UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Very new to this type of thing so go easy on me.......

I have downloaded a command language for data display.
It came as ncl_ncarg-5.2.1.MacOS_10.6_i386_64bit_gcc421.tar.gz and I unzipped/tarred it into my local directory.
The new directory, ncl_ncarg-5.2.1.MacOS_10.6_i386_64bit_gcc421, contained three sub directories, bin, include and lib. The bin directory seems to contain the executables.
One of the executables is the command ncl, to use this (according to website where I got it) is simply,
ncl filename.ncl
I have a suitable file on my desktop and cd to the desktop but just get a command not found error when I try. I think this is something to do with the path, but am not sure how to set it or what to set it to.
Any help greatly appreciated.......

You could try adding the path to that "bin" directory in your .profile

In your home directory, edit .profile

Code:

PATH=$PATH:/whereever_you_installed_it/bin

Where in the text does it go or does it matter?
The text is as follows,

Code:

# Setting PATH for MacPython 2.6
# The orginal version is saved in .bash_profile.pysave
PATH="/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.6/bin:${PATH}"
export PATH

##
# Your previous /Users/davidcraig/.bash_profile file was backed up as /Users/davidcraig/.bash_profile.macports-saved_2010-09-08_at_08:32:33
##

# MacPorts Installer addition on 2010-09-08_at_08:32:33: adding an appropriate PATH variable for use with MacPorts.
export PATH=/opt/local/bin:/opt/local/sbin:$PATH
# Finished adapting your PATH environment variable for use with MacPorts.

You should put your new software's bin at the end:

Code:

PATH=$PATH:.....

(that way any executables in that directory won't take precedence over system commands, for example)

thanks

This is driving me nuts

As said before I am trying to install ncl, by following these instructions

Set up instructions for NCL say to set the NCARG_ROOT environment variable for NCL if installed to /usr/local/bin and /usr/local/lib, then NCARG_ROOT should be set to /usr/local.

On my mac they are located at Users/davidcraig/ncl_ncarg/bin and Users/davidcraig/ncl_ncarg/lib so I set it as follows

Code:

export NCARG_ROOT=/Users/davidcraig/ncl_ncarg

it also says to add NCARG_ROOT/bin to the search path, so in .bash_profile I changed

Code:

export PATH=/opt/local/bin:/opt/local/sbin:$PATH

to

Code:

export PATH=/opt/local/bin:/opt/local/sbin:$NCARG_ROOT/bin:$PATH

there is also a test to see if the display environment variable is set correctly (xeyes) it worked fine.
Also a file for customizing the graphics was copied to the home directory again no problems.

to run ncl I should just have to type ncl at the command line. It doesnt work, but if I cd to the directory with the executables and use ./ncl it works, what am I doing wrong??????

After you have changed the PATH in your .profile file you need to either source the file or log out and in again. To source the file:

Code:

cd
. ./.profile

Andrew