JShape

Java Crystal Shape Viewer
© Steffen Weber, 1998

This page introduces JShape, a tool for displaying crystal shapes. This is not an applet but a stand-alone application. In order to run it you need some Java Virtual Machine (JVM) like the freely available JDK 1.1.3 (and higher) . Then you can use either the "java" tool or the "jre" (Java Runtime Environment) to execute JShape. e.g: java JSHAPE or jre JSHAPE.

To download the JDK go to www.javasoft.com. Installation instructions are given there. (its best to use JDK1.1.6, since JDK1.2 ist still beta and not available for all oparating systems)

Main Features of JShape

renders a hkl-list into a crystal shape
real time rotations by mouse drags
inputfile editor
output of PostSript (not screen dump)

Operating System

Since JShape is written in Java it runs on any machine with a Java Virtual Machine installed (Windows, Unix, Linux, Mac..)

Release

[1.] way to download
PRESS [SHIFT] and CLICK HERE here to download jshape.jar
The SHIFT key is needed under Netscape otherwise it does not download the file. (about MSIE I dont know)

[2.] way to download
If [1.] doesn't work use normal anonymous ftp and get jshape.jar from
ftp.nirim.go.jp/pub/education/java/jshape/jshape.jar

Installation

download the file jshape.jar (this is a JAR file, Java's own compression format similar to TAR for UNIX)
put it in a directory on your hard disk
execute "jar xvf jshape.jar" (you need to have JDK1.? on your machine for the "jar" tool)
that will create the directory JShape and extract all individual files including some subdirectories
then you may run JShape with "java JSHAPE" (make sure your jdk1.?/bin directory is in the path)

In case nothing happens when trying to run it, most probably your CLASSPATH settings are not correct. Read the JDK doc, to find out how to set the CLASSPATH for your operating system.

Screen Shot

Usage

Load an input file (subdirectory hkl/) and edit it. You may also change the filename it the blue textfield. So you can create other files from a present one. The file format is as follows

a b c alpha beta gamma
number of planes
h k l distance from center custom color code (0-15)
.
.
.

The 16 custom colors with the corresponding number can be seen in below the editor's text area. The other colorbar (does not look correct on Windows) on the bottom left is for the Canvas color (right mouse drag) and for the shape's color (left mouse click). If you find bugs, let me know. If you created nice shapes I would be happy if you could send me some files. For rotating drag the shape with right/left mouse key !

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