When you double-click on the SHAPE application icon, the Startup Window appears. Usually you will choose one of the buttons or select the File menu, both of which give the choice of starting a new file, opening an old file or importing data.
When you double-click on a SHAPE data file (.shp file) the file is read in and you see an message box giving you the choice of calculating the crystal or cancelling (see below).
The first time you run SHAPE you may want to check the dialogs in the Settings menu, especially the Preferences dialog. If you intend to use a pen plotter, you should select the Pen Plotter Settings command, and verify or change the settings as needed. Likewise, you many need to change or verify the PostScript Settings.
Opening an old crystal file. You can read in one of the sample files (in the \SAMPLES sub-directory), using the Open button or the command in the File menu. Alternatively, when SHAPE is not active, you can double click on one of the SHAPE data files (.shp files). Note that SHAPE for Windows cannot directly read files from SHAPE for DOS V4.1 or earlier - such files must be converted using the utility program FILEUP.
Entering a new crystal. You can enter a new crystal with the NEWFILE item in the File menu. This will step automatically through the Title/Axes, Symmetry, and Forms dialogs from the Input1 menu.
After an old SHAPE data set has been read in or a new data set entered, you are asked if you want to "..calculate now". If you reply Yes, the crystal is calculated and should appear in the Graphics Window after a short time. If you reply No, the Graphics window is blank when it opens; you can then modify the data for the crystal or the display parameters using the menus and dialogs, as described in Chapter III. When corrections or additions have been made, use the Calculate command in the File menu.
Importing data from a crystallographic file. The Import sub-menu in the File menu allows importation of unit cell, crystal class and space group from many types of crystallographic files.
The Calculate command in the File menu and the Replot command in the Display menu (both are also in the Dialog Bar - Left) are two of the most important and frequently-used in SHAPE. Calculate reproduces crystal faces by symmetry, locates corners and identifies edges, and then plots the crystal in the Graphics window. You must use this command if you change anything which affects the number and location of corners or edges. This includes many parameters in the dialogs of the Input1 menu, although there are are also some parameters, mostly colors, whose changes do not require recalculation. Replot simply redraws the crystal without changing the configuration of faces, corners and edges. Changes in any of the parameters in the dialogs of the Input2 menu can be put into effect with Replot.