MIDAS software download and installation

Installation of the MIDAS base distribution for Windows

The latest MIDAS release was issued on April 10 2012

As from July 1 2009 release MIDAS uses TclTk version 8.5.7

The base distribution files have a name of the form MIDAS_base_xxxxxx.tar.gz where xxxxxx is the date of the distribution in the form ddmmyy.
The current distribution id is 100412.
The files in the base distribution are all platform independant. If you are installing multiple versions of the software for different hardware or software platforms you only require to download the base distribution files once.

The distribution files have been made using the UNIX tar utility and compressed with the UNIX gzip utility. The Windows program WinZip understands this and can be used to uncompress and unpack the tar archive. You can download a copy of the WinZip utility (in plain binary) in case you do not already have it. Note this is a shareware program but well recommended.
Note that the files mostly have a prefix tar.gz. Internet Explorer has been seen to change this to tar.tar. In this case you should "save as" (or rename) using tar.gz otherwise WinZip will generate an error. The Firefox browser does not make this error.

NOTE - If you already are running the MIDAS package then it is STRONGLY recommended that you DO NOT install a new release over your existing installation. The installation procedure has been designed to encourage a parallel installation. Only when you are happy with the new release should you delete your old release. You should switch to running from the new installation and DELETE all the old installation. DO NOT just copy the new release into the old directory structure. In this way you will remove all obsolete files. In some cases the presence of obsolete versions of files in the directories may cause incorrect functioning of the software.

Download the base distribution file with ID 100412  6.0 Mbytes

Having fetched this file you should uncompress and extract the files using WinZip (or a suitable alternative). A directory MIDAS_base_xxxxxx will be created in the directory supplied to WinZip as the extract to directory. You should also enable the option Use directory names.

The next step is to download the program distribution specific to Windows. If you are installing the software on a central server you can install as many program distributions as you wish. The directory and file names which will be created are all unique.

Download the program distribution file with ID 100412  6.2 Mbytes

Uncompress and extract the file MIDAS_bin_Win_xxxxxx.tar.gz using WinZip. You should supply the name of the directory MIDAS_base_xxxxxx created above as the extract to directory.
You will create the directory bin_Win within the selected directory.

This is all the installation that is necessary. There is no need to copy libraries (.dll files) into system32. All binaries (.exe files) and all libraries (.dll files) are in the bin_Win directory and can be used directly from there. There is even no need to reboot your PC!

It may be convenient if the directory MIDAS_base_xxxxxx is renamed as MIDAS once you are happy with the new release.

You can install MIDAS in any location you choose EXCEPT that the path MUST NOT contain an embedded space. (Ie c:\Program Files\MIDAS is NOT acceptable).

Using Windows Explorer locate the bin_Win directory within the directory MIDAS (or MIDAS_base_xxxxxx) and double click on the file wish85.exe. The default MIDAS session will now start and you can select the application you require from the menu. Note that applications will only be available if the appropiate application package has been downloaded (see later).

With Windows95 release 1 MIDAS may not start in this manner the first time after a reboot. Wait a few seconds and double-click again. Thereafter a single double-click only is needed. With WindowsNT this problem does not occur.

The best method of starting MIDAS in production use is to use a desktop shortcut.
For example:
Assuming you have installed the MIDAS distribution in the directory C:\users\MIDAS (that is $MIDASBASE = C:\users\MIDAS) then
create a short cut called MIDAS with a Target: string C:\users\MIDAS\bin_Win\wish85.exe and a Start in: string C:\users\MIDAS\bin_Win.
You will find a nice MIDAS Icon to use in the bin_Win directory.

The MIDAS package requires that the directory $MIDASBASE/experiments is writeable. All users of the MIDAS package will require write access to the directory and its contents. The directory name $MIDASBASE/experiments may be replaced by the environment variable MIDASEXPBASE. If only the MIDAS base package is being used or sharing of experimental information between users is not required then MIDASEXPBASE could be local to the user.

You can supply environment variables to MIDAS either via the standard Windows environment facility (Settings; Control Panel; System; Environment) or via the desktop shortcut.
For example:
The Target: string C:\users\MIDAS\bin_Win\wish85.exe -MIDASEXPBASE=c:/users/nf/experiments would be equivalent to setting the environment variable MIDASEXPBASE to the value c:/users/nf/experiments. Any MIDAS environment variable can be set in this manner.
For example:
vxi-session would be C:\users\MIDAS\bin_Win\wish85.exe -MIDASAPPLICATION=vxi

If you are updating from a previous version of this software you can copy the directories $MIDASBASE/apparatus and $MIDASBASE/experiments from your existing release. If this is a new installation then $MIDASBASE/Samples contains simple versions to get you started. Copy the directories apparatus, experiments, log and sas (the last 2 are empty) to get you going.

Two optional components are available which previously were included in the base package.

Sample configuration and Spectra files are available to get you started.

Download the Samples file with ID 070504  3.5 Mbytes

Ensure that the directory MIDAS_base_xxxxxx is your current directory and then uncompress using gunzip and run tar to unpack. You will create a directory Samples within the current directory. The Samples directory includes a directory $MIDASBASE/Samples/spectra which contains some sample 1d and 2d histograms. In the Base Frame select the button "Spectrum Viewer". When the window (Spectrum Directory Browser) starts your home directory is scanned for directories (and spectra). If you wish to view the sample histograms type $MIDASBASE/Samples/spectra (actually you must yourself substitute $MIDASBASE by the appropiate path) into the Directory entry window and press return. The directory browser will show you that there are 3 directories available. Double click on 1 of these. Now double-click on any one of the files shown in the list with an "s" at the extreme left hand edge of the list (these are all valid spectra files) and you will get a new window containing the spectrum display.

You can now browse the supplied spectra and any others you may have.

Full documentation in html format is available for TclTk.

Download the manual file with ID 100412  2.8 Mbytes

Ensure that the directory MIDAS_base_xxxxxx is your current directory and then uncompress using gunzip and run tar to unpack. You will create a directory manual within the current directory.

If you only wish to view and analyse spectra then you can finish now. If you intend to use other MIDAS application packages then some further installation is needed. It is not essential to install the MIDAS Spectrum Server unless you intend to install one of the application packages.

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