Explorations in Complex Variables with Accompanying Applets

Chapter 6: Circle Packing

This chapter is about discrete analytic function theory based on "circle packing". The software here is a Java Application called "CirclePack" (not an applet as in the earlier chapters). Sample information can be downloaded from Ken Stephenson's web site; see the hidden directory http://www.math.utk.edu/~kens/MathBook.

CirclePack is downloaded as "CirclePackX.jar" (currently, "CirclePack1.jar"). It is normally run with the various "scripts" referred to in the chapter text. Few of those scripts are in final form, but a few examples are included at the above site, along with screen shots showing how each should look after one runs through it.

To run CirclePack with, e.g., "Sam532Pack.xmd":
  1. From a command shell, execute java -jar CirclePack1.jar Sam532Pack.xmd.
  2. Alternately, assuming CirclePack1.jar and the scripts are on your Desktop, double click on the CirclePack1.jar icon. After it starts, bring up a file chooser with a click on the yellow file icon near the bottom left of the CirclePack control window.
In either case, after CirclePack has a script in place, you can simply click the "Next" button to execute the prepared commands. Caution: allow time between clicks to let the system keep up.


In the future, readers will be able to get updated versions and more extensive help on Stephenson's web site.