Tim Scheitlin (2/8/2002
4:03 PM)
CURRENT VERSION: V1.0.02082002
The current version
requires installation of the VGEE Visualization Environment (Steps 7 and 8
below). Also, I recommend installing the
most current VisAD file (Steps 1 and 5).
New
Limitations/Bugs/Odd Behavior
This document describes how to install
the VGEE Visualization Environment and the prerequisite software needed to run
the application. The following list
shows what components are needed, and I recommend installing each, one at a
time, testing the installation as you go.
Hopefully we can eventually automate this process for the user.
If you have already downloaded and
installed the prerequisite software (Java2, Java3D, OpenGL, VisAD, and the
Unidata Metapps Libraries) and only want to update the latest version of the
VGEE Visualization Environment Application, you can skip to STEP 7.
Create a temporary installation directory
(INSTALL_DIR) on your system, and download VGEEprereqs.zip
to this directory. After the download
completes, use an archiving utility such as winzip to unpack the VGEEprereq.zip
file in this location (Winzip is available from http://www.winzip.com).
During unpacking, a new subdirectory is
created in INSTALL_DIR:
prereqs – Components that the VGEE
Visualization Environment is dependant on.
If you already have a version of Java2
installed that pre-dates v1.3.1, uninstall it before proceeding. If you want to install a more up-to-date
version than v1.3.1 or the SDK version, visit http://www.javasoft.com
for the latest release.
Otherwise, change directory to
INSTALL_DIR\prereqs\java2.
Open the j2re-1_3_1_win application
(double click) to start the installation and setup program. Follow the
on-screen instructions.
After the installation program finishes,
test if Java 2 was successfully installed by opening a “Command Prompt” window
and typing “java –version”. A statement
should return saying “Java version 1.3.1”.
If not, and you get an “unrecognized command” error, chances are your
PATH environment variable does not point to the directory that contains the
java.exe application (type “set” in the command prompt window to view your
current PATH settings). If necessary,
use the following procedure to set your PATH to the appropriate directory:
Windows9X
Use the sysedit command to edit your
autoexec.bat file. If you chose the
default options during installation, edit your path variable to include the
following, or, if you chose something other than the default location, edit the
path to point to the appropriate bin directory.
C:\Program Files\JavaSoft\JRE\1.3.1\bin;
Windows2K
Open your “Environment Variables Window”
(select “My Computer”->”Control Panel”->”System”. Select the “Advanced Tab” and then the
“Environment Variables” button). Edit
your path variable. When I installed
this on my Windows 2000 platform, the setup program automatically put a copy of
java.exe into the C:\WINNT\system32 directory, which was already in my PATH,
and I did not need to add the C:\Program Files\JavaSoft|JRE… directory as
specified above.
Open a new Command Prompt window,
check the path, and test the “java –version” command again.
OpenGL is required
by the Java3D component. Check that your
system has OpenGL installed by doing a file search on “*opengl*”
(Start->Search->For files or Folders).
It may already be on your system.
Note: OpenGL comes standard with Windows NT. If OpenGL is not installed on your system,
try the following website for the free libraries and installation instructions. Note: I have not tested downloading and
installing OpenGL.
For Windows 95
ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/Softlib/MSLFILES/OPENGL95.EXE
If you already have a version of Java3D
installed that pre-dates version 1.2.1, uninstall it before continuing. If you want to install a more up-to-date
version than v1.2.1 or the SDK version, visit http://www.javasoft.com
for the latest release.
Otherwise, change directory to
INSTALL_DIR\prereqs\java3D. Open the
java3d-1_2_1_01-win32-opengl-rt application (double click) to start the
installation and setup program. Follow
the on-screen instructions.
After the installation program
completes, test the installation by opening a “Command Prompt” window and then
change directory to INSTALL_DIR\prereqs\java3D\test. Type “RUNME.windows.spheremotion.bat”. If your installation is successful, a window
with rotating spheres will animate.
Change directory to
INSTALL_DIR\prereqs\visad. Copy the
visad.jar file to a permanent installation directory of your choice, such as
“C:\VGEEviz\visad\visad.jar”, and then set your CLASSPATH environment variable
so that it points to the location where you moved the file. For example:
Windows9X
Use the sysedit command to edit your
autoexec.bat file. Create or edit a line
that sets the CLASSPATH variable and includes the current directory “.” (if not
already there) and a pointer to the visad.jar file. (Tip: Make sure not to add
spaces around the “=” sign):
SET CLASSPATH=.;C:\VGEEviz\visad\visad.jar;
Windows2K
Open your “Environment Variables Window”
(select “My Computer”->”Control Panel”->”System”. Select the “Advanced Tab” and then the
“Environment Variables” button). Edit/Create
your CLASSPATH variable to include the current directory, “.” (if not already there),
and a pointer to the visad.jar file:
.;C:\VGEEviz\visad\visad.jar;
To test a correct
installation, open a new “Command Prompt” window. Type “set” and verify your CLASSPATH is set
as expected. If it is correct, type
“java visad.ss.SpreadSheet 1 1”. A VisAD
SpreadSheet window will appear. Try
loading an image by selecting the “File” menu, and then the “Import data…”
option. Select the INSTALL_DIR\prereqs\visad\learnerGfx.jpg
file. Once the file is loaded, it should
appear in a 3D box that can be rotated with your mouse. If you cannot rotate the image, this
indicates that there may be a problem with your Java3D installation. Try reinstalling Java3D.
More detailed
information about VisAD is available here: http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~billh/visad.html
Change directory to
INSTALL_DIR\prereqs\metapps. Copy the
metapps.jar file to a permanent installation directory of your choice, such as
“C:\VGEEviz\metapps\metapps.jar”, and then set your CLASSPATH environment
variable so that it points to the location where you moved the file. For example, if the file location is
“C:\VGEEviz\metapps\metapps.jar”, add this to your CLASSPATH as shown below:
Windows9X
Use the sysedit command to edit your
autoexec.bat file. Add the following
text to your CLASSPATH variable definition:
C:\VGEEviz\metapps\metapps.jar;
Windows2K
Open your “Environment Variables Window”
(select “My Computer”->”Control Panel”->”System”. Select the “Advanced Tab” and then the
“Environment Variables” button). Add the
following text to the CLASSPATH variable definition:
C:\VGEEviz\metapps\metapps.jar;
Open a new Command
Prompt window and verify that the CLASSPATH variable is set correctly by
typing the “set” command. To test a
correct installation, first install the VGEE Visualization Environment in the
next step and invoke the VGEE GUI (explained below).
More detailed
information about Unidata’s Metapps utilities is available here:
http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/projects/metapps/index.html
ftp://ftp.unidata.ucar.edu/pub/metapps/metapps.jar
Download the VGEEapp.zip
file to the INSTALL_DIR directory. After
the download completes, use an archiving utility such as winzip to unpack the VGEEapp.zip
file in this location (Winzip is available from http://www.winzip.com).
During unpacking, 2 new subdirectories
are created in INSTALL_DIR:
app\VGEE – VGEE Visualization
Environment is application and support files.
app\auxdata – Auxiliary data containing
map database, imagery, etc.
Change directory to
INSTALL_DIR\app. Copy the VGEE and
auxdata directories and all their subdirectories to a permanent installation
directory of your choice, such as “C:\VGEEviz\VGEE” and “C:\VGEEviz\auxdata”. Set your CLASSPATH, as above, to point to the
directory where you copied the VGEE and auxdata directories. For example, add the following string to your
CLASSPATH:
C:\VGEEviz;
To test a correct
installation, open a new Command Prompt window. Type “set” to verify that your CLASSPATH is
correct. Type“java VGEE.vizenv.vizenv”
to launch the application. Note: I hope
to have a simpler command invocation for the final product
If you get to this
point, Congratulations!
You have successfully installed the application. User instructions for the VGEE Visualization
Environment are forthcoming.
V1.0.12182001 Enhancements
V1.0.09242001 Enhancements