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Tutorial
Complete sample oode to create your own MapleNet application. For programmers only.

MapleNet API
The API for creating MapleNet applications. For programmers only.

Tutorial

Here are three simple MapleNet applications so you can experiment on your own. Everything you need to create a simple MapleNet application is included, except for the Java Software Developer's kit (JDK), which you can download from www.javasoft.com - but you do need access to a MapleNet server to run the examples.

Step 1: Create a new directory on your hard disk

Step 2: Click on each of the File link shown below and save it to that same directory on your hard drive. You may need to right-click and select "Save As ..." if necessary.

maplenetclient.jar

the client classes to access a MapleNet server; they are provided by Waterloo Maple

MapleEvaluator.java

a simple text-based example of how to connect to a MapleNet server and execute Maple command; this class is also used by the other two programs

Evaluator.java

a more sophisticated graphical program to evaluate Maple commands; uses the previous MapleEvaluator but has better input/output support

Plotter.java

an example of how to coax MapleNet to create the graph of any function that Maple can understand

WindowCloser.java

a supporting class needed by the previous two GUI classes.

Step 3: Open a command prompt (DOS box), switch into the directory containing your files, and un-compress (un-jar) the MapleNet client classes by typing:

   jar -xf maplenetclient.jar

This requires that your previously installed the complete Java Software Developer's Kit and that your path has been modified to include access to the jar, java, and javac programs.

Step 4: Compile the two main sample classes:

   javac Evaluator.java
   javac Plotter.java

Note the other classes are dependent and will automatically compile.

Step 5: Execute your programs, one at a time, to see how they work. Let's start with:

   java MapleEvaluator "factor(x^4 - 1)"

which will factor the expression x⁴ - 1 and show the result as plain text. Next, start a more sophisticated program:

   java Evaluator

then enter factor(x^4 - 1) as before and hit the Evaluate button. As before the expression will be factored, but also displayed in proper math format. Finally let's create a graph:

   java Plotter

Enter the expression, exactly as shown: x -> 5*sin(2*x) and hit the Plot button. Note that the Plotter application uses MapleNet to evaluate the function defined but handles the actual drawing "manually". MapleNet does provide mechanisms to directly obtain a complete graph from Maple and place it into a Java program or applet. See the MapleNet API for further details.

Screen Shot: Evaluator		Screen Shot: Plotter

Note that you may have to adjust the parameters in the MapleEvaluator.java file before you can successfully connect to our MapleNet server. If the program compiles but you get a runtime error, it is most likely because our default MapleNet server is shut down, or you have been prevented from accessing our server - you might try again later, or contact Bert Wachsmuth.

Last Modified: Apr 2004
Maintained by: Math/CS @ SHU (bgw)