Linux download and installation

  PD2 uses an executable shell script that bundles a self-extracting TAR file which contains both the application and a launcher script. This means there is no need to have a particular package manager installed or a connection to any repositories. The file you download contains all the components PD2 needs to install and run. You still need to have the correct Java Runtime Environment (JRE) installed first, though as that is not supplied with the application. The minimum JRE is 1.5.0_14 or later. The Java Runtime is available from SUN MicroSystems and can be downloaded, free of charge, by going to www.sun.com/java.

The installer and application launcher have been tested on both the KDE and Gnome desktops.

The steps below describe downloading and installing PD2 on your Linux system. Please take a moment to review the notes below related to Setting the amount of memory available to the application and Initial Setup.

 
  1. Select the version you want and download it to an area of your hard drive. (Most people save it to their desktop.)
If you are offered the option to Run or Save, please select the Save option. Do not run it from the web. 		 

  2. Find the file named PDInstall_x.x.x.x (where x.x.x.x = version number) in the folder where you downloaded the applicaiton. If you downloaded the application to your desktop, an icon for the script will appear there automatically. This is an executable script that contains an install script and the application TAR file.  

  3. Execute the install script.
(If you are using the Gnome desktop you may have to double click on the file to execute it. If you are using KDE, you will only need a single click to run the script.) 		 
 
The installer will create a folder named tbcpd2 in your home folder. Everything you need to run the application will be placed in that one area with the exception of an start-up link which will be copied to your desktop. If you need to recreate the desktop icon at any point you can simply copy the file name tbcpd2.desktop from the tbcpd2 folder to your desktop.

You will not see any messages during the installation and setup of the application. You will know it is complete when the PD2 icon appears on your desktop. You can start using the application simply by clicking (or double-clicking as necessary) on the PD2 icon.

You can copy the PDInstall_x.x.x.x file to a backup area if you wish. This will allow you to reinstall it at a later time or on another machine.

To uninstall the application simply drag the PD2 icon (from your desktop) and the entire tbcpd2 folder to the Trash. 		 



Setting the amount of memory available to the application

  The Java Runtime Environment (JRE), as do most language systems, limits the amount of memory an application can use. This is to prevent programs from running away with your computer and thereby crashing your operating system. Unlike other languages, Java allows us to tell it how much memory an application can use. This is accomplished by providing parameters to the JRE at the time the application is started. Since our program runs within the JRE these can not be set from within the program but must be specified before the program is started.
Because Java is designed to run on almost any computer, the default memory allocated to an application is rather small. PD2 is a graphical program and by its very nature is rather memory intensive. The default memory allocation will not be sufficient to make any but the smallest patterns. The shortcut created during installation changes Java memory allocation such that you can create moderately large patterns. You will probably not need to changes these entries. You will only need to modify these parameters if you are getting "out of memory" errors while creating patterns, or if your machine has less than 512Mb of physical memory.

Follow these steps if you find you need to change the amount of memory allocated to the JRE. 		 

  1. Locate the file named pdStart which is located in the tbcpd2 folder. Open that file with your favorite text editor.
You will see a line reading java -Xms40m -Xmx512m -jar tbcpd.jar 		 

  2. Find the entry -Xmx512m. This entry indicates the maximum memory our application can use and is specified in mega-bytes. As a general rule you can set this value to approximately 75% of your physical memory so if you have 2Gb (giga-bytes) of RAM then you could increase this entry to 1536. If on the other hand, you only have 256Mb of RAM you would want to change this entry to 192.

This value is alway specified in mega-bytes.

Change the number 512 to the value appropriate for your machine. 		 

  3. Save the file to save your changes.  

    Caution: make sure you don't change any other entries or any of the spacing in the command line. If the application fails to start after changing the parameter, repeat the steps above and check that the command line looks exactly as described above. You can alway retype it or copy and paste it from this page if necessary.  

Initial Setup

  You must set the path to your PDF Reader application before you will be able to access the User's Guide from within the application. The steps you take to set this entry are cover in the User's Guide (TBCPDUsersGuide.pdf) which is located in the \tbcpd2\Docs folder in the section titled Setting your preferences in Lesson 10 - Customizing your application. For your convienence it is reprinted here:

In this example we will be using the PDF Reader supplied with the KDE desktop system (KPDF). You can use any other reader you have installed, simply substitute the path and executable name or your reader in place of KPDF in the example below. Click on the folder icon to the right of the PDF Reader input area. The File Open window will start in the current folder which will most probably be home/tbcpd2. Use the Look In: list box to find where your reader is installed. In our case it will be found in the /opt/kde3/bin folder. Click on the downward pointing triangle next to the Look In: list box and select /opt. You will see a list of files and folders. Double-click on the folder named kde3. Single clicking a folder selects it while double-clicking opens that folder. Now double-click on the folder named bin. Select (single click) the file named kpdf (make sure the file type is executable file) and click the Open button. The finder window will close and the full path and file name will be inserted into the PDF Reader input box.

Example: /opt/kde3/bin/kpdf