This document contains information on installing the Windows NT port of ORTEP-III, ver 1.0.1, as well as a few notes about the port itself. For general information and documentation of ORTEP-III by Michael Burnett and Carroll Johnson, consult the ORTEP WWW page.

ORTEP-III requires the PGPLOT graphics package to be installed if the on-screen graphics are to be used. The necessary files and instructions are included with this distribution, but for more information about PGPLOT you should contact the author, T. J. Pearson or refer to the PGPLOT webpage.

For the full version of Mark Konnecke's Windows NT port of PGPLOT, point your web browser or ftp client to ftp://ftp.nd.rl.ac.uk/pub/pgplot. I offer special thanks to Mark for his assistance with setting up PGPLOT.

Installing PGPLOT

The following are the PGPLOT files and environment variables required by ORTEP-III. The files can be located anywhere; their locations will be indicated by the environment variables.

To set environment variables under Windows NT, select the "Main" program group and activate the "Control Panel." Select "System" from the Control Panel. For each environment variable, enter the variable name and the desired value in the boxes at the bottom of the System window then click the "Set" button. If all has been done properly then the new environment variables will be listed in the "User Environment Variables" sub-window.

PGPLOT is copyrighted by the California Institute of Technology, but is freely available for non-commercial use.

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Installing ORTEP-III

Once PGPLOT is installed, there is little else to do. Copy the ORTEP-III executable to the directory you prefer. Add that directory to the path if you wish. I typically run the program from a DOS window, but it is possible to add ORTEP-III to any program group just as you would any other program. (The easiest way to do this is to drag it from the File Manager directory listing to the program group of your choice.) The program prompts for the necessary input files when it is executed.

No sample files are included with this distribution. They should be obtained, if desired, from ORNL, at the URL given above.

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General information about this version of ORTEP-III

Porting ORTEP-III to Windows NT was pretty much straightforward. In fact, setting up PGPLOT proved to be the most time-consuming step. Burnett's and Johnson's source compiled almost as written under MS Powerstation Fortran 4.0, but graphics speed was improved by a factor of over 500 (really!) by implemention of output buffering with routines from the PGPLOT library. Even the buffering required only the addition of a small number of subroutine calls in strategic locations.

No modifications were made to the program functionality. We have increased the dimensions to allow up to 2,000 atoms and 2,500 bonds.. We have not tested the color capabilities of ORTEP-III with the screen routines. We have one report that the PGPLOT routines do not work correctly on Windows 95, but have not yet been able to check out the problem. If the screen display is not required then the rest of the program works fine under Windows 95.

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Download

ORTEP-III for Windows NT download file

The download file (ORTEP3NT.exe) is a self-extracting zip file which includes the ORTEP-III compiled for Windows NT, the graphics files needed, and instructions on loading (ORTEP3.TXT).

For additional information or assistance with downloading or installing this version of ORTEP III, please contact John C. Bollinger.

Comments to John C. Huffman: Content Last modified 12/03/00

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