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Notes for DPlot Jr and DPlot Viewer users

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DPlot Jr and DPlot Viewer are scaled-down versions of DPlot intended for different audiences. DPlot Jr is designed for use by programmers that want a quick method for displaying graphical output of their own applications. DPlot Viewer is intended for use by those who want end users to be able to view graphs produced by DPlot or DPlot Jr. Unlike the full version of DPlot, DPlot Jr and DPlot Viewer may be redistributed to end users without royalty payments or other restrictions. Input to DPlot Jr is restricted to DDE or calls to functions in DPLOTLIB.DLL; the end user cannot open a file or paste data from the clipboard. DPlot Viewer will not create a graph; it only displays previously-existing graphs produced by DPlot or DPlot Jr. Both DPlot Jr and DPlot Viewer lack many of the editing and data generation features of the full version. For more information go to the DPlot web site.

Feature Limitations

All features and functions described in this Help file are available in the full version of DPlot. In general, the descriptions of menu commands, macro commands, and other features that are available in the full version of DPlot but not in DPlot Jr or DPlot Viewer will include a key describing the limitations:

JR

indicates that the feature is supported by DPlot Jr.

JR

indicates that the feature is not supported by DPlot Jr.

Viewer

indicates that the feature is supported by DPlot Viewer.

Viewer

indicates that the feature is not supported by DPlot Viewer.

Distribution

You are authorized to make as many copies of DPlot Jr and/or DPlot Viewer and accompanying documentation as you wish; give exact copies of the program(s) to anyone; and distribute these program(s) and documentation in their unmodified form via electronic means or via CD or other media. There is no charge for any of these actions.

When building your distribution, these files are required:

DPLOTJR.EXE or DPLOTVU.EXE

The main executable

DPLOT.CHM

This Help file

CONTEXT.CHM

Context-sensitive Help file for dialog boxes

UTILS.DLL

Utilities library

FPARSER.DLL

Equation parser

FREEIMAGE.DLL

Graphics export utilities; used by DPlot Jr to save bitmap images.

TOOLS.DLL

Toolbar images

ZLIB1.DLL

Compression library using the ZLIB algorithm. Used to compress/decompress DPlot files on the fly.

DPMAC.EXE (DPlot Viewer only)

Macro editor

All of these files are located in the folder where you initially installed DPlot Jr or DPlot Viewer. These unmodified files must be included in your distribution; the programs will not work correctly without them. Each of these files should be installed to the same folder on the end user's system. It is not necessary to install these files to your application's folder. Generally a subfolder below your application folder is best.

If your application sends data to DPlot Jr via DPLOTLIB.DLL, of course you will need to install this DLL as well. For best results install DPLOTLIB.DLL to your application's folder, not the Windows System folder. Although the System folder will work, you cannot guarantee that some other application's installation will not overwrite the version you distribute with an older version.

Your application's installation procedure should make one change to the end user's registry that tells DPLOTLIB.DLL (and possibly your own application) where to find DPlot Jr:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER

Software

DPLOTJR

shell

open

command
Data Type=REG_SZ
Value = path to DPlot Jr, including the filename

 

For example, the following is the section of the setup script for Inno Setup that modifies the end user's registry:

 

[Registry]

Root: HKCU; Subkey: "Software\DPLOTJR\shell\open\command"; ValueType: string; ValueData: "{app}\dplotjr.exe"; Flags: uninsdeletekey

DPlot Jr will itself update the registry with its own location every time it runs. The above change ensures that your application and/or DPLOTLIB can find DPlot Jr before it ever runs on the end user's system. Note that the path should be surrounded by double quotation marks (handled automatically by Inno Setup). Otherwise if the path contains a space (as in c:\Program Files), your program's attempts to launch dplotjr.exe will likely fail.

When testing your setup program you should ensure that the correct path was written to the registry. Using regedit after running your setup program you should now have  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\DPLOTJR\shell\open\command with the Name left at (Default), the Type set to REG_SZ, and the path to dplotjr.exe, surrounded by double quotation marks, under Data.

 

 


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