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Downloading DATAPLOT for Unix Hosts
Contact Information
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July 2009.
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Introduction
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June 2009
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Dataplot is a command driven program. You can optionally run Dataplot using a graphical user interface (GUI) that is implemented using the Tcl/Tk scripting language. Reference will be made below to the "command line" version and the "GUI" version. The download involves the following components:
Problems with Downloading
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Sometimes users do have problems downloading Dataplot from
the web pages. Note that I do not maintain the NIST ftp/web
servers (I do provide the content for Dataplot, but I am
not a system adminstrator for these servers). Downloading
problems may be caused by firewalls, ftp/browser
configurations, etc.
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In particular, the following two problems can sometimes occur.
I simply do not have the time or expertise to diagnose these types of problems. I can check to see if our ftp server is up, but not much beyond that. If you are unable to download via the web, you can do the following:
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Post Downloading Instructions
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What You Should Have
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At this point, I am assuming the following:
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Installing the Dataplot Executable
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The Dataplot executable file can be installed in any
convenient location. However, one reasonble choice is to
install it in the /usr/local/bin directory.
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You probably need to be "superuser" to create or add files to this directory. If you do not have superuser priveleges (and getting the cooperation of your local system administrator is an issue), then a good alternative is ~/bin. The above are simply convenient conventions. You can in fact install it anyplace you wish. In the discussion below, I assume you are using /usr/local/bin. If not, replace /usr/local/bin with the appropriate directory in the instructions below.
Installing the Dataplot Auxillary Files
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I recommend installing the Dataplot auxillary files in the
directory /usr/local/lib/dataplot.
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You probably need to be "superuser" to create or add files to this directory. If you do not have superuser priveleges (and getting the cooperation of your local system administrator is an issue), then a good alternative is ~/lib/dataplot. The above are simply convenient conventions. You can in fact install these files anyplace you wish. In the discussion below, I assume you are using /usr/local/lib/dataplot. If not, replace /usr/local/lib/dataplot with the appropriate directory in the instructions below.
Testing Dataplot Installation: Command Line Version
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You can test the installation of the command line version of
Dataplot by entering the following commands.
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dataplot device 1 x11 call minitest.dp exit
Installing the Dataplot GUI
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When you unpacked the Dataplot auxillary files, the following
two directories should have been created:
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It is assumed that Tcl/Tk and Expect are already installed on your system. The Dataplot GUI will still run if the Expect software is not installed (the Tcl/Tk software is required). Make a note of the location of these utilities on your local system (typically, this will be /usr/local/bin and /usr/local/lib or /usr/bin and /usr/lib). If you are not sure where they are installed, you can enter the command
which wish Dataplot uses the following environment variables to identify the location of the Dataplot menu files and script files respectively:
setenv XDP_CODE <directory for frontend script files>
setenv TK_LIBRARY <pathname>/lib/tk For convenience, the script file xdataplot (this should be copied to /usr/local/bin or some other directory in your default path) is provided. This script defines the above environment variables and then calls /usr/local/lib/dataplot/frscript/xdp (which is the main script for the Dataplot GUI). You should manually edit the xdataplot file to make sure that the enviornment variables are set correctly for your system. The following is a typical setup for this file: #!/bin/csh -f # # Script to run DATAPLOT graphical user interface. # # This script should be modified to indicate the location # of certain executables, libraries, directories on your # local system. # # The following 2 environment variables should specify # where the Tcl/Tk version 8 libraries reside on your # system. setenv TCL_LIBRARY /usr/local/lib/tcl8.3 setenv TK_LIBRARY /usr/local/lib/tk8.3 # # The following environment variable specifies where # the menu files reside. setenv XDP_FILE /usr/local/lib/dataplot/frmenus # # The following environment variable specifies where # the menu files reside. setenv XDP_CODE /usr/local/lib/dataplot/frscript # # Following line may be required for some Sun platforms # unsetenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH # # execute front-end script /usr/local/lib/dataplot/frscript/xdp $argvSet the environment variables in this file to match the location of the directories on your system. The first line of the file /usr/local/lib/dataplot/frscript/xdp is something like
If you are not running Expect, then the first line should be something like:
In order to run the front-end, enter the following command:
xdpConfig File
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The fscript directory contains the file
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Installation Problems
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If you have problems with the installation, contact
Alan Heckert
for assistance.
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Privacy
Policy/Security Notice
NIST is an agency of the U.S.
Commerce Department.
Date created: 6/5/2001 |