The Biozentrum

Micrograph Data Processing Program

MDPP V08-140 :   © Copyright 1983-2008 P.R. Smith.

MDPP is distributed as a set of gzipped tarballs that you can download as required. This recognizes that most people want to limit the amount of clutter that gets created on a desktop.

To install a component of MDPP do the following:-

  1. It is assumed that you have an area on your disk somewhere called "mdpp" that is the root of your MDPP distribution. If you don't, please read the Startup section.
  2. Set your current directory to "mdpp".
  3. Download the gzipped tarball with the MDPP component you're interested in into the current directory.
  4. Un-tar the tarball. Use "gtar -xzf file.gtz", or if you're using VMS, use "gunzip" followed by "vmstar" to extract the files. Tar should create any sub-directories that are required.
MDPP Executables (NOTE: The MacOSX G4 distribution runs on G4, G5 and Intel hardware. The Intel distribution only runs on Intel hardware, but should be significantly faster on that platform - the Intel code is currently being tested and Intel's compiler is still in beta.)
MDPP Components

Getting Started.
  1. As mentioned above, the first step is to select a location where the MDPP distribution will be placed and to create a directory called "mdpp". A suggestion is to place this at the top of a volume, or outside the disk space of an individual user.

    On UNIX(-like) systems:

    # mkdir /mdpp

    On VMS (replace DKA100 with your own volume name):

    $ cre/dir dka100:[mdpp]

    On VMS it is useful to create a logical volume to point to this directory.

    $ def mpp dka100:[mdpp.]/tran=(con,term)

  2. Set your current directory to the location you have just created (UNIX: cd /mdpp ; VMS: set def mpp:[000000]).

  3. Download the file "start.gtz". To download the file use your web browser, or if you are on VMS the "wget" utility may be more helpful (enter "wget --help" for help). Un-tar it using "gtar -xzf xxx.gtz" (VMS software is below; first gunzip the file then un-tar it: gtar combines both). You will get two files in the directory: unix_login.txt and vms_login.txt, and the ./lib directory will be created with three files in it. Read the xxx_login.txt file appropriate for you and modify the login files (~/.login or SYS$LOGIN:LOGIN.COM) as appropriate. Remember to edit the information you are adding to make it conform to your site: VMS users should edit MPP:[LIB]MDPP.COM to make sure that it is correct.

  4. Now download the example images file ("images.gtz") and the mdpp image for your platform: un-tar these files. Two new directories will be created, "image" for the example images and "general" which will contain the executable.

  5. You can now try to run MDPP for the first time. Log into the machine with a new terminal window (so that the startup items are executed), ensure that the X-server is running (not an issue on VMS, but on a Mac or PC this must be started separately) and then enter "mdpp 1" at the terminal prompt ("mdpt 1" on VMS unless you edit the script). The program should display a banner and request input. Type "HELP" to get started.

  6. Download and un-tar other components as you require them.

Platform notes.

The VMS-only downloads have uppercase files names. UNIX platforms will have lowercase names for directories and files. VMS users with ODS-2 disks should use the /ODS2 switch in VMSTAR to create appropriately named files.

VMS Utilities You May Need

Itanium

Alpha

wget_ia64.exe wget_axp.exe
gzip_ia64.exe gzip_axp.exe
vmstar_ia64.exe vmstar_axp.exe
Ross Smith, New York University School of Medicine December - 2007