Math 270E : Assignment 1

Assigned Friday, Sept. 26, 2008, due Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2008

General Comments

The purpose of this assignment is to have you become familiar with compiling, running and viewing output data from a program written in C++.

If you don't remember how to use Visual C++, you can refresh your memory with the pages Using Visual Studio C++ (2003) or Using Visual Studio C++ (2005).

If you are using a Linux/Unix based system then you may want to refresh your memory about how to use the C++ compiler and make tools. There is a sample "make" file for this assignment, but the programs that you will be creating and working with will involve many separate files, and it is recommended that you obtain and learn how to use an integrated development environment (IDE) that works with Linux/Unix based platforms. Eclipse is a good choice, although, depending on your version of Linux/Unix, there may be others available at no cost, or that have already been installed (e.g. Kdevelop).

Since we are going to be working with functions of two independent variables, it is very important to be able to create contour and surface plots. I've created routines that output data in a form that works with GNUplot --- a widely used, freely available, graphics package. I've also created routines that output the data in a form that Matlab (or Octave) can read. However, you can use whatever graphics package you want; but you'll probably have to write a small routine that outputs the data in a form that your package understands.

GNUplot is already on most Linux/Unix systems. For PC users, or for those whose Linux/Unix machines don't have it installed, the program is available over the web, see the "About Gnuplot" page.

The assignment files and support files will be provided via Mercurial managed code repositories. There are two ways to download the requisite files, one is to go to the repository web site and download a zipped version of the files (links to the repositories will be included in the assignments) and the other is to use the Mercurial program and create your own, local version, of the repository files. The latter process requires the use of the Mercurial program, "hg". Versions of this program can be obtained from the Mercurial site. In particular, stand-alone binary versions are available for a number of platforms, including Windows. See the Mercurial Binary Package site for details.

Problem [1]

[i] Create a course directory for the class assignments and support files.

[ii] Download the array class files from the 270eSupport/ArrayClasses repository into subdirectories of your course directory.

• Method 1: Without using the Mercurial program "hg".
  
  
  • Go to https://www.math.ucla.edu/~anderson/Courses/270eSupport/ . Note that the address starts with https not http.
  • Click on the .zip (or .bz, or .bz2) links associated with the ArrayClasses repository and download the compressed file to the course directory.
  • Uncompress the file. This will create a directory that contains a directory with the requisite files. Rename the directory containing the files to ArrayClasses, and then move the renamed directory so that it is a subdirectory of your assignments directory.
    
    
• Method 2: Using the Mercurial program "hg".
  
  
  • Open a DOS command line window (or Linux/Unix shell) and cd to your course directory.
  • Create a clone of the ArrayClasses repository using the command
    
    hg clone https://www.math.ucla.edu/~anderson/Courses/270eSupport/ArrayClasses/
    

[iii] Download the Assign1 files from the 270eSupport/Assign1 repository to an Assign1 subdirectory of your course directory.

• Method 1: Without using the Mercurial program "hg".
  
  
  • Go to https://www.math.ucla.edu/~anderson/Courses/270eSupport/ . Note that the address starts with https not http.
  • Click on the .zip (or .bz, or .bz2) links associated with the Assign1 repository and download the compressed file to the course directory.
  • Uncompress the file. This will create a directory that contains a directory with the requisite files. Rename the directory containing the files to Assign1 and then move the renamed directory so that it is a subdirectory of your course directory.
    
    
• Method 2: Using the Mercurial program "hg".
  
  
  • Open a DOS command line window (or Linux/Unix shell) and cd to your solution or assignments directory.
  • Create a clone of the ArrayClasses repository using the command
    
    hg clone https://www.math.ucla.edu/~anderson/Courses/270eSupport/Assign1/

• Create a new project specifying that the solution name be the name of your course directory and that the project be named Assign1. (How to create a solution: 2003. How to create a project: 2003 2005. In Visual Studio 2005, the solution is specified/created when creating the first project, so you won't need to create a solution first.)
  
  
• Add GNUplotArray2Dtest.cpp and ../ArrayClasses/outputToGNUplot.cpp to your project. If you are going to use Matlab, then add MatlabPlotArray2Dtest.cpp and ../ArrayClasses/outputToMatlab.cpp.
  (How to add files: 2003 2005).
  
  
• Set your include path to include ../ArrayClasses.
  (How to set the include path: 2003 2005).

[v] Compile these .cpp files into a single executable ("build" in VC7, "make -f Assign1gnu.mk" or "make -f Assign1matlab.mk" with Linux/Unix).

[vi] Run the program. Depending on which output format you choose to work with a file called GNUplotTest2D.dat or MatlabPlotTest2D.dat will be created. Using GNUplot or Matlab as appropriate, view the data contained in these files as both a contour plot and a surface plot . Create a hardcopy of the plots and turn them in.

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What You Should Turn In

• A hardcopy of the surface and contour plots created.