NATIONAL RADIO ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY

MEMORANDUM

DATE:

FROM: Ronald J. Maddalena

SUBJECT: Availability of UniPops on Solaris Machines

I have recently created a Solaris versions of UniPops that observers may want to try. Below are the instructions on how to use the Solaris programs. Please drop me a note if you have any problems.

If your account uses the UniPops 'dot' (configuration) files, then you can run the Solaris programs without making any changes to your account. Staff and heavy Unix users are most likely not using the UniPops dot files and they might have to modify their 'dot' files to run the program.

I. How to test if your account is properly set up

To test whether your 'dot' files properly configure your account, perform the following steps:

(Log onto any Sun workstation -- it need not be a Solaris machine.)

Type ~rmaddale/bin/CkUniAccnt

CkUniAccnt will check whether your account can run UniPops. If it generates warning or error messages, then you are not using the UniPops dot files and you will need to eliminate from your account the cause of the reported errors. The CkUniAccnt program will list the possible problems in your 'dot' files. For further assistance, you can look at Appendix M of the Cook Book or you can get help from the systems administrator.

II. Starting UniPops on a SunOS machine

To run UniPops on a non-Solaris (i.e., SunOS) workstation, you don't need to do anything different from the instructions in sections 2.1 - 2.2 of the Cook Book. What has worked before continues to work.

III. Starting UniPops on a Solaris machine

To run UniPops on a Solaris workstation, you might have an extra step to perform depending upon whether the Common Desktop Environment (CDE) is running.

• If the Solaris workstation is running the CDE, you will be presented with a GUI log-in screen. You should not log in using the CDE. Instead, under the 'options' button you should pick command-line login session and you will be presented with a normal Unix login prompt. You should log in and start UniPops using the instructions in sections 2.1 - 2.2 of the Cook Book.
• If the CDE is not running, then by default you will have a normal Unix login prompt and you can log in and start UniPops using the instructions in sections 2.1 - 2.2 of the Cook Book.
 

[Some brave souls might want to use UniPops under the CDE. In theory, this is possible but would require using personalized 'dot' files that CkUniAccnt cannot completely check for errors.]