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The process of installing Tgfm is easy and can be done within a few minutes. Please note however, that the required procedure depends on the operating system your machine is using.
Since Tgfm is a Java program, you need to have a Java virtual machine (which can run Java 1.1 programs) installed on your computer. For many platforms you can get the so called Java Runtime environment (JRE) from Sun Microsystems. The JRE contains everything that is needed to execute Java applications. There is a much bigger bundle called Java Development Kit (JDK) which is used by programmers. If you have the JDK, you do not need the JRE. Some operating systems such as Epoc (ER5 and above) already include a Java virtual machine (JVM) and therefor do not require JRE. If you have Microsoft Windows 9x/NT and Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.x or later, there is no need to get JRE, too.
In general, Java programs are launched by telling the Java virtual machine to execute a certain class file. This is true for all platforms. The process of "telling the virtual machine to.." however is system dependent. Typically you pass the name of the class to a program called "java" or "jre".
On Unix-like systems you do the following to run Tgfm:
This assumes that you have put all Tgfm related files in the directory /home/tommi/Tgfm (on some systems, the backslash is used instead) and there is a program called "java" that runs the JVM. Both JDK and JRE provide this program. You can even use plattform specific scripts to combine the commands shown above.
As I have said, users of Microsoft Windows do not need the JRE, if they have installed MSIE 4 (or later). The programs needed to run Java applications are then called jview and wjview. jview is used to launch commandline driven programs whereas wjview is used to run applications with a graphical user interface as is Tgfm.
You have two options: The first is to write a DOS batch file which should:
To run Tgfm, you simply have to execute this batch file.
Alternatively you can create a so called shortcut to run Tgfm. This has several advantages, so I will introduce this method in greater detail. You can put shortcuts anywhere you like. You can place them on your desktop (where the My Computer icon resides) or you could put in in the Start Menu to have it beside your other applications. Finally you can assign a nice icon which makes it easy to identify Tgfm. For this reason I have included a file Tgfm.ico for your conveniance.
Creating a shortcut involves three steps. They are illustrated by three screenshots. Since I use a german version of Windows, the text may mean nothing to you, but I have circled the areas where you have to enter something, so you should get along with that, I hope.
First you have to right-click on your desktop which will bring up the context menu. Please choose New -> shortcut. Second, please fill in the command line. Usually, jview and wjview are located in the \Windows directory. You can the "java" program from the JDK/JRE instead, if you wish. Please note that my screenshot assumes you have put Tgfm in a C:\Tgfm directory. If you want to put it elsewhere, please type your path instead. The third step is put give your shortcut a name, my suggestion is Tgfm but you can choose any name you like. Now, as I have already said you can put this shortcut anywhere you like.
But there are a few things left to be done. The first is to specify the default directory. If we do not do this, Tgfm will search for files like Tgfm.key or Tgfm.pic in the directory where the wjview, jview or java command is located. This causes no problems, but application files should not be stored in system directories. Second we can choose a new icon for our shortcut, for example the one I have provided with Tgfm.
So please right-click your shortcut and select properties. Now we have to change execute in (C:\Windows) to C:\Tgfm (or the directory where you have copied Tgfm). Finally we can choose another icon file. Now thatīs all.