Required Operating Environment
LinkWinds (lwx2.3) runs on all SGI platforms running under IRIX 5 or
later, Sun workstations under Solaris 2.4 or later, HP-UX 9.xx and
Pentium-based PC's running Linux.
The LinkWinds software and documentation, exclusive of sample or user's
data files, is not very large, and requires about 6.5 MB of disk space.
The sample data sets provided take another 18.5 MB, for a total disk
space requirement of about 25 MB.
The LinkWinds executable file is 3 MB in size so that the RAM
requirements for the workstation are primarily dictated by the size of
the user's data sets. We suggest that the platform have a minimum of 32
MB, and as much additional RAM and swap space as is necessary to prevent
excessive or infinite paging when loading user data sets.
For optimal data display and manipulation, your workstation should have
at least 8-bit color and, if possible, z-buffering.
Installing Linkwinds On Your System
You will receive the software in a compressed tar file. The file
contains the LinkWinds executable and ancillary files and online
documentation.
If more than one user is to have access to LinkWinds, we recommend that
it be installed in a directory owned by root. In this case, each user can
establish a uniquely tailored LinkWinds execution directory following the
instructions below. For a single user, it can be installed in the user's
home directory.
Single User Case:
Uncompress and untar the software package in the location you would like
to place the installation. This will create a directory named LinkWinds-2.3.
To do this process, execute
uncompress lwx2.3-xxx.tar.Z
or
gunzip lwx2.3-xxx.tar.gz
as appropriate. "xxx" indicates the intended platform. After this,
untar the file with
tar xvof lwx2.3-xxx.tar
and the system will be installed. Alternately, the extraction can be
done with a single step using
zcat lwx2.3-xxx.tar.gz | tar xvof -
If you have had a previous installation of LinkWinds, make sure it is
in another directory and preserved until you can take relevant
information from your previous control files and use it to update the
new control files. Some of the control file formats have changed, so
don't simply replace the new files with old ones. You will need to edit
the new ones, adding the information specific to your use.
The sample data sets are in a separate package and should be installed the
same way as the executable code package.
Multi-User Case:
LinkWinds should be installed by the system administrator in a directory
accessible to all users. It can be in /usr/share, or /usr/people, for
instance. In the following instructions, we will assume it is in the
latter. Create the designated directory, and install the tar file as
described above in the single user case. This will install LinkWinds and
all of its files and directories on your system.
Setting Up an Individual User's Linkwinds Directory
For the case of multiple user access to LinkWinds, a script file named
setup_lw is provided to help each user configure a uniquely personal
LinkWinds directory. This allows all users to execute LinkWinds
simultaneously, with their own data and ancillary files, without
disturbing the system installation. To do this, create a sub-directory
in your home directory, for instance ~/mylw, from which to execute
LinkWinds. Then copy setup_lw from the system installation of LinkWinds
into that directory and execute it with the path to the system
installation as the argument. That is, type
setup_lw /usr/people/LinkWinds-2.3
(or whatever is the LinkWinds system directory path)
After executing this script, several files and directories will be
copied to your designated directory. Most of the files can be edited by
you to tailor the installation to your own needs or preferences. A
description of each file, and how it can be edited is given in the online
documentation.
If you had a previous LinkWinds installation, and you're using the same
directory, the previous files are saved with the extension .O. You can
subsequently copy information from them to the new files, as needed, and
discard them if you wish.
NOTE: Online documentation can be read by executing
ReadDocs
