Rotating Calipers Applet
The applet
It is recommended to use Sun's Java Plugin, since the applet uses the latest
Java version 1.1 classes, as well the Java Foundation Classes 1.1 Swing
classes.
Unless you are sure that your system has all the necessary files, the Java
Plugin is the best solution. The plugin-enabled applet page will direct you to the proper website for downloading the Java Plugin for your system (if it is not already installed).
Normal applet (JDK 1.1)
Applet using Java Plugin 1.1
How to use the applet
The applet is extremely simple to use. It runs in its own window. Please wait until the window appears to start using the applet. On the left side of the windows is a panel with all
the necessary controls. The main area is a "desktop" where the drawing window
appears. The bottom panel shows some useful information about the polygons.
The controls panel is divided in three panes, dividing the one-polygon
controls, the two-polygon controls, and the animation settings.
The drawing area can be resized and moved anywhere on the applet windows' desktop area. A smaller drawing area will draw faster and provide smoother animation.
To draw a polygon, simply click on the drawing area to add points in order.
Only convex polygons are allowed. You can clear the polygon(s) at any time by
clicking the clear polygon button on the controls panel.
To draw a second polygon, switch the button on the two-polygon pane to
"Polygon 2".
Then simply click one of the buttons on the left to display or animate operations on the polygon(s). The animation settings can be changed during an animation. Note: unless all displayed features and animations are stopped (not paused), it is not possible to clear any polygons.
Source code
Source code (to use with JDK 1.1) is available for download in both Windows (zip) format and UNIX (tar.gz) format.
December 17th, 1998