turbotux / cea-inpe

CEA-NASA new graphical interface proof-of-concept

CEA-INPE

CEA stands for "Chemical Equilibrium with Applications" and NASA means (for those who don't already know) "National Aeronautics and Space Administration".

According to program's home page (original text):

"The NASA Computer program CEA calculates chemical equilibrium compositions and properties of complex mixtures. Applications include assigned thermodynamic states, theoretical rocket performance, Chapman-Jouguet detonations, and shock-tube parameters for incident and reflected shocks. ... The program is written in ANSI standard FORTRAN by Bonnie J. McBride and Sanford Gordon..."

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Some history now (out of curiosity):

Original FORTRAN (or FORmula TRANslator) is a language created in 1954(!!!), and released commercially in 1957. The start of the CEA program took place when not even NASA was called NASA.

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To make a long story short, many calculations were incorporated into the program, which was renamed CEA in 1994 (and remains to this day).

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Fun fact: FORTRAN is the oldest commercial programming language. It has 11 revisions and improvements, and the lastest one was launched in 2018!!!

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Back to today

The current version of CEA uses a Java applet to create a graphical interface to use the FORTRAN code (which is a batch-program style) to run, but it has no restrictions and field validations, and with that need was born CEA-INPE.

CEA-INPE is a brand-new graphical user interface to use with CEA-NASA's core program.

Modest minimum system requirements are:

• Windows XP (SP3) compatible operating system - in this case mail me at [email protected] for me to provide another way to install, since MSI package in Windows XP is big trouble.
• .Net Framework 4 <-> 4.8 (just to plot charts, the new option. Thanks to Microsoft, the chart control only exists in .Net 4).
• 4MB disk free space (less than your high-res photo on desktop wallpaper)
• 12MB free RAM (even the first iPhone has it)

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• [UPDATE] I am proud to announce that CEA-INPE IS compatible even with the non-Windows operating system: ReactOS. It's an unimaginable programming breakthrough for me!

Just install the package downloaded (virus-free! If your antivirus says it has, it's lying) and run with the shortcut created in Start Menu, or on Desktop. Happy calculations!

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Version History

• 0.1 to 1.0 - making (and remaking) the user interface
• 1.1 to 1.2 - creating all field constraints to avoid any misplaced comma
• 1.3 - created first-ever installer
• 1.4 - created first-ever help file
• 1.5 - first public version
• 1.6 - help file adjusted
• 1.65 - forgot to update screenshots (damn!)
• 1.8 - typo revision
• 1.9 - second public version
• 1.99 - damn misplaced letters - checked all interface again!
• 2.0 - bug hunting
• 2.01 to 2.02 - bug smashing
• 2.03 to 2.13 - redesigned user-reactant window, with new constraints
• 2.14 - treats "," like "." to make calculations right
• 2.15 - first REALLY public version (forget all the past! Version history is merely informative) (The Three Stooges (Only, Omit and Insert tabs) still not working properly. Sorry.)
• 2.16 - I hope it doesn't exist anytime soon...
• 2.4 - jumped minor versions because a new milestone achieved! New window plot the items selected in "Other -> Output" tab. And it has a new splash screen too!
• 2.4.5 - fixed another bug that caused splash screen freeze on top of main window. Almost lost the plot window code during bug hunting thanks to mess by Visual Studio. Lost 2 entire weeks trying to find and crush the bug and recover plot funcionality. Now, back to improvements!