This section contains notes relevant to the Microsoft Windows release of the XicTools.
In order to license a Windows host, two pieces of information are needed:
The recommended way to retrieve this information is to download the licinfo.exe program from the Whiteley Research web site www.wrcad.com. When run, this program generates a file named XtLicenseInfo which should be emailed to Whiteley Research. A pop-up window displays the information, and indicates success or failure.
The distributions come in self-extracting .exe files. Simply run the files to do the installation. The programs can later be uninstalled, either from the Control Panel or by clicking the Uninstall icons in the XicTools program group in the Start menu. The same process can be used to install updated releases, it is not necessary to uninstall first.
The programs are installed by default under C: \usr \local, which will be created. The structure of the tree is exactly that as under Unix, which simplifies compatibility. A program group XicTools is created in the Start menu, from which the programs can be started. The programs can also be started from a command line, though the ... \xictools \bin folder should be added to the search path to avoid having to type the full path name. The path can be set by modifying the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, or through a script or startup file associated with the window.
Note that when you start Xic from an icon, the !cd command can be used to set the current directory to one desired by the user.
Although the installation program allows the user to specify an alternative location for the installation, and an alternative name for the program group, life may be simpler if the defaults are selected. However, the drive letter of the installation path can be set arbitrarily.
The /XicTools for Windows are fully supported on Windows XP and later. The programs retain the ``look and feel'' of the Unix/Linux versions as much as possible, given the constraints of the Windows operating system. Nearly all features are available, but there are some limitations:
256-Color mode is long-obsolete, and unless you have a ten year old computer you won't have to worry about this.
It is not possible to export graphics from a Windows machine, so that if the remote system mentioned above is Windows, WRspice can be run remotely only in non-graphical mode.
The ``environment variables'' mentioned in the Xic/WRspice documentation are available, and can be set in a DOS box with the ``set'' command before starting the programs, or in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, or from the System entry in the Control Panel. Only the latter two methods work if the programs are started from an icon.
Directory path names used by the programs can use either `/' or `ás the directory separator character, interchangeably. The path can also contain a drive specifier.
The path variables used by Xic that contain lists of directory paths must use either a space or `;' (semicolon) as a separator. Under Unix, the separation characters are space and `:' (colon).
The text files used by the programs can have either DOS or Unix line termination. Text files produced by the programs under Windows will use the DOS format.
Under Windows, where the concept of a ``home directory'' is somewhat tenuous, the programs will look for environment variables, particularly HOME, and if found interpret the value as a path to the home directory. This is true when programs look for startup files. When the program is started from an icon or shortcut, and the start directory is not explicitly set in the icon properties (it defaults to C:/), the current directory will be the home directory, rather than C:/.
Those used to a Unix environment are encouraged to download and install the Cygwin tools. These include most of your favorite Unix commands, plus a complete compiler toolchain for application development. In particular, the bash shell is quite useful, as it provides a ``DOS box'' that responds to Unix shell commands, and from which one can execute shell scripts. The tools can be downloaded as individual modules.
If it is needed and does not exist, Xic and WRspice will create a \tmp directory on the current drive. This will contain temporary files, used by the programs. These should be removed automatically when the programs terminate, but if not the files can be safely deleted if Xic and WRspice are not running.