P E R I O D I C =============== A program to display the periodic table and information about the elements for the Psion 3a. Version 1.414... (c) Anthony Kucernak, February 1995. [ark1000@cus.cam.ac.uk] This software is provided free of charge on the basis that it may only be distributed provided that this is done for free. Any distribution must include all of the files listed below in their original form. Filename Size Periodic.opa 11652 Periodic.dbf 23580 Periodic.pic 9620 Periodic.txt 10328 WHAT'S NEW ========== The following changes have been made to this version of Periodic: o Improved display of information on the elements. o Better editing within the section devoted to molecular weight calculation o Changes to the information on some of the elements. o A bug which stopped the program running off some SSDs has been fixed. INSTALLATION ============ NOTE: This installation procedure differs from the previous version of this program. The data files are now stored in a subdirectory of the APP directory in keeping with common practices. The OPA for this software, PERIODIC.OPA, should be copied into the \APP\ directory of any drive. A subdirectory should be created in this \APP\ directory called PERIODIC, i.e. \APP\PERIODIC\. The database file, PERIODIC.DBF, should then be copied into this directory. If you wish the program to start up quickly then you can also copy the screen image file, PERIODIC.PIC, into this directory as well. If you are short of space then you can omit this file. It can be re-created from within the program at any time. The information relating to where the files are stored is summarised below. \APP\ periodic.opa \APP\PERIODIC\ periodic.dbf periodic.pic (optional) The OPA file should be installed from the main screen as for other applications (using psion-I). START UP ======== On start-up the program should display the periodic table followed by an information screen detailing creation date etc. The program requires cA. 34K of memory to run. FINDING AN ELEMENT ================== Elements may be selected either by using the cursor keys or typing the symbol for that element. Using Cursor Keys ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The up/down/left/right arrow keys changes the currently selected element; similarly, pressing the PSION-key along with one of the arrow keys moves to the edge of the table. If an element remains selected for more than about one second, then information for that element is displayed in a window. Typing the symbol for an element ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By typing the characters that make up an elements symbol (e.g. Ru for ruthenium) it is possible to directly jump to an element. As there are a number of elements which have as there symbol only one letter (e.g. O, oxygen; F, fluorine), you must be fairly quick about typing in the two characters otherwise the cursor will lock onto the element which has as its symbol the single character which you have typed. For instance, If you wish to jump to iron (Fe) and press F, but wait a little too long, the cursor will remain on F and display information for fluorine. If this happens you must start again. If you type a wrong character, press ESCAPE or SPACE to cancel the character typed. Once you have found the element you want, information on that element will be displayed in the window above the table. Accessing information in this window is described in the following section. DISPLAYING INFORMATION ABOUT AN ELEMENT ======================================= Once an element has been selected, information about that element will be displayed in a window above the periodic table. By default the information displayed is about radioactive isotopes. Information about the element is stored as a scrollable list. Pressing the DIAMOND key will select the next item, pressing SHIFT-DIAMOND will select the previous item (SHIFT-right arrow, and SHIFT- left arrow may also be used). The current selection type will lock so that you can move across the periodic table and compare the selected characteristic across different elements. MENU ITEMS ========== The different menu items are accessed by pressing the menu key. There are two pull down menus. The first is COMPOUND, and at the moment only contains one component: MOLECULAR WEIGHT, this item is further discussed below. The second menu is labelled SPECIAL and contains three items: VERSION, SAVE IMAGE, and EXIT. VERSION shows the startup screen produced on entering the program, SAVE IMAGE is discussed below, and EXIT is obvious. Each of these items may be accessed without going through the menu system by pressing the Psion key and a letter at the same time. The mappings for these are given below: Key Menu Item ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ Psion-M Molecular Weight Psion-V Version Psion-I Save Image Psion-X Exit MOLECULAR WEIGHTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This program will determine the molecular weights of compounds typed in. This option is invoked either through invoking the menu system or pressing Psion-M. When entering molecular formulae you should type them in the same way as you write them. The following notes should be observed: -You must type the characters as they appear in the periodic table. i.e. you must type the correct case of the letters. e.g. Fe and not FE or fe for iron -Numbers always follow what they refer to. e.g. K2PtCl6 -You may use brackets (all of ({[<>]}) ) to include sub-units e.g. Fe3(CN)6 -Fractional stoichiometries are allowed e.g. WO3.33 The cursor keys may be used to move through the formula to edit it. The delete key may be used to delete the character to the left of the cursor. Psion-left arrow and Psion-right arrow move to the beginning and end of the formula; Psion-Delete clears the entire formula; ESC exits the formula calculator; ENTER calculates the molecular weight for the current formula. FAST START-UP (SAVE-IMAGE) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On start-up the program checks to see if the file 'periodic.pic' exists in the \APP\PERIODIC\ directory, and if it does, it uses it to quickly display the periodic table. If it does not find this file then it generates the image of the periodic table (this takes slightly longer). It is possible to save this image for fast start-up by using PSION-I (save image). THE DATABASE ============ The information for the periodic table is stored in a a database (periodic.dbf) in the \APP\PERIODIC\ directory. To my knowledge the information is correct, although there may be some mistakes. You can update or change the database by using the standard database application. The fourth field containing the atomic weight information should not be moved as the program will complain (the molecular weight routine assumes that the atomic weights occur in the fourth field of the database). The program will accept up to 20 fields in the database. I have filled in 17. Units for items in the database are assumed to be bracketed and stored with the field labels e.g. if you look at the field labels you will see that the fourth field is: Atomic weight(g/mol) The program splits out the (g/mol) and places it after the units when it displays them. If you find any errors/holes in the database please email me with the correct data so that I can correct it for the next release. TROUBLESHOOTING =============== Problem: Program issues an alert "Can't find periodic.dbf" on startup and then shuts down. Cause: On startup the program cannot find the database file, PERIODIC.DBF, in the directory \APP\PERIODIC\ on any drive. Solution: Make a directory called PERIODIC in the \APP directory of any drive and copy the PERIODIC.DBF file into it. Problem: Program issues an alert "The Atomic weight field must be the fourth field in the database" on startup. The program continues but will not correctly calculate molecular masses. Cause: Due to a limitation in the program, the atomic weight mass must be the fourth field and must contain "(g/mol)" in the label field. Solution: Reload the PERIODIC.DBF or undo any changes that have affected the atomic weight field in the database KNOWN BUGS ========== Currently the radioactive isotope information for the elements Ca, Au, Bi, U, Pu, Cm exceeds the available space for printing this information. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ================ I would like to thank those people who pointed out minor problems with the program. I would also like to thank Alan Roberts for pointing out a critical bug in this program and offering a solution. DONATIONS, BUGS, SUGGESTIONS ============================ If the program is of real use to you, then I suggest that you donate the equivalent of ten pounds sterling ($US 15) to Amnesty International. I would be interested to hear about any suggestions for improvements to the program as well as any bugs which you may find. My address: ark1000@cus.cam.ac.uk Anthony Kucernak