Self-extracting executables
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Most software releases on this web site are provided as self-extracting
executable files. The files are named INSTALL_xxx.EXE, where XXX is
a name for the specific software release. When run, these files will
extract themselves into a temporary directory to create
an Embed Inc software release directory, then automatically run the
installation program from that directory. You will be prompted where
the software is to be installed before any changes are made to your
system.
You can abort the software installation process at the first prompt
by closing the window with the prompts. In
that case, the temporary software release directory will be deleted
and no net change will have been made to your system.
To install the software, follow the directions as prompted by
the installation program. The
temporary software release directory will be deleted when the installation
procedure completes.
After clicking on a INSTALL_xxx.EXE file name in your web browser, you can
save the program
to disk or run it directly. Saving it to disk is useful if you want to
install the software on other systems without having to download it from
the web each time. Running it directly is the easiest way to download
and install the software on the machine you are on, but the installation
program will not be saved for re-use later or on other machines.
Operating systems
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The following operating systems are supported:
- Windows NT 4
- Windows 2000
- Windows XP
Special note for Win9x users
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The Win9x operating systems (Windows 95, 98, and ME) are
obsolete relics of a bygone era, and we have no intention of supporting
them. Most end user programs will probably work, but the software build
scripts and the automated installation procedure will not.
None of the software found on this web site is intended for, supported on,
or recommended for any of the Windows 9x operating system.
If you think you
know better and run one of the installation executables on Win9x anyway,
don't come complaining to us about the resulting mess.
(Yes that sounds stupid, but it has actually happened.)
If you absolutely insist on clinging to Win9x, you can install a
software release manually. Here is what to do:
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Run the INSTALL_xxx.EXE installation executable for the software you
want to install. This will pop up a command shell window with a message
something like:
Software installation source directory is C:\temp\WZSE0.TMP\embedinc.
No previous installation of this software was detected.
Enter where you want the software installed, or hit ENTER to choose the
default shown in parenthesis.
(C:\embedinc):
DO NOT PRESS ENTER or type anything else in the window.
The purpose of this step is only to extract the data files from the
self-extracting executable.
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Look at the first sentence in the command shell window to see where the
data files got extracted to. In the above example that is
C:\temp\WZSE0.TMP\embedinc. The directory one level up is a full
Embed Inc software installation directory, which is C:\temp\WZSE0.TMP
in this example.
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The installation directory will contain a file called
readme.txt
(C:\temp\WZSE0.TMP\readme.txt in this example). Read the directions
for the Win9x operating systems.
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If you chose to continue, follow the directions except do not yet
reboot the machine.
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Go to the command shell window that popped up from step 1 above. Enter
CTRL-C at the prompt only. DO NOT PRESS ENTER. Entering
CTRL-C will kill the window and delete the temporary installation
directory from your disk.
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Reboot the machine as directed in the last step of the instructions
in the readme.txt file.
Installing multiple releases
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Multiple Embed Inc software releases can be installed together, and must
be installed to the same directory if the combined features are to be
available. The installation program will notify you if a previous
Embed Inc software installation is found, and set the default
installation directory so that the new release is merged into the
existing installed Embed Inc software. The default software
installation directory will be c:\embedinc if no previous
installation was found.
If you install multiple software releases, install them in order
according their release dates as shown on the page you downloaded them
from. Install old releases first.
If installing multiple software releases together, be sure to reboot
if directed after installing the first one. A software release
is not fully installed until the machine is rebooted if this was requested
by the installation program. Subsequent releases may not install
correctly until the first one is fully installed, including the
required reboot. Additional releases can then be installed without
rebooting between each one, although the machine must be rebooted to
complete the combined installation if a reboot was requested by any
of the additional installations.
Structure of installed software
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All Embed Inc software has a common structure after installation.
This section describes the different top level directories within
the software installation directory. Only some of these directories
may exist in any one software release. For example, if a software
release contains no source code, then it will not contain a SOURCE
directory.
The default software installation directory is c:\embedinc.
The directories described here are found directly within this
installation directory. For example, the full path to the COM
directory will be c:\embedinc\com if the software was installed
to the default location.
The top level directories within a software installation directory
are:
com
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Executables (commands). These include shell scripts (.bat files).
This directory is added to the command search path by the installation
procedure. Most of the programs are intended to be run from a command
line.
doc
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Documentation files. In general, documentation files are plain text files,
and there is one documentation file here for each program in the COM
directory. There are also additional documentation files that are not
specific to particular programs.
The DOC command, if present, will look for a
documentation file in this directory or a .BAT file in the COM directory
and display it.
It can be useful to look thru the DOC directory and .BAT files in the COM
directory after installing a software release.
env
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Environment files. These are used implicitly by many programs and
you generally shouldn't mess with them.
examples
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This directory contains sub-directories with the same names as programs
in the COM directory. Each such sub-directory contains example files
that are related to that program. Many programs don't have example
files, and will therefore not have a sub-directory here. You can
safely modify anything in the EXAMPLES directory without effecting
the behaviour of any programs.
fonts
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Vector font files used by graphics programs. Stay out of here.
lib
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Linkable libraries and their associated include files.
progs
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Like the EXAMPLES directory, this contains sub-directories with the
same names as programs in the COM directory. This is where files
required for a program's operation go. You should think of these
files as part of the program itself and leave them alone.
source
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Source code, which is defined as those files used to produce software
that are directly modified by a human, usually with a text editor.
This directory contains only subdirectories, which contain the actual
source code files.
src
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There is one directory here for each directory in SOURCE. These
directories contain the files derived from the raw source code in
SOURCE. All builds are run in these directories. The SOURCE
directory contains the pure source code, and everything else
gets created here. If everything is set up correctly, you should
be able to delete all files in a SRC sub-directory and recreate
them solely from the source code in the SOURCE directories.