3D Graph Tool for Plotting Expressions of the Form of "z = f(x,y)"

This VCSSL program is a simple tool which plots the expression (formula) of the form of "z = f(x,y)" to the 3D graph.

How to Use

Requirements

Download and Launch this program

At first, click the "Download and Run" button at the above of the title of this page by your PC. Then a ZIP file will be downloaded, so please extract it (by selecting "Extract All" from right-clicking menu).

Next, open the extracted folder and execute "VCSSL.jar" (Executable JAR File). You may execute the JAR "VCSSL.jar" file by double-clicking, or opening by Java® Runtime Environment (JRE) from right-clicking menu, etc.

If you want to edit this program...

Execute "VCSSL_Editor.jar" instead of "VCSSL.jar" to edit this program. Then a program-editor window will be launched. You can execute the edited program by clicking the blue-triangle button at the left-bottom of the editor window.

This program is written in the VCSSL programming language. It has simple C-like syntax, so if you are accustomed with C-like language (e.g. C, C++, C#, Java®), you might be able to custom this program.

After Launching

Windows and UI

The following two-windows will be launched. The left one is the input-window, and the right one is the graph-window.

Input an Expression to Plot

At first, please input an expression you want to plot into the text field labeled with "z(x,y) =" at the top of the input-window. There are some points to write the expression:

Plot a Graph

After inputting the expression, please click "PLOT" button at the middle of the input-window, and the expression will be plot to the 3D graph.

The graph will be drawn as a membrane graph of "x-N" ☓ "y-N" mesh. You can modify the value of "x-N" "y-N" on the input-window. Larger value of "x-N" and "y-N" makes graph more smooth.

Plot new Expressions over the Current Graph

If you want to plot other expressions over the current graph, simply modify the expression of "z(x,y) =" text-field, and click again "PLOT" button. The new expression will be plotted over the current graph.

As the default settings, the graph is colored by the gradation toward z-direction, so it might be difficult to distinguish multiple membranes. In that situation, you can disable the gradation coloring mode by disabling "Gradation (Z)" checkbox from the "Option" menu at the top of the graph-window. Then the multiple each membranes will be colored by different colors as followings:

Clear All Contents of the Current Graph

If you want to clear all contents of the current graph, please click "CLEAR" button at middle of the input-window.

Other Features

If you want to change the background color to white from black, please disable "Black Screen" checkbox from the "Option" menu at the top of the graph-window. The white background is suitable for printing use, and black background is suitable for monitor of PC.

Also, if you want to plot a 3D graph as a mesh, not a menbrane, please disable "With Membranes" option and enable "With Meshes" option, from the "Option" menu on the menu bar at the top of the graph window.

You can modify other settings from "Edit" menu at the top of the graph-window, e.g. X & Y & Z ranges of the graph, labels of X & Y & Z axes, scales, light & camera, colors, etc.

You also can save settings and save the image of the current graph, from "File" menu at the top of the graph-window.

Code

This code is written in VCSSL.

License

The license of this VCSSL code (the file with the extension ".vcssl") is Public Domain (CC0), so you can customize / divert / redistribute this VCSSL code freely.