This page provides a listing of campus specific tips and hints regarding computational requirements and support at Carnegie Mellon University and in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
The software needed for this course can be found on a variety of platforms in a variety of campus clusters. Andrew software availability changes each semester. An up to date listing of what software can be found where is located at http://www.cmu.edu/acs/softweb/cluster.software.html.
Note that different versions of software are available on different platforms. MATLAB Version 5 is available on Sun workstations and in some PC clusters. Version 4.2c is available on most platforms and is simultaneously available on the Sun workstations with Version 5.
ECE Computing Services currently supports MATLAB (Version 4.2c), Maple, and Mathematica.
Andrew computing services can be contacted via email (advisor@andrew.cmu.edu). Send them questions regarding software usage, Andrew hardware problems, and Andrew account questions. ECE computing services can be contacted via email (gripe@ece.cmu.edu). Send email to ECE facilities regarding ECE hardware problems and ECE account questions.
Additional email support can be obtained from each of the three software vendors. Take a look at their web pages (on the software.html page) for detailed questions and answers to most common questions and problems. While each of these vendors provide speedy responses, the web resources are generally quicker (and are referred to in the vendor's email response!).
These instructions are geared towards the UNIX based machines on campus. To start programs using Windows or Macintosh based machines, use the graphical user interface to find the particular program that you wish to start.
The following instructions pertain to starting the actual software provided by each respective vendor -- not the software links nor the symbolic capabilities of any of these packages. The symbolic interface (for MATLAB to interface with the Maple symbolic engine) is only available on UNIX machines. Additionally, note that the Version 5 and Version 4 command syntax are slightly different. The symbolic toolbox is started when MATLAB is started, as directed below. The MATLAB to Mathematica link is not currently installed on Andrew or ECE systems.
|
|
xterm -e matlab & at the UNIX prompt. To start the program in the current window or from remote terminal emulation, just type matlab. The & at the end of the command above allows the program to run in the background. We will use the ampersand to run other programs and edit scripts without having to interrupt or exit MATLAB.Version 5.1 is the default software version on the Andrew Sun workstations. Versions 5.1 and 4.2c (available on most other platforms) are generally compatible. Some of the higher level programming commands in version 5.1 are not available in version 4.2c. To start version 4.2c on an Andrew Sun workstation, type matlab4. Version 5 changes and improvements are highlighted at http://www.mathworks.com/products/matlab/ml5_struct.shtml. |
|
|
xmaple &. This will start the interface and run the program in the background. If the program is being run from remote terminal emulation, typing maple at the UNIX prompt will start a text based version of the program. |
|
|
mathematica &. This will start the interface and run the program in the background. If the program is being run from remote terminal emulation, typing mathematica at the UNIX prompt will start a text based version of the program. |
When performing large symbolic computations, the two symbolic mathematical software are excellent methods of checking and executing computations. Often, it is necessary to use the results of symbolic computations with numerical values. Several approaches can be taken: cut and paste, exporting and importing, symbolic links, and retyping. Use caution to ensure that what you are copying and what you are pasting say the same thing in both languages, and that nothing is lost in the translation.
It may become necessary to use the graphical interface of one machine and the software or capabilities of another machine. X-Windows (or some derivative), the user interface on most campus UNIX workstations, permits sharing of windows across machines. For example, if one was sitting in the ECE Undergraduate cluster, but wants to use Maple on a Sun workstation, telnet to the Sun workstation and type maple. The text version of Maple would soon start running without the interface. A common way to run programs from another machine and have the graphical display appear on the terminal in front of the user is to xhost the other machine. In the example that follows, the user is attempting to run software from a Sun workstation while not sitting in front of a Sun workstation.
xterm -e telnet far-sun4.andrew.cmu.edu & setenv DISPLAY hermes.ece.cmu.edu:0.0 hostname unix18.andrew.cmu.edu xhost +unix18.andrew.cmu.edu
This will allow the windows to be opened on the machine you are using. matlab, matlab4, maple, or mathematica). Don't forget an ampersand or follow the instructions to start an xterm when using MATLAB as given in the previous section.This page was last updated on Thursday, January 15, 1998.
Send questions, comments, ideas, suggestions, or concerns to jsilvey@ece.cmu.edu.
18-205 Web Resources 1998 Carnegie Mellon University Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering