Frequently Asked Questions about SSS Modules

General

• Why doesn't the program notice when I type in a new number into the entry box (or type my name into the name field, ...)

  The program doesn't want to hear about partial numbers. (If you start typing .3, the ``.'' isn't a number.) It listens only after you type Enter. If the number is red, it hasn't been entered to the computer yet.

• Why does it say ``Error reading [link.html]'' when I click on a link in the documentation in the program?

  The documentation is both enclosed with the programs and is available on the Web. A few of the links are to Web pages in the world at large, which the hypertext help doesn't know how to access. You can fire up your favorite browser and look at [link.html] directly, of course.

• How can I get a printed output of my graph?

  The program only knows how to write a PostScript file: you can also capture the screen as an image.

  • To generate PostScript, use Copy Graph. You may want to combine several plots using steal data. Use save postscript... to produce a PostScript file on your hard disk.
  • If you have a PostScript printer, you're mostly done. You can also download GhostView for your machine: we're told that you need to open GhostView and print without viewing the file first.
  • On Macs, you hold down Shift and apple while pressing the number 3: this should produce a file ``picture N'' in the main hard-drive folder, with a screen shot.
  • On PC's, you select the window you want shot (by clicking in it), and then hold down Alt while hitting Print Screen. This loads the plot into the clipboard: paste into Microsoft Word or other application.

Macintosh

• How do I zoom? I don't have a right button! The graphs allow zooming either with the right button, or with the left (or only) button together with holding down the Control key.
  • Hold down the Control key.
  • Push the mouse button down at one corner of the region you wish to see. (Just push and release to return to the whole plot.)
  • Drag the mouse to the other corner of the region you want to zoom into.
  • Release the mouse button.
  • Release the Control key.
• Why does the machine sometimes not respond when I hit a button or open a window? On Macs, when changing windows the first click is used up in changing the focus: try clicking again on the button.

Statistical Mechanics: Entropy, Order Parameters, and Complexity, now available at Oxford University Press (USA, Europe).