Installing CIGAL on a Windows PC

This is version of CIGAL runs on Windows 10 and earlier.
You are free to use it, but not to pass it on to others.  
If somebody else is interested in obtaining CIGAL for 
themselves they should contact me directly 
(jim.voyvodic@duke.edu).

This program is distributed "as is" with no 
warranty and no promise of support.  

Current documentation on CIGAL is on-line at:
	https://wiki.biac.duke.edu/jvs:cigal

Installing CIGAL
----------------
To install CIGAL you should download ...
 (vsync problems on Win 10 so this is omitted for now)

Creating a CIGAL Start file
---------------------------
In order to be able to start CIGAL from any directory 
that contains CIGAL task files, you need to create a 
shortcut file that is linked to the CIGAL.EXE program, 
but can be copied to any user folder.   

To create the shortcut, right-click on CIGAL.exe and then select
"Create shortcut".  I suggest you then rename the shortcut to
"StartCIGAL" (but you don't need to).
You do need to edit the shortcut properties by right-clicking
on the shortcut file, selecting "Properties" and then making
sure that the "Start In" line is blank.  This is necessary so 
that CIGAL will run in whichever folder has the shortcut instead 
of always running in the CIGAL system folder.

If you then copy the shortcut file to any directory you can
then start CIGAL there simply by double clicking the 
"StartCIGAL" shortcut.  

The shortcut file (StartCIGAL) has no significance to CIGAL.
It is simply a trick to start the program in the desired
working directory on Windows.

Running CIGAL
-------------
Copy the StartCIGAL shortcut file to any experiment 
working directory where you have CIGAL files.  
Be sure to Copy the file, rather than Moving it.

To start CIGAL in that directory, double click the 
StartCIGAL file there.

If you have any task-specific commands you want to 
execute whenever you start CIGAL in a particular
directory, simply put those commands into a text file
named START.IMP in that directory.  On startup, CIGAL
will automatically check for a local START.IMP file and
execute any commands it finds there.


Site-specific parameter settings
--------------------------------
There are 2 configuration files (sysconfig.imp and
syssettings.imp) that CIGAL uses.  If it can't find 
those 2 files, CIGAL uses the generic versions 
(generic_sysconfig.imp and generic_syssettings.imp).
If you want to customize your installation you 
should copy (or rename) the generic versions that 
are provided. For example:

  copy  generic_sysconfig.imp    sysconfig.imp
  copy  generic_syssettings.imp  syssettings.imp

You should then edit those files if you have any
machine-dependent parameters. This would typically
need to be done if you have any hardware settings
for internal devices or cabled connections that
you plan to use.  If not, the generic versions
should be adequate.  (Note: the reason for the 
renaming step is to make sure that if you later
install a new version of CIGAL it will not
overwrite your configuration files, and so you
would not lose your local settings.)
 
Miscellaneous
-------------
Do not put any other files or directories into the
main CIGAL directory.  Leave that for the program
itself and use the StartCIGAL file to run wherever
your data files are.  If you choose not to use the
StartCIGAL shortcut mechanism, you can start CIGAL 
in its home directory and then use the FILE menu or 
"chdir" command to change to your preferred working 
directory.

There is a message-of-the-day file (motd.txt)
included in the release.  You can use it to display
start-up messages if you like.  Delete it if you
don't want it.

All of the CIGAL command files (.IMP), menu files 
(.MNU), dialog files (.DLG), and ShowPlay stimulus
files (.PPF) are simple text files.

There is an internal help file, but more up-to-date
documentation is available on-line at the Wiki site:

	https://wiki.biac.duke.edu/jvs:cigal

enjoy,
  Jim Voyvodic

April 2021