Installing vlab on Mac OSX
The download is a DMG disk image. Opening it, you will find:
- browser.app — the application bundle containing the main vlab application;
- oofs — a directory containing example objects;
- raserver — the “remote access server”, which lets you share vlab objects over a network.
- README.mac.txt &mdash Installation instructions.
- Gifts - A folder containing versions of the vim editor with syntax highlighting specific to cpfg and lpfg. A Readme file is included with instruction on how to install.
Review the README.mac.txt file and install the browser application. The instructions indicate how to add it to the Applications folder. It can also be installed in a personal directory, if that is more convenient. The raserver application should be installed in the same location, if being used.
The oofs folder should be in a separate location, however, and should only be installed once - i.e. if there is an updated version of vlab do not re-install the oofs folder, since that would overwrite any objects you had created and/or experimented with earlier. When the browser is opened, it will display a dialog box to ask for the location of your oofs directory.
See the VLAB Framework manual for information on installing the oofs structure on a remote server.
You can also run vlab and its
components from the command line; all of the executables are in the
directory
/Applications/browser.app/Contents/MacOS/dbin
You can add it to your system path by executing the following
command in a Terminal:
export PATH=$PATH:/Applications/browser.app/Contents/MacOS/dbin
Finally, you can simply run the browser by typing:
/Applications/browser.app/Contents/MacOS/dbin/browser
The advantage of running vlab from the Terminal is that
messages (e.g. error messages) will appear there.
To use the simulators lpfg, vv, and vve, you will need to have a C++ compiler installed. The easiest way to do this is to install g++, which is part of the “Command Line Tools for Xcode” package. This package can be downloaded directly from Apple at developer.apple.com/downloads.