VCP Help

How to Load a Module

Modules are loaded using the module chooser. There are two ways to access the module chooser.
  1. Click the Load Module button in the main window.
  2. Select File > Load Module....
The module chooser provides a list of modules to choose from. Some modules may be in categories. Categories are indicated by a folder icon. To expand or collapse a category, double click it. You can click on a module to view an abstract of what the module is about. To load a selected module, click OK.

Using the Visualization

After choosing a module using the module chooser, the exposition should be opened in your preferred PDF file viewer. When you are done with the exposition, you can click in the main window to view the visualization.

The identity that corresponds to the visualization is given within the visualization. It is either shown at the top of the screen or labelled elsewhere. To begin the visualization, click the Start Visualization button found in the bottom right-hand corner of the visualization screen. Each visualization contains explanatory text that serves to clarify what is happening in the visualization. After you have read the text and understand what is taking place on the screen, you may click Continue to take you to the next piece of the visualization. You also have the option of controlling the speed of the visualization By using the slider on the bottom left of the screen, you can alter the pace of the animation at any time from slow to fast. If you would like to go through the visualization step-by-step, click the Pause button. You can then Step through that piece of the visualization. Note that you can "pause" the visualization before beginning, which allows you to step through from the beginning. To resume animation, click the Play button. Once the visualization is complete, the Continue button says Done, and the other buttons are also greyed out.

The visualizations also contain a toolbar on the left side of the screen that allows the user to easily navigate through the modules. There is an option to view the Common Definitions file should you need it and to bring up the Exposition if you have closed it. You can Restart the current visualization if you so desire or you can Load another module.

PDF Problems

Where can I get a PDF file viewer application?

Adobe (http://www.adobe.com) offers a free viewer application called Acrobat Reader for download (Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux are supported).

How do I use a different PDF file viewer application than what VCP uses by default?

If you are running VCP as an application (not as an applet on the web), select File > PDF Preferences... and specify the path to the PDF viewer you would like to use. If you are using VCP as an applet on the web, the application used to view the PDF files is determined by either your web browser or your operating system.

I am using Mac OS X, and some PDF files display as mostly garbage.

By default, Mac OS X uses the Preview application to view PDF files. Unfortunately, this application has trouble displaying some PDF files. The best remedy is to install Adobe Acrobat Reader. There are two ways to get VCP to use Adobe Acrobat instead of preview:
  1. If you are running VCP as an application (not as an applet on the web), you can set the program you want VCP to use to display PDF files. This is described in the previous section.
  2. You can set OS X to use Adobe Acrobat as the default application for displaying PDF files. This can be done by finding a PDF file in the Finder and selecting it. Click File > Get Info. Expand the "Open With" section of the window that appears. Choose Adobe Acrobat as the default application, and then click the "Change All..." button.

An error is displayed instead of displaying a PDF file.

I am using VCP as an applet on the web, and PDF files do not load when they should.

This is probably due to pop-up blocking. VCP asks the browser to load a PDF file in a new window, but most pop-up blocking software thinks this is an unwanted pop-up. It is recommended that you disable pop-up blocking for the site hosting the VCP applet.

I am using VCP as an application with a distribution of Linux, and PDF files do not load when they should.

By default, VCP is set to use application xpdf to display PDF files in Linux. If this application is not installed or is not in the path, PDF files will not be displayed. To remedy this, specify the PDF file viewer application to use by selecting File > PDF Preferences....