Note: This page is rather sketchy but should suffice until a better one is written. The interface to the tangle calculator will be completely redone in the near future.
The tangle calculator is a stack based calculator for tangles, the top four tangles in the stack are displayed. To use the tangle calculator, select the appropriate option from the pop-up menus. The buttons on the top of the control panel have functions that can be divided into four categories.
The sliders on the bottom of the panel have the following functions:
- tgfuzz
- controls a small amount of jitter added to the position of each bead.
- tgspace
- controls amount of space between beads when a tangle is created.
- tg1*off
- controls how much offset there is when the tangle is pasted into its 1* polyhedron, you might want it about 2 or so.
- tgvas
- cylinders with length less than this number are split in two recusively
- scale and offset
- just control the display of the tangle stack
One other problem with the tangle calculator is that if you don't exit properly (say, by pressing the blank button with other than 1 tangle) it might leave you with the tangle calc panel displayed but inactive. In a case light that use the pop-up menus to go to a different control panel or to reenter the tangle calculator.
Examples of knots and links created with the tangle calculator can be found at the KnotPlot Site.