NOTICE: This Legacy journal article was published in Volume 2, November 1992, and has not been updated since publication. Please use the search facility above to find regularly-updated information about this topic elsewhere on the HEASARC site.

How to Install XANADU

Orin Day

HEASARC

At the HEASARC, many changes have been made to the XANADU X-Ray analysis software package - changes not only to increase options and facilities for the user, but also to allow for ease and flexibility in installation on VAX, Sun/UNIX, or DEC/ULTRIX systems.

Previously, to install a XANADU package, it was a requirement to get the entire XANADU system. Now, packages such as XSPEC, XRONOS, and XIMAGE are available separately, as is the XANADU library package (including the XANADU libraries, command files, and several packages in their own right that are bundled with XANADU e.g., PGPLOT, QDP, and FITSIO). The entire XANADU system is also available as a single tar or backup file for all systems.

For ease of file transfer, object code and built libraries are not included in these packages, but can be made available from HEASARC upon special request. Installation scripts have been created to build XANADU and its packages from top to bottom, so all that is necessary is to obtain the appropriate files, select an area to put them, extract them from the saveset, make a few minor changes depending on the chosen path, and run the scripts.

Formerly, the XANADU package had to be installed at the "root level" on UNIX/ULTRIX systems, thus requiring the attention of a system manager for installation. Unlike previous versions, this release allows the XANADU tree to be placed at any directory level with only minimal changes by the installer.

After the files are extracted (explicit directions will be included in the ftp directories), the installer will need to make several changes to ensure a smooth installation and future. First, the file initu.com (VMS) or initu.csh (UNIX) (initu.sh for non-csh UNIX users) may be changed to include the XANADU pathname. If the XANADU pathname is included, the VMS user need only include the line @sitexanpath:[tools]initu (where sitexanpath is the full XANADU path at the installation) in their login.com. If this path is not included in the initu.com, the user must define the logical variable XANADU (with the /trans=conc option) in their login.com, and then type the line @XANADU:[tools]initu in the login.com. For UNIX/ULTRIX csh installers, the file initu.csh can be edited to set the XANADU path as an environment variable (using setenv), and users will need to source initu.csh in their .cshrc file - this statement must be in the .cshrc and not the .login, or rsh commands will cause certain packages to fail! In addition, the UNIX installer must set the environment variable EXT to the machine type (ulx for ULTRIX, sun for Sun, etc.) in initu.csh, or it must be set in individual users' .cshrc scripts.

After the installer has finished editing the initu scripts, and has run/sourced it, the script initp.com (vms) or initp (UNIX/ULTRIX) should be run/sourced to allow the use of various tools and to set the path of the XANADU library and other libraries. No editing of this script is required. For the VMS installer, all that remains is to run the appropriate installation scripts from the top of the XANADU tree. There is one remaining task for the UNIX or ULTRIX installer, and that is to change several site specific files to reflect the local XANADU path. This is not necessary in VMS because logical names can be used in data statements, and are automatically converted - but UNIX is a different story. The file chsitedef.sed (in the tools directory) must be edited to reflect the XANADU path. Then, the executable changesite must be run from the top level XANADU directory. This step is absolutely necessary to obtain a working XANADU system.

After the above steps have been followed, installation is at hand. The UNIX/ULTRIX installation is handled completely through the make system. To make all packages, type make install. Or, type make xanlib to make just XANADU routines and libraries, and then make XSPEC, make XRONOS, or make XIMAGE. Under VMS, where make utilities are not common, .com files are provided that perform the same functions, named make_install.com, etc. Special instructions will be provided on request for sites that desire to keep old versions of XANADU available in addition to the improved version.

Once the installation is complete, all executables will be located in the appropriate bin directory for the system (XANADU:[vms.bin] or $XANADU/$EXT/bin). This directory is added to user paths when initu.csh is sourced, or (on VMS) when initu.com is run. Manuals for the various packages are available in on-line form via the xhelp command through those packages, or in hard copy from from HEASARC or through a printout of TeX versions included with the packages. A guide to XANADU library routines is forthcoming from HEASARC/OGIP, and will be available on request.

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