For the interactive graphing screen, the user can enter an expression representing a function of a single variable x, a polar function of t, or a set of parametric equations that are functions of t. Various controls are provided to change the viewing window, for shifting horizontally and vertically, and for zooming in or out.
For the non-interactive graphing screen, the screen is populated when the user click a link created by \sgraphLink. \sgraphLink passes such information as the function,domain, and range to the graphing routines of AcroFLeX.
Graphing data can also be passed to a graphing screen in populate mode. The document author can prepare functions for the user to view and to manipulate using the graphing controls.
In this version of AcroFLeX, up to four functions can be graphed and four sets of plotted points can be displayed, on one graphing screen.
The graph screen itself is actually a SWF file, named acroflex.swf. This SWF file is part of the AcroFLeX distribution. This package uses the rmannot package, also written by this author, to create rich media annotations, to embed acroflex.swf in the PDF document, and to display the SWF through the rich media annotation.
The distribution is contained in acroflex.zip, the documentation is included, but we also link it on this page as well, acroflex_man.pdf. The ultimate demo file is afgraph.pdf; this demo illustrates the capabilities of the AcroFLeX Graphing System. If you don't have Adobe Reader 9, the graphing screens will not activate.
You also need to pick the the latest versions of AeB (acrotex_pack.zip) and AeB Pro (aebpro.zip), there were minor, yet important additions to these packages in support of both rmannot and AcroFLeX.
Background
Version 9 of Acrobat/Adobe Reader introduces the rich media annotation which plays FLV movies, and SWF animations, and MP3 files. Acrobat/Adobe Reader also provides a scripting bridge between JavaScript for Acrobat, and ActionScript, the scripting language of Flash player. This bridge enables the PDF and the Flash widget, embedded in the rich media annotation, to communicate. The scripting bridge opens up wonderful opportunities for application to the education sector. The AcroFLeX Graphing Bundle is one such application of the new PDF-Flash connection to education.
AcroFLeX uses the commercial product Adobe FLEX Builder 3 and FLEX 3 SDK to produce Flash widgets, and the AeB to create PDF documents with appropriate JavaScript to communicate with the Flash widget. FLEX Builder 3 is currently free for students and educators, the FLEX 3 SDK is free to all.
What is AcroFLeX?
The word AcroFLeX is meant to convey a merging of two computer technologies:
- Acro: connotes both Adobe Acrobat (Adobe Reader) and AcroTeX} (as in the AcroTeX} eDucation Bundle or, just AeB).
- FLEX: connotes Adobe FLEX 3. FLEX 3 is used to create SWF files to interact with the user. In the case of graphing, plotting information is passed from Acrobat, via JavaScript, to the Flash widget. ActionScript takes the data, and plot the points provided, and connects them with a smooth curve.
The Distribution
The distribution is contained in the acroflex.zip file.
You also need to pick the the latest versions of AeB (acrotex_pack.zip) and AeB Pro (aebpro.zip), there were minor, yet important additions to these packages in support of both rmannot and AcroFLeX.