file: INSTALL			G. Moody		3 April 2001
				Last revised:	      11 October 2002
Compiling and installing `plt'
==============================

Under Unix or Linux:
--------------------

 * Enter the `src' directory:
	cd src
 * Make any needed changes to the site-dependent variables in `Makefile', and
   to the shell scripts `plt', `lwcat', and `gvcat'.
 * Compile and install `plt' by typing:
	make install
   You may need root privileges for this step unless you have changed the
   installation directories in `Makefile'.  If the `make' command fails,
   read `Makefile' to see how to proceed.
 * To test the installation, start your X server if it is not running already,
   then from a terminal window, type:
	make xdemo
   If you have `gv' (included in most Linux distributions, and freely
   available from http://wwwthep.physik.uni-mainz.de/~plass/gv/), you can
   see the same demonstration in PostScript format by typing:
	make psdemo 
 * (Optional)  If you wish to generate PNG images using `lwcat -png', install
   ImageMagick (free download from http://www.imagemagick.org/) if you have
   not already done so.  Most Linux distributions include ImageMagick already.

Under MS-Windows:
-----------------

There are two suggested methods for installing `plt' if you are using
MS-Windows.

Method A:
 * Install Linux, then follow the instructions above.  Try it, you'll like it!

Method B:
 * You will need to obtain and install several packages of free software that
   provide the components of the Unix/Linux environment needed by `plt':
   - First, download and install the free Cygwin development environment
     (from http://cygwin.com/).   In the `Select Packages' dialog, you will
     see a collapsed tree view of the numerous packages available.  Unless
     you are certain that you won't need them, don't deselect any of the
     default choices.  The following packages are not selected by default;
     they are optional but highly recommended:
	Math/bc		needed if you wish to use 'pltf' for function plotting
	XFree86/*	needed if you wish to make screen plots with 'plt'
   - In order to display PostScript output from `plt', download and install
     GhostScript and GSView (both available from http://ghostscript.com/).
     GhostScript can also be used to print PostScript output on almost any
     printer.  The versions of GhostScript currently available from the Cygwin
     site do not appear to be compatible with GSView.
   - If you wish to produce PNG images (e.g., for the web), obtain and install
     ImageMagick (ftp://ftp.imagemagick.org/pub/ImageMagick/).
   Do not attempt to use a commercial C compiler to compile `plt';  it won't
   work, because `plt' uses POSIX (Unix) interfaces that are not available
   under MS-Windows except when using Cygwin gcc.
 * Open a Cygwin terminal emulator window (the Cygwin installation will have
   created a desktop icon for this), and perform the remaining steps by typing
   into it.
 * Enter the `src' directory:
	cd src
 * If you did not install Cygwin and GSView in the default locations, make
   appropriate changes in `gvcat.msw'.  This is a text file;  you can edit it
   with `emacs' or `vi', included with Cygwin, or with MS-Windows Notepad.
 * Compile and install `plt' by typing:
	make install
 * To test the installation, try this:
	make psdemo
   If you have installed XFree86, start the X server (e.g., using 'startx')
   if it is not running already, and then (from an X terminal window) type:
	make xdemo
