Singular version University of Kaiserslautern Department of Mathematics Centre for Computer Algebra Authors: G.-M. Greuel, G. Pfister, H. Schoenemann (C) 1986-1999 All Rights Reserved WINDOWS 95/98/NT INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS FOR SINGULAR =========================================================== To install Singular on for Windows 95/NT, you need the following two archives: Singular--share.zip -- contains architecture independent data like documentation and libraries Singular--ix86-Win.zip -- contains architecture dependent executables, like the Singular program You can obtain these files from ftp://www.mathematik.uni-kl.de/pub/Math/Singular/ LICENSING ========= Please see the file COPYING contained in the distribution for license information on Singular. In particular, notice that we only grant you permission to use Singular if you have registered yourself as a Singular user by sending email to with the subject line (or, mail body) `register'. TO INSTALL SINGULAR =================== There are two methods: (a) If you have a Windows unzip utility program (like WinZip) installed on your system: (1) double-click on the file `Singular--ix86-Win.zip' (2) double-click on the file `Singular--share.zip' thereby extract the content of the archives at a directory in which you usually install 3rd-party software. (b) Otherwise, download the file `unzip.exe' from ftp://www.mathematik.uni-kl.de/pub/Math/Singular/utils start an MS-DOS shell, move the Singular archive and unzip program to a place in which you usually install 3rd-party software and extract (unpack) the archives with the command(s): (1) unzip Singular--ix86-Win.zip (2) unzip Singular--share.zip Unpacking creates Singular specific subdirectories in such a way that multiple versions of Singular can peaceably coexist under the same root. For both unpacking methods, it is VERY IMPORTANT that the path leading to the directory where you extract the Singular archive does not contain names which are longer than 8 characters and/or which contain dots or white spaces (i.e., the names must conform with MS-DOS filename conventions). Otherwise, the on-line help system will not work. After unpacking, you will have a directory structure like: ./Singular//Singular.exe Singular executable ./Singular//libparse.exe parser for Singular libraries ./Singular//cygwin1.dll CYGWIN DLL Library ./Singular//info.exe info program ./Singular//sh.exe sh program ./Singular/LIB// Singular libraries ./Singular/LIB/gftables/ Singular lookup tables ./Singular/doc// documentation (ps, dvi, info) ./Singular/html// documentation (html) ./Singular/README general information on Singular ./Singular/COPYING licence information ./Singular/INSTALL this file For the executable to work, the directory layout must look pretty much like this; the executable looks for "sibling" directories at run-time to figure out where its Singular libraries and on-line info documentation are. These constraints on the local directory layout are necessary to avoid having to hardcode pathnames into the executables, or require that environment variables be set before running the executable. In particular, you should not move or copy the Singular executables to another place. RUNNING SINGULAR ================= The easiest way to start-up Singular is to double-click on the `Singular.exe' file from your desktop. You can also start-up Singular from an MS-DOS or Bash/Sh (from Cygnus) terminal. However, for the latter case, you need to add the directory where the file `Singular.exe' resides to your PATH variable (unless you cd to that directory each time before you start Singular). Use the following commands: For the MS-DOS terminal set PATH=%PATH%;\Singular\ or, for the Bash/Sh terminal export PATH=$PATH:/Singular/ You also might want to adjust your personal start-up files accordingly, so that the PATH variable is set automatically each time you login. TROUBLES ========= * Singular complains that it can not find `cygwin1.dll': Make sure that the DLL library `cygwin1.dll' which is included in the distribution at `./Singular//' was either copied to a standard place on your system (like /WIN32), or that your PATH variable contains the directory where this library resides. See above for more details. * Singular can not find its Singular libraries : (1) Start up Singular, and issue the command `system("Singular");'. If this does not return the correct and expanded location of the Singular executable, then you found a bug in Singular, which we ask you to report (see below). (2) Check whether the directory containing the libraries can be found by Singular: If $bindir denotes the directory where the Singular executable resides, then Singular looks for library files as follows: 1.) In all dirs specified by the environment variable SINGULARPATH 2.) $bindir/LIB 3.) $bindir/LIB/ 4.) $bindir/../../Singular/LIB 5.) $bindir/../../Singular/LIB/ 6.) /Singular/LIB/ 7.) /Singular/LIB/ If one of these directories exists, then it is appended to the Singular SearchPath (in that order) and libraries are looked for in all directories contained in the Singular SearchPath. You can inspect the used SearchPath by starting up Singular with the -v option, or by issuing the command `system("with")'. (3) As a last resort, you can set the environment variable SINGULARPATH, so that the directories containing the Singular libraries and info-files are contained in the value of SINGULARPATH. Use semicolons (i.e., `;') for directory separators within the SINGULARPATH. * Singular can not display its on-line help. (1) Make sure Singular can find its Singular libraries. (2) Check whether the `info.exe' program contained in the distribution resides at the same place as the `Singular.exe' file. (3) Issue the command `system("with")' and verify that the reported "InfoProgram" exists and can be executed. (4) Check whether the directory containing the file `singular.hlp' can be found by Singular: If $bindir denotes the directory where the Singular executable resides, then Singular looks for the file 'singular.hlp' at the following places (in the specified order): 1.) $bindir/../doc/ 2.) $bindir/../info/ 3.) $bindir/../../Singular/doc// 4.) $bindir/../../Singular/doc/ 5.) $bindir/../../info/ 6.) /Singular/doc// 7.) /Singular/doc/ 8.) /info/ 9.) In all directories contained in the Singular SearchPath. (5) Make sure that the path leading to $bindir does not contain names which are longer than 8 characters and/or which contain dots or white spaces (i.e., the names must conform with MS-DOS filename conventions). * For any other troubles, please send mail to singular@mathematik.uni-kl.de and include the header which is displayed by starting up Singular with the `-v' option. MORE INFORMATION ABOUT SINGULAR: COMMENTS, QUESTIONS, BUG REPORTS ================================================================= More and up-to-date information about Singular is always available from http://www.mathematik.uni-kl.de/~zca/Singular We very much welcome any comments, questions, and bug reports. Please contact us at singular@mathematik.uni-kl.de GOOD LUCK and ENJOY! Your Singular team.