search site  |  contact us  HOME PRODUCTS DOWNLOADS SALES SUPPORT NEWS CrystalMaker 4.1.4 Pyramidal polyhedra and sharper responses... A pyramidal polyhedron, with no central atom 11 May 2001. CrystalMaker version 4.1.4 is now shipping, with free updates available to existing CrystalMaker 4 customers. Continuing in our series of free, incremental program updates, this latest version includes new power features and "behind-the-scenes" code improvements. A number of bugs have been fixed in this latest, incremental update, including a rare problem with the display of "two-tone" bonds in polyhedral plots, and better polyhedral volume calculations, using the Info tool. The major new feature added since CrystalMaker 4.1 was released, is support for pyramidal polyhedra. In most systems, polyhedra represent clusters of "vertex" atoms around a central atom, forming an enclosed, three-dimensonal shape. In some systems, however, the "central" atom is displaced from the centre of a polyhedron, and is itself a vertex atom. The "coordination polyhedron" is therefore hollow, and resembles a pyramid (illustrated top right, where the top, blue atom, is the "central" atom). CrystalMaker versions 4.1.2 and later now provide automatic recognition of such cases. Other new features include greatly-improved mouse tracking during z-rotation of structures, plus on-the-fly switching between xy- and z-rotation. (Previously, to switch rotation modes from, say, xy- to z-rotation, it was necessary to stop rotation, release the mouse button, press the shift key, then start rotating again.) You can now press or release the shift key at any time during continuous rotation, in order to toggle the rotation mode. This makes for far more seamless control over the structure's orientation. The text tool has been improved, with new text boxes adopting the current text settings, rather than resetting to default values. In addition, you can press the "enter" key to dismiss the Edit Crystal dialog, without having to click the "done" button. Other improvements include a more reliable "Define Cluster" command, and more robust handling for the import of non-CrystalMaker text files. We are making a free CrystalMaker update available to existing CrystalMaker 4 customers, via our web site. (This is a compliance-checking update, requiring successful installation and licensing of an earlier version of CrystalMaker 4 on your Mac.) © 2008 CrystalMaker Software Limited. All rights reserved worldwide.