Running XPPAUT on Windows NT/95

Fixed the AUTO bug so the X version runs AUTO under the DOS shell.

If there is a big demand for the pure windows version, I may reconsider, but for now I will work only on the X version. That said, I will still make the old windows version available.

There are several ways in which you can run XPP on a Windows 95/NT platform.

• The simplest way is to get the Windows binary called winpp and unzip it into its own directory. The disadvantage of this approach is that this is a port of the X version and is incomplete in terms of functionality. It does not contain AUTO as part of it but instead uses a different bifurcation package, LOCBIF. LOCBIF does not handle boundary value problems nor is it as good at tracking periodic orbits as is AUTO. If you are used to XPP and all the keyboard shortcuts, then you will probably not like this method. The advantages are that it is a standard Windows application, stands alone, and is trivial to install.
• If you really want the X version and want to run it on Win95/NT then you should grab xpp4w32.zip and then follow the instructions below. The disadvantages of this approach are that you have to either already have an X server or download one and install it. It is quite easy but if you really don't like doing this sort of thing go with the above option.

1. Create a directory called winpp and download winpp.zip
2. Unzip the file into the winpp directory
3. You will have an executable called winpp.exe and a lengthy readme file in html format.
4. You can create a link to it by making a shortcut.

• MI/X from microimages.
• You need to get two files getme1st.exe and file0001.bin .
• Download them into a temporary directory. Then under the the DOS prompt type getme1st . This will uncompress some things and then when it is done, type setup and follow the setup instructions.
• You will have a free X-server and can make a shortcut to it.

A very nice X-server is available for downloading from StarNet called XWin32. The demo version restricts sessions to 2 hours and then you have to restart. But it is such a nice looking server you might consider buying it.

• Download the binary native Win32 (95/98/NT) version of XPPAUT into a directory, say \xpp4w32 .
• Unzip it
• Optionally, copy libX11.dll and cygwin1.dll into the c:\Windows directory.

Running the X version under Win95/NT/98

• Start up your X windows software. (If you installed the free version, MI/X, click on Start then Programs , FREE TNT-lite and MIXServer5.1 .)
• Click on the Start button and under Programs click on Command prompt to start a DOS session.
• Change directories to the directory into which you installed XPP: cd \xpp4w32 .
• You must now tell the system which display to send the windows to.
  • If you are on a network, then your computer has a name or IP address, like garbage.math.pitt.edu. Type set DISPLAY=your.name.here:0.0 at the DOS prompt. Don't forget the :0.0 after your hostname.
  • If you are off line or not on a network, type set DISPLAY=127.0.0.1:0.0
• Type xppaut lorenz.ode and you should have xppaut running in your X server window

Possible problems

• Failed to open X-display This means that the X-display was not properly set. If you are running on a network, then you probably have a legitimate machine name and you should type set DISPLAY=name:0.0 where name is the name of your machine. If you are not on a network, type set DISPLAY=127.0.0.1:0.0 and that should do the trick.
• Windows error about missing DLL. Make sure you have copied both the DLLs in the package to the Windows directory.
• If you are running AUTO, then there may be problems with the program under the DOS shell. Thus you must also download the bash shell usertools.exe> and run XPP from this. This is a selfextracting archive and setup program. Once you have it installed, get it running (click on the Cygwin icon from the Start menu). The run XPP from within the bash shell. If you are puzzled by all this, here are some more tips .

Documentation and examples

• tar zvxf xppexam.tar.gz
• gzip -d xpp_doc.ps