On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 2:25 PM, Rowell, Mason D. <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:Mason.D.Rowell-1@ou.edu">Mason.D.Rowell-1@ou.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br><div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
All,<br>
<br>
I have been keeping up with the gradusr exchanges, and it seems I may need to use opengrads. What is the difference between say, 2.0.a6 that I am using, and opengrads? Is it linux supported?<br>
<br></blockquote><div><br></div><div>As far functionality is concerned, by design, the <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/opengrads/files/">OpenGrADS binaries</a> have all the features that you find in the <a href="http://grads.iges.org/grads/downloads.html">COLA binaries</a>. In addition, it has a number of <a href="http://opengrads.org/doc/#udxt">extra functions and commands</a> that are not available with the COLA builds. OpenGrADS includes also binaries for a few platforms that have not been included in recent COLA builds (FreeBSD, IBM AIX).</div>
<div><br></div><div>As far as installation is concerned, the <a href="http://opengrads.org/wiki/index.php?title=Installing_the_OpenGrADS_Bundle">OpenGrADS bundle</a> is designed to be a turn key system. On Unix/Linux/Mac OS X the tar ball includes all you need to run GrADS (maps, fonts, documentation, etc.) All you need to do is to start the binary and it works out of the box, no need to set any environment variable (although it is convenient to put the Contents/ directory in your path). The system is entirely relocatable in the sense you can put it on a USB men stick and run it from there with no setup necessary. The COLA builds of GrADS are also very straightforward to install, but requires you to do just a bit more (download separate data files, set environment variables).</div>
<div><br></div><div>On Windows, the <a href="http://opengrads.org/wiki/index.php?title=Installing_GrADS_v2.0_on_Microsoft_Windows">OpenGrADS superpack</a> is also self contained and installs like a regular, native Windows application (self installing package). After download, it should take less than 2 minutes for you to make your first plot. Although the superpack is built on top of cygwin and requires an X server, it is all handled under the hood; all you have to watch for is the Windows firewalls. The superpack is also meant to be relocatable: put it on a USB stick and ran it anywhere, no setup necessary. COLA's windows build is also based on cygwin, but it requires a separate cygwin installation, download of an X server, and setting up environment variables. Again, not a big deal, but something that an average windows user without much command line exposure may find intimidating.</div>
<div><br></div><div> I hope this answers your question.</div><div><br></div><div> Arlindo</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div>
<div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div>-- <br>Arlindo da Silva<br><a href="mailto:dasilva@alum.mit.edu">dasilva@alum.mit.edu</a><br>