Matrex

File Release Notes and Changelog

Release Name: 1.3 prerelease

Notes:
[ Matrex version 1.3 - Readme ]

Matrex is a tool that gives you the same functionalities of a classic spreadsheet application in a new, different way.
Matrex is excellent when working with blocks of data coming from databases, feeds, files, external applications, simulations.
Matrex is different because:

   1. The functions (formulas) are applied to entire blocks of data (called matrices), not to single cells.
   2. Presentations and charts are visible only when you want, not all the time.
   3. Calculations don't block the application and can be done in parallel (multithreading).

Matrex is different but it has everything you need: presentations (spreadsheets) and charts.

Matrex is the perfect tool for mathematical models and for other statistical, engineering, physical, and generally scientific calculations.

The Matrex homepage is http://matrex.sourceforge.net.

The licences used by Matrex or the libraries it uses are available in the 
legal folder. Matrex is covered by the GNU GPL 2 and any derivative work 
based on it must also be covered by this licence.

To run, Matrex 1.3 needs:
- Java Runtime version 1.5 or higher (is also called Java5).
- Optionally Java3D (http://java.sun.com/products/java-media/3D/) to have 3D charts.

Matrex 1.3 uses the following products:
- SWT (http://www.eclipse.org) for the graphical user interface
- JFreeChart (http://www.jfree.org/jfreechart/index.php) for the 2D charts
- FreeHep (http://java.freehep.org/index.html) for the 3D charts
- Jython (http://www.jython.org) as embedded scripting language
- Apache Commons Math (http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/math/) to calculate pure matrices 
functions and statistical functions
- Lucene (http://lucene.apache.org/) as search engine for the context help
- JExcelApi (http://www.andykhan.com/jexcelapi/) to read/write xls files
- IzPack (http://www.izforge.com/izpack/) to install Matrex
- Antlr (http://www.antlr.org) to parse the SQL queries in the ISQL module
- Paperclips (http://paperclips.sourceforge.net/) to print
- JavaCsv (http://sourceforge.net/projects/javacsv/) to read/write csv files
- SWT Web Installer (http://osdepinstaller.sourceforge.net/) to download SWT if it is not installed
- ISQLLib (http://isqllibrary.sourceforge.net/) to query matrices using SQL.

Notes for the "generic" installation:

The generic installation does not contain the SWT library, which is the only library that depends by the platform.
It installs the SWT library from the internet the first time Matrex is started.
Therefore it can be install everywhere SWT is supported (32 bits and 64 bits platforms).

If you install the generic version, you need to:
1) Start Matrex the first time from the command line (cmd.exe in Windows, bash in Linux...)
2) Matrex comes with 2 batch file to start it: matrex_generic.bat, for the Windows  platforms, and matrex_generic.sh, for the Unix/Linux/MacOSX platforms. If they don't work please adapt one of them to your platform.
3) Matrex will try to install SWT from the internet. Please answer to the question it asks (if you have a proxy, which proxy, from which site you want to install SWT).
4) If everything goes well, start Matrex once again. This time the application should start as usual.

In case of troubles, check the "Support" page in http://matrex.sourceforge.net.



Changes:
Matrex 1.3. Release notes

This is a pre-release version of Matrex 1.3.

The purpose of this version is to improve stability and usability. Many new features.

Changes from version 1.2

New Functions:

- Fourier transformations
- Matrix generation template (gen) to generate small matrices. To use in the expression parser.
- direct search solver (Nelder Mead)
- substringby (begin end matrices)

GUI:
- "columns fit" button in matrix and presentation viewer
- function viewer
- high low charts
- plugins dialog
- search bar for the trees
- menu to move items in tree
- possibility to overwrite a base matrix as output of a function
- expression parser checks optional parameters (which are not required)
- callback output matrices (see the direct search solver)
- use SWT web browser to show help and export of matrices and presentations

Test:
- Big part of the project covered by unit testing.
- GUI unit testing, thanks to SWTBot (http://swtbot.sourceforge.net)
- Tested with Findbugs (http://findbugs.sourceforge.net)

Other:

- matrix content saved in CSV files to remove limitations
- ISQLLib is now a separated library
- class loader based on configuration files