Follow the instructions in the following sections, in order, to prepare OOMMF software for use on your computer.
The latest release of the OOMMF software may be retrieved from the OOMMF download page. Each release is available in two formats. The first format is a gzipped tar file containing an archive of all the OOMMF source code. The second format is a .zip compressed archive containing pre-compiled executables for Microsoft Windows 95/NT running on an x86-based microprocessor system and compatible with Tcl/Tk version 8.0 in addition to all the OOMMF source code. Other release formats, including pre-compiled executables for Microsoft Windows 95/NT running on a Digital Alpha Systems RISC-based microprocessor system, and/or compatible with Tcl/Tk version 7.6/4.2 will be made available on request.
For the first format, unpack the distribution archive using gunzip and tar:
gunzip -c oommf10a980812.tar.gz | tar xvf -
For the other format(s), you will need a utility program to unpack the .zip archive. This program must preserve the directory structure of the files in the archive, and it must be able to generate files with names not limited to the traditional MSDOS 8.3 format. Some old versions of pkzip unpacking utility programs do not have these properties. One utility program which is known to work is UnZip. Using your utility, unpack the .zip archive, e.g.
unzip oommf10a980812.zip
After downloading and unpacking the OOMMF software distribution, all the OOMMF software is contained in a subdirectory named oommf. Start a command line interface (a shell on Unix, or the MS-DOS Prompt on Microsoft Windows), and change the working directory to the directory oommf. Then run the Tcl script platform.tcl:
tclsh platform.tcl(Remember, the Tcl shell program may not have the name tclsh on your platform. It may be something like tclsh8.0 or tclsh76.exe. Consult your Tcl documentation, and use the name which works on your computer.)
The output of the script platform.tcl is the platform name which the OOMMF software uses to describe your computer. For example, when you run platform.tcl on a Silicon Graphics machine, the output is the string sgi. The platform name is used by OOMMF in index and configuration files and to name directories so that a single OOMMF installation can support multiple platform types.
Say the output of platform.tcl is foo. Then you must edit the file config/cache/foo.tcl to describe your computing environment to OOMMF. Follow the editing instructions found within the file.
If the output of platform.tcl indicates that multiple platform names are compatible with your computer, or if you wish for OOMMF software to use a different platform name for your computer and others like it, see Managing OOMMF platform names for further instructions.
If you downloaded a distribution with pre-compiled executables, skip this section.
The compiling and linking of the C++ portions of the OOMMF software are guided by the application pimake ("Platform Independent Make") which is distributed as part of the OOMMF software (in the directory app/pimake/). pimake is similar in operation to the Unix utility program make, but it is written entirely in Tcl so that it will run anywhere Tcl is installed. Just as make is controlled by rules in files named Makefile or makefile, pimake is controlled by rules in files named makerules.tcl. pimake takes an optional argument on its command line which names the target to build. To build all the OOMMF software, run pimake in the root directory of the OOMMF distribution.
tclsh app/pimake/pimake.tcl
When pimake calls on a compiler or other software development utility, the command line is printed, so that you may monitor the build process. Assuming a proper configuration for your platform, pimake should be able to compile and link all the OOMMF software without error. If pimake reports errors, please send the output to the OOMMF developers.
The current alpha release of the OOMMF software does not support an installation procedure. For now, simply run the executables from the directories in which they were unpacked/built.
To start using OOMMF software, run the OOMMF bootstrap application oommf. This may be launched from the command line interface:
tclsh app/oommf/oommf.tcl
Or if you prefer, you may now use whatever graphical ``point and click'' interface your operating system provides for launching programs to launch the OOMMF bootstrap application ./app/oommf/oommf.tcl. By default, the OOMMF bootstrap application will start up a copy of the OOMMF application mmLaunch in a new window.