-- Once you have used MathPad for awhile you will probably have some ideas about how you would like to set it up. Here are a few suggestions.
---------- Apple Menu
-- Replace that lame calculator that came with your system. Put a MathPad document or alias in your Apple Menu Items folder.
-- If you want MathPad to act the way desk accessory calculators operate, turn on the "Save and Quit" option via the Options... menu and save a document in the Apple Menu Items folder. For documents saved with this option on, clicking the window's close box will save the current text and quit the application.
-- If you want MathPad's close box to act like most applications, leave this option off.
---------- Setting Defaults
-- If you would like to change MathPad's default document settings, create a new document with whatever you want for defaults and save it in MathPad's folder as "defaults". This allows setting radians, numeric format, fonts window sizes etc. (You will have to evaluate a plot to set plot window options). Normally you would delete all the text but default text is allowed. If you prefer, you can use the Finder to set this file's stationery flag. MathPad doesn't care but it might remind you of its special status.
---------- Include Files
-- You may wish to save definitions that you find generally useful in one or more include files. A document containing the command include "name" will open and read definitions from the named file. You can make a folder containing your favorite include files and put it in MathPad's folder. Then any document can access them with a short relative path name. The "Examples" folder contains some general utility functions in its "incl" folder. If you move this folder to MathPad's folder, any document can access these files via a path name such as ":incl:vector ops"
---------- Compiled Functions
-- XFun files placed in MathPad's folder extend its function menu. See the folder "XFuns". Choose the XFuns you need and move them to MathPad's folder. Remember that adding XFuns will increase MathPad's memory needs. You may want to use the Finder's get info box to increase MathPad's memory size. You can check memory usage after a tough calculation with the About MathPad... box. If the unused space drops below 10K, you should increase MathPad's size allocation.
---------- ResEdit
-- For those who really like to mess with details, there are a few resources that can be edited.
---- Customized color tables
-- If you wish to change the way in which image data values are mapped to colors or grayscale, you can edit the following resources:
'PAT#' name="graypats" used when halftone patterns are selected
'ctbl' id=128 the color table used when gray levels are selected
'ctbl' id=129 the color table used when color is selected
-- The number of "graypats" can be changed as well as the patterns themselves.
-- The system's default 8-bit grayscale table is used for either 128 or 129 if the color table is missing.
---- Miscellaneous
'ppat' id=128 the color pen pattern for grid lines
'ppat' id=129 the color pen pattern for bold grid lines
