D tube plots and plots in cylindrical and spherical coordinates and vector fields. Define an Animation Variable t for the plot and specify the animation start and end times and the rate of frames per second.
• Improved plotting capability. Create 2D inequality plots and work with improved approximate integral plots, including additional approximation methods, colour, and animation.
• Manipulate and inspect 3D plots. Rotate, move, zoom in and out, and fly through 3D plots.
• Explore plots and animations with the VCAM window. View plots in read-only or read-write documents using the MuPAD VCAM window with playback toolbar controls. Use your mouse to start, stop, re-run, and loop animations; change the animation speed; rotate; and zoom – all from the VCAM toolbar.

• Enhance 2D and 3D plots. Now you can enhance your SWP and SNB plots with text labels that move with the plot when you rotate or zoom. You can specify the location of the label within the plot both horizontally and vertically, and you can set the orientation of the plot precisely. You can add grid lines and specify background colours, including translucent surface colours for 3D plots.
• Create 3D implicit plots. Plot equations involving three variables.
• Use completely revised instructions. The new edition of Doing Mathematics with Scientific WorkPlace and Scientific Notebook explains how to use the built-in computer algebra system to do mathematics and create plots without dealing directly with the syntax of the computer algebra system.
• Collaborate more easily. Now you can import the contents of files created directly in L^aT_eX or L^aT_eX2e into SWP or SW using a special non-SWP/SW L^aT_eX filter, even if you can't open the files directly. The filter can read many macro definitions not created with the program.
• Extend typesetting capabilities with new L^aT_eX packages. Take advantage of the many new packages in Version 5.5 to enable specific L^aT_eX behaviours and extend the program's typesetting capabilities.
• Get troubleshooting help. A new, expanded edition of Typesetting Documents in Scientific WorkPlace and Scientific Word provides more typesetting tips and tricks, new information about L^aT_eX packages that have been added to the program, and a brand new chapter on troubleshooting problems that can arise.
• Launch external applications from within SWP, SW, SNB, or the Viewer. Use the new user-configurable External Lookup feature to search for definitions in a dictionary, find synonyms in a thesaurus, invoke a search engine or encyclopaedia, or launch other applications on your system or network or on the Internet.

Compatibility

You can interact with colleagues more easily and distribute your documents in different formats when you take advantage of new and enhanced export filters in Version 5.

• Export your documents as RTF files. You can export your SWP, SW, and SNB documents as Rich Text Format (RTF) files, so that interactions with colleagues in non-TeX environments are simplified. The RTF export preserves the formatting you see in the document window. Any mathematics in your document can be represented with MathType 3 (Equation Editor) or MathType 5 objects. The resulting RTF file can be viewed in Microsoft Word even if an Equation Editor is not part of the Word installation. If the Microsoft Word installation includes the appropriate Equation Editor, any MathType 3 or MathType 5 mathematical objects in the RTF file can be edited. The file can also be displayed in outline mode.
• Read MathType mathematics in RTF files. In Version 5, you can open and read the MathType equations in RTF files when you import the RTF files in SWP, SW, or SNB. The equations are converted to L^aT_eX.
• Create more accurate HTML files. When you export your SWP, SW, or SNB documents to HTML, the program places any graphics generated during the process in a subdirectory. This version successfully exports fixed-width tables to HTML and saves the screen format to a Cascading Style Sheet (.css file). With HTML exports, you can make your mathematics available on various platforms over the Internet and in applications that can read HTML files.
• Export mathematics as MathML. When you export HTML files, you can output your mathematics as MathML or graphics. Note that not all HTML browsers support MathML.

Typesetting

Version 5 provides new typesetting capabilities and many new document shells, some intended for international use.

