                       Help File for !FractGen
                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Copyright notice -
This program is FREEWARE, it may be freely distributed as long as all files
are included and are not altered. It was made using DrWimp and has been "crunched" to save space. If you should wish to modify or add to it, I can supply you with a "Full" version. [ alan@awickham,freeserve.co.uk ] or the file called "!RunImage(Eyes)" may be used- although this may not be up to date. Please report any improvements to me.




1) Loading:  Double click on the the !FracGen icon an it will appear on the icon bar in the usual manner. Launch by clicking on the icon bar icon in the usual way - the "main" window will appear.

2) "main" Window: This covers the whole screen, the left hand two thirds being blank at this stage. On the right hand side there are a number of icons:-

	"Select Source Sprite" -- Underneath this are three "Radio" Buttons
	Source1, Source2 & Source3. Select one of these as the Source Sprite.
	The sprites are held on files in the direcrory that holds !FractGen and 	may be replaced by the user -- but care must be taken to ensure that
	replacement files conform exactly to the format. [See "File Formats"
	below.]

	"Enter No. of Iterations" -- Enter the number of iterations required
	here. There is no easy way of knowing how many are required to
	"complete" the fractal as this depends on the complexity of the
	transformations. If no number is entered here there will be 10
	iterations.

	"Select Fractal parameter Set" -- This is a set of affine
	transformations held on a separate text file. There are nine of these
	files located in the same directory as the application, plus a template
	file [ParamsTemplate] for generating new ones. Only files called Params1
	to Params9 can be selected from the application, any new ones generated
	by the user must be given these names (after removing or copying the
	original file to somewhere else, of course).  The name of the fractal
	is part of the parameter file and will appear in the icon "Name of
	Fractal" when the process starts.
	It is important, when creating new Parameter Files, that the format is
	followed EXACTLY.
	The methods by which the constants of the transformations are derived
	are explaned in the literature.

	"START" -- Click here to start the process of generating the fractal.
	The unnamed icon below "Name of Fractal" will indicate which iteration
	is in progress. At the end of the process this icon will change to
	"Iterations Complete". The actual fractal image will appear in a square
	ocupying the left hand two thirds of the screen and change with each
	iteration. It will always be a Black image on a white ground, as
	fractals have no inherent colour.

	"Progress 0 to 9" -- This icon indicates, on a scale of 0 to 9, the
	approximate progress within each iteration.

	"EXIT / SAVE" -- When the message"Iterations Complete" appears the user
	has the choice of either scrapping the resulting fractal or saving it.
	Click on the appropriate button. If the "EXIT" button is clicked on, the
	application will QUIT. If the "SAVE" button is clicked on the fractal
	will be saved as a Sprite File in the directory that holds the
	application under the name of "F_ParamsN" where N is 1 to 9 depnding on
	the parameter set selected. The application then QUITS. This Sprite
	will always be a square 768px x 768px, 256 colours (although only
	Black and White will be present).

3) Generating the "Blueprint". This is the name given to a single transformation
   of a unit square and can be generated by selecting Source1 and a single
   iteration. The "Blueprint" may be regarded as a graphical representation
   of the set of transforms.
   If a permanent record of other intermediate stages is required, just repeat
   the process using a number of iterations less than that necessary to
   produce the final fractal.
