Experimental Physics and
Industrial Control System

Till Straumann <[email protected]> · Wed, 04 Dec 2002 15:29:58 -0800

Hi.
I must say that I also was somewhat confused by the 'software
requirements' statements. However, it seems that you only need that

stuff if you want to _build_ vdct.
Here's what I did on linux-x86 (unfortunately, jre-1.4 is not available
on some platforms [linux-Powerpc, VMS, ...]):
- install jre-1.4
- download the VDCT jar file
- run: java -jar VisualDCT.jar
To my great releaf, I had not to install anything else [I _hate_
installation dependency avalanches].
-- Till
John Maclean wrote:

Hi Kevin,
Unless you actually want to build VDCT you can simply download the
binaries and run them. Perhaps the instructions on the web site could be
clearer.
Go to
http://www.cosylab.com/visualdct/builds/VisualDCT/2.3.1240/index.html
Kick on "2.3.1240" under the "Distribution" heading.
Save the zip file somewhere convenient.
Unzip the zip file, to somewhere convenient. I made a "vdct" directory
in the "Program Files" directory and extracted to there.
You should then see a "2.3.1240" directory. In that you'll see a file
named "runScript".
Rename "runScript" to "runSript.bat" and execute it. VDCT should start.
You will need JVM 1.4.
Good luck.
John.
"Kevin M. Peterson" wrote:
I am trying to get VDCT running on a Windows 98 machine that originally had
none of the
components that are required for VDCT.  I have been following the direction
on the following
website:
http://www.cosylab.com/visualdct/builds/VisualDCT/2.3.1240/doc/DOC-Java_Installation_and_Build_Process_of_VisualDCT.html
I found the directions extremely difficult to follow due to a lack of
important information.  An
example is the explanation of why 3rd party software is needed.  It's nice
to know that 3rd party
software is needed for the build process and for program execution, but it
would be significantly
more helpful to have a list of the software that is needed for each.
At other points in the documentation information was simply missing.  In
the third instruction
of the "3. Eclipse Installation" section it says to define two variables
but only one is mentioned.
The fourth instruction of the same section says that the necessary Eclipse
extensions are
available on the Cosylab web page but I was unable to find them.  Links to
necessary pieces
of software would be helpful.
On the topic of links, in the "Dependencies" section of
http://www.cosylab.com/visualdct/builds/VisualDCT/
there is a link to what is supposedly VisualDCT-Common, but the link does
not work.  I had to
search for it on google to find a site that had something that I could
download.  I ended up
downloading version 1.2 of VisualDCT-Common.
So with my complaints about the documentation aside, I still do not know
how to get VDCT up
and running.  I have the Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition and the JUnit
Testing Framework
installed and working correctly.  I have the other pieces of  "required"
software (Styler ANT Task,
MySQL JDBC driver, VisualDCT-Common, Eclipse, and Apache Ant) installed but
I do not know
if they are installed correctly.  When I run VisualDCT.jar VDCT appears to
start.  I am prompted
to choose an Epics database and when I choose one, all my pretty windows go
away and I'm
left staring at my background.  I'm pretty sure that isn't the desired
behavior.
Which software do I need to get VDCT running?  Do I need to build VDCT or
are the build instructions
just provided in case I want a non-standard installation?
Or better yet, how do I install VDCT if I know nothing about the software
on which VDCT is dependent?
This seems to be the question that the "Java installation and build process
of VDCT" should answer,
but since it fails to do so, I am left extraordinarily confused.
Thanks for your time,
The extraordinarily confused Kevin Peterson

Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System

Experimental Physics and
Industrial Control System