• Create typeset PDF files. Now you can share your work across platforms in PDF format by typesetting your SWP and SW documents with pdfL^aT_eX. No extra software is necessary to generate PDF files. The program automatically embeds fonts and graphics in the PDF file.
• Use pdfTeX to process files that contain graphics. Until now, using pdfTeX with most graphics file formats has been tedious or impossible. Before typesetting your document with pdfL^aT_eX, Version 5 of SWP and SW converts any graphics in the document to formats that can be processed by pdfL^aT_eX before typesetting.
• Preserve L^aT_eX cross-references in PDF files. If you add the hyperref package to your document, any cross-references in your SWP or SW document are converted to hypertext links when you typeset with pdfL^aT_eX. The package extends hypertext capabilities with hypertext targets and references. Additionally, pdfL^aT_eX fully links the table of contents in the resulting PDF file and includes in the file hierarchical markers and thumbnail pictures of all the pages in the document.
• Use L^aT_eX PostScript packages. If you create PDF files from your SWP and SW documents, you can take advantage of L^aT_eX packages, such as the rotating package.
• Use expanded typesetting documentation. A new edition of Typesetting Documents in Scientific WorkPlace and Scientific Word provides more typesetting tips and information about more L^aT_eX packages. Learn how to tailor typesetting specifications from inside the program to achieve the typeset document appearance you need.
• Examine an expanded gallery of shells. View images of sample documents for each shell provided with the program in A Gallery of Document Shells for Scientific WorkPlace and Scientific Word, provided on the program CD as a PDF file. Use the documentation to choose document shells appropriately.
• Choose shells tailored for international documents. Version 5 includes shells for documents created in non-English languages, including German, Japanese, Chinese, and Russian. SWP and SW, in combination with TrueTeX, support international typesetting with the Lambda system.

Computation

Complex computational capability makes SWP and SNB indispensable tools.

• Compute with MuPAD. In SWP and SNB, compute right in your document with the MuPAD computer algebra engine.
• Use enhanced MuPAD capabilities. The new MuPAD 3.1.1 kernel is an upgrade from the MuPAD kernel included in earlier versions. Features include improved 2D and 3D plotting, expanded ODE capabilities, an expanded Rewrite submenu, and an improved Simplify operation.
• Compute with MathType mathematics in RTF files. If you open an RTF file containing MathType equations, the program converts the equations to L^aT_eX. In SWP and SNB, you can compute with the mathematics just like any other mathematics in SWP and SW documents.
• Use an improved Exam Builder. The Version 5 Exam Builder is fully functional with MuPAD. Printed quizzes can be reloaded without losing their math definitions, just like other documents. Exam Builder materials generated with earlier versions using either Maple or MuPAD work successfully in Version 5.

 

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MacKichan Software Announces the Release of Version 5.5 of Scientific WorkPlace, Scientific Word, and Scientific Notebook

Poulsbo, WA, July 28, 2005 – With the release of Version 5.5, MacKichan Software brings a new computational engine, enhanced graphics, and extended L^aT_eX typesetting capabilities to your workplace.

With the included MuPAD 3.1 computer algebra engine, you can now animate 2D and 3D plots using MuPAD’s VCAM, explore 3D plots with new OpenGL® 3D graphics, label 2D and 3D plots so that the label moves when you rotate or zoom a plot, and create 3D implicit plots. These new computational features are fully documented in a new edition of Doing Mathematics with Scientific WorkPlace and Scientific Notebook.

Collaboration is easier in Version 5.5, which includes a new filter for importing documents created directly in L^aT_eX. As with Version 5.0 of the program, you can share your work with a wider audience. You can create typeset PDF files with Scientific WorkPlace and Scientific Word, which now include support for pdfTeX. Your PDF files can be viewed on any platform using a PDF viewer, such as Adobe Acrobat. Version 5.5 also supports RTF export and improved HTML export.

The addition of many new L^aT_eX packages extends typesetting capabilities in Version 5.5. A new edition of Typesetting Documents in Scientific WorkPlace and Scientific Word includes extensive troubleshooting information.

Scientific WorkPlace was chosen a Mathematics Top Products Award Winner for 2004 by the readers of Scientific Computing and Instrumentation magazine.

MacKichan Software, Inc. is a small software development company with a 20-year tradition of fine products for scientific publishing. They develop and distribute Scientific WorkPlace, Scientific Word, Scientific Notebook, and Scientific Viewer. MacKichan Software also distributes MuPAD Pro, developed by SciFace Software, GmbH & Co., KG.

END

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The letter we sent out to our mailing list on 29th. July is below:

We're pleased to write to you again, announcing the release of version 5.5 of the MacKichan family of programs: Scientific Word, Scientific WorkPlace and Scientific Notebook. Some of the most exciting new features of this long-anticipated upgrade are as follows:

(Barry MacKichan writes):

In contrast with version 5.0, which concentrated primarily on typesetting features, version 5.5 concentrates on computation features. With the new features in Scientific WorkPlace and Scientific Notebook:

1. You can now animate 2D and 3D plots
2. You can rotate, move, zoom in and out, and fly through 3D plots with new OpenGL 3D graphics
3. You can label 2D and 3D plots so that the label moves with the plot when you rotate or zoom
4. You can create 3D implicit plots
5. You can export plots in a variety of graphics formats, including animated GIFs and AVI files for animated plots

The new features in Scientific WorkPlace and Scientific Word include a new preprocessor for reading L^aT_eX files written by other programs. This preprocessor expands all macros defined by the author or in non-standard package files. The preprocessor removes many of the L^aT_eX constructs that in the past were rendered as TeX buttons. It should make collaboration between co-authors easier when one uses SW/SWP and the other writes L^aT_eX by hand.

There is new support for over a dozen new L^aT_eX packages.

The Typesetting manual has been expanded to include a new troubleshooting section. The Doing Mathematics manual has been extensively rewritten to document the new plotting features. The other manuals have gone through a cycle of revision and corrections.

For those who have ever had to work with L^aT_eX files produced outside Scientific Word/WorkPlace, the introduction of a proper interface to external .tex files is a significant step forward, and one which is worth the cost of the upgrade on its own.

There have been price increases from MacKichan Software averaging 6%. It is our intention to retain the existing UK pricing if possible, which we shall succeed in doing as long as the pound remains strong against the dollar; please see our Licence Calculator at www.sciword.co.uk/pricing.htm . We will in any case be supplying complimentary v5.5 upgrades to all those who bought new v5.0 systems – though not upgrades from earlier versions – after 1st. May 2005. A price increase planned for our Training Courses, detailed on our web site at https://www.sciword.co.uk/training.htm , will be deferred until the New Year.

The projected timing for the UK release is that Version 5.5 stock will arrive here after Monday 8th. August, and UK shipments begin thereafter. These will be despatched in the following order of priority:

1. Upgrades for users contracted in to the Annual Maintenance Scheme
2. New system/upgrade orders with payment in advance by cheque or direct credit to our bank account (details at https://www.sciword.co.uk/company.htm)
3. Complimentary upgrades for v5.0 new systems bought after 1st. May 2005
4. Other orders for new systems/upgrades

May we suggest the easiest way to place an upgrade order is to complete the Licence Calculator form at www.sciword.co.uk/pricing.htm (click on "Upgrade" and include your v5.0 Serial Number, leaving the Dictionary option on "No") and print it out. Then submit the order on-line and send payment – either electronically to our bank account, or by cheque with the printout for reference. Cheques will not be banked until systems are despatched.

Please first check our web site at https://www.sciword.co.uk/v5-5.htm , where you will find a copy of this letter together with any subsequent information as it becomes available. The information we've included in this letter was pre-announced in an Email circulated on July 23rd. If you did not receive that Email, please let us have your Email address for future mailings, some of which are electronic only.

We are including some postcards with our compliments; perhaps we could invite you to use them to introduce your colleagues to the benefits of our software? Think of the two or three friends most in need of producing professional quality technical documents…

Finally, as always – if you no longer wish to remain on our mailing list so as to receive information of updates and new developments, a simple Email or postal reply to this effect will suffice. Those whose MailTill date on the envelope has now passed will be removed from the mailing list automatically; please let us know if you would like to remain on the list.

We hope you have found this announcement helpful, and look forward to hearing from you.

 

For a free 30-day trial of Scientific Word, Scientific WorkPlace or Scientific Notebook, please click on 30-day trial .

Last Updated: 14th November 2020

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Scentific Word Ltd.