cigal CIGAL/VSync downloader

gadde@www.nitrc.org (Syam Gadde) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 15:53:00 GMT

<pre>6/7/10

The VSyncCIGAL Zip file contains links to download the latest
distribution of CIGAL.

CIGAL and related software are distributed using the VSync software
version synchronization program. VSync organizes groups of software
files into projects stored at a central web-site. Running VSync at a
remote site will compare all local files to the most recent versions
on the web-site and then download any files that need updating. For
more information on VSync, see:

http://fourier.biac.duke.edu/wiki/doku.php/jvs:vsync

The Zip file contains 2 folders: VSync and CIGAL.
Each of these corresponds to a different VSync "project".
The VSync folder contains a copy of the VSync program itself (vsync.exe).
Other project folders only contain a small XML files to help VSync
download the most recent version of that project. There are a few
steps to get VSync installed, and you can use it to install CIGAL
(or other projects in the VSync repository).

To use VSync you must have your computer connected to the Internet.
If your machine is not connected to the web you will need to load
this onto some other computer that is, and then transfer your files
locally.

Installing VSync on WINDOWS:
===========================
0) Decide where you want to install the software on your computer.
You will only need ~4Mb of disk space for CIGAL.

Where you install these files on your computer shouldn't really
matter, but I suggest you avoid installing it too far down your
directory tree. Something like:

C:\Program Files\JVS
or
C:\Documents and Settings\MyAccount\JVS

should be fine. Keep in mind that if you want multiple users to have
access to the software you should put it where then can all find it.

I use the cryptic abbreviation JVS (Jim V software) but you can call
this folder anything you like. I suggest you don't call it CIGAL
because you will be creating another folder CIGAL inside it, so that
might lead to confusion.

1) Create an empty folder (e.g. "JVS") to hold the software.
2) Copy the contents of the Zip file to your new folder (e.g. "JVS").
3) Open the VSync folder.
4) Make a shortcut to vsync.exe by double-clicking on the file:
createvsynclink.bat
5) Right click on the new link file "VSync" you just made, and
select "Properties". Make sure that the "Start In" field is
blank (sometimes it's created with junk in it). Then close.
6) Copy (don't move) the "VSync" link file into any other folder
that has a "vsync_project.xml" file (e.g. CIGAL).

VSync itself is still a work in progress so you may later want to
update your version of the VSync program. When you do you will find
that updating VSync is slightly more complicated than other projects
(e.g. CIGAL) because Windows does not allow a running program to
overwrite itself. So, to VSync the Vsync project, you run VSync in
its own directory, click on Status and if it says you are not up-to-date
click Download. That will download the latest version of VSync.exe
and store it in the "NewVSync" subdirectory. You will then need to
manually copy (not move) "NewVSync\VSync.exe" to overwrite the
"VSync.exe" file you just ran. Once done, any existing "VSync"
shortcuts (e.g. in the CIGAL folder) will point to the new version.

Installing CIGAL
================
1) Open the CIGAL folder.
2) Double click the "VSync" shortcut. This should pop up a dialog
for project "CIGAL" (VSync gets its project information from
the vsync_project.xml file).
3) Click the "Download" button in the dialog.
When it asks you a question, answer YES.
This will copy the rest of CIGAL from Duke's website.
Close the log file and Exit VSync when it's done.
4) Run CIGAL by double-clicking the CIGAL.exe file.

The first time CIGAL is run it will automatically create a new
"StartCIGAL" shortcut file. This shortcut will be used to start
CIGAL later from other file folders (it replaces the old
"start.cgl" method used previously).

5) Quit CIGAL.
6) Right click on the new shortcut file "StartCIGAL" you just made,
and select "Properties". Make sure that the "Start In" field is
blank. Then close.
7) You should not add your own task software inside the CIGAL folder.
Instead, organize your files in a separate folder somwhere, and then
copy the "StartCIGAL" shortcut file to that folder.
Make sure you copy, not move, this shortcut. (See Running CIGAL below.)
8) If you have peripheral hardware devices attached to your computer
you should use the "Settings" menus (Configuration, Hardware, and
Scanner settings) to configure CIGAL for how to use those devices.
Be sure to "save" your settings so that they will be initialized
properly in future sessions. Keep in mind that if you save settings
while running CIGAL in its own folder (where the CIGAL.exe file is
located), then those settings will be the default settings for any
user running CIGAL on that computer. If you save settings while
running in any other folder (by copying the StartCIGAL shortcut to
that folder and then running it), the settings will only apply to
future CIGAL sessions run in that folder.

The hardware configuration step is usually the most difficult part of
the installation process.

Running CIGAL
=============
Copy (not move) the StartCIGAL shortcut from your CIGAL folder to the
folder that contains your task software.

Double-click the shortcut in your task folder to start CIGAL.

If you have a "userconfig.imp" file in that folder, CIGAL will use
it to initialize your peripheral hardware devices. Userconfig.imp
files are generated by the "Settings->Configuration Settings" menu.

If you have a "cigalsettings.imp" file in the folder, CIGAL will use
it to initialize your peripheral hardware devices. Userconfig.imp
files are generated by the "Settings->Hardware Settings" and
"Settings->Scanner Settings" menus.

If you have a "start.imp" file in the folder, CIGAL will run it as
as start-up script to initialize any other parameters or task-specific
interactive menus that you want. Start.imp files are completely
user-dependent. Create one as a plain text file and put any CIGAL
commands in it that you wish to run a start-up.

Using the Measurement Computing A/D driver in CIGAL
===================================================
CIGAL supports a simple USB analog/digital device from Measurement
Computing Inc. for connecting external devices.
If you have the Measurement Computing hardware you will need
to go through a separate installation procedure to get its
library ready to be used by CIGAL. There are instructions for this at:

http://fourier.biac.duke.edu/wiki/doku.php/jvs:cigal:manual:chapter7:meascomp

Installing other VSync projects
===============================
You can use the VSync program to download other software that has been
packaged as a VSync project. To do so, you should create a new folder
for each project and put a copy of the VSync shortcut in the folder.
If you have a "vsync_project.xml" file for the project, just put it in
the same folder; it will have all the information needed to download
everything else. Otherwise, you can run VSync and enter the project name
and other settings manually.

For projects that involve thousands of separate files, the first time you
attempt to download the project VSync will automatically download ZIP
archive files containing a relatively complete version of the project.
When that is done you will see a message telling you to unzip the archive
file into the project folder. You need to exit VSync and unzip that file.
After that, you should run VSync again to download any additional files,
and to update any files that changed since the initial archive version.

Updating software
=================
Anytime you want to download updates to any VSync project (e.g.
CIGAL or VSYNC) you can simply double-click the VSync icon in the
appropriate folder and select the "Status" option to see if there
is anything new on the central website.

If your files are not all "up-to-date", select "Download" and
VSync will automatically copy whatever files are needed to bring
you up to date. Hopefully this will make subsequent upgrades
pretty trivial. All changes are recorded in the log file and
a backup copy of any existing file that is overwritten will be
saved in a "VSync_bkup" folder. Older numbered software versions
are also stored on the website, so if you don't like a new
version you can go back to an older one if you want.

IMPORTANT: CIGAL files for specific fMRI tasks or studies are
typically organizied in separate VSync projects, not in the CIGAL
program project itself. If you have multiple project folders be
sure to run VSync in each of these folders separately whenever
you want to update your software.

Jim Voyvodic
</pre>

CIGAL Releases

cigal CIGAL/VSync downloader