General Notes

The XicTools for Windows are supported on Windows XP and later. The programs retain the ``look and feel'' of the Unix/Linux versions as much as possible, given the constraints of the Windows operating system.

Starting with Generation 4, the programs use the GTK-2 graphical interface toolkit, as used by the other releases. The native Win32 interface is gone. The GTK-2 libraries are supplied in a separate installation module. Installation is mandatory, but the libraries are quite static so will not require much attention after the initial installation.

Most basic features are available under Windows. Some of the more advanced features are not.

• There is presently no support for the Tcl/Tk or Python script language plug-ins. There is also no support for the OpenAccess plug-in.

• There is no provision for remote running of the programs as with the X window system in Linux.

• Under Unix/Linux, when the program crashes (of course, a very rare occurrence