SOURCE CODE for Linux and Windows:

In this directory is source code for four programs useful for Upper
Division physics lab courses at UCSC.  This code, contained in "tar
files" (those with the ".tar.gz" suffix) may be compiled on either a
Linux machine, or on a Windows machine.  (They have been successfully
compiled and tested on both Linux and Windows 7.)

They can also probably be compiled and run on a Mac OS X machine,
although this is not yet tested.

WINDOWS EXECUTABLES ("binaries"):

In the "binaries" directory are compiled versions of the programs that
should run out of the box for Windows users, directly from the
"Command Prompt" (cmd.exe) terminal.  They are contained in "zip
files" (those with a ".zip" suffix), which should be downloaded and
extracted to C:\Users\<your_username>, where they will be ready for
use.

WHAT TO DO WITH THESE FILES:

If you are on a Linux machine, the easiest thing to do is to compile
the programs from the SOURCE CODE packages contained in the "tar"
files.  You will need gcc-c++ installed. For "fitline", "plotdata" and
"fit", you will also need Python and the related Python packages NumPy
and Matplotlib installed, since these are needed to make the graphs in
our programs.  These should be available from the repository for
whatever distribution you are using.

The steps are straightforward:

1. Download one of the tar files to some directory on your system.
It's good to start with meanvar, which does not require any Python
packages.

2. Untar the tar file with a command like
tar xvf meanvar-2.0.1.tar.gz

This should create the "meanvar-2.0.1" directory, which will contain
everything you'll need.

3. cd to that directory (e.g. cd meanvar-2.0.1), and give the command
./configure --prefix=$HOME

The "--prefix=$HOME" option will ensure that the program will
eventually be installed in "/home/<your_username>/bin".  If you omit
this option the next step will require you to be root, and will
install the program in "/usr/local/bin".

4. Give the commands
make

and then
make install

which should install the program, ready for use.

If you are on Windows and would like to try compiling the programs
from the SOURCE CODE, the very first thing to do is to download the
pdf files in the "doc" directory, and read them with a pdf viewer such
as the Adobe Acrobat reader.  These files contain detailed
instructions, and should help to make the compiling experience easy
and straightforward.  (Note: the "lorenz" program should work on Linux
machines, but not on Windows machines.)

If you are on Windows and would just like to try using one of our
programs out of the box, click on the "binaries" link, which should
reveal four "zip" files, any of which may be extracted to
C:\Users\<your_username>, where they may be run directly from the
"Command Prompt" terminal, as described above.  For "fitline",
"plotdata" and "fit", you will also need the Python packages noted
above, however if you want to use "fit" for some function other than a
Gaussian lineshape, the "fit.exe" binary won't work; you will have to
compile "fit" from the SOURCE.

If you have questions, or would like to help with installation on a
Mac OS X, feel free to write to me.

Peter Scott
drip@ucsc.edu
March 05, 2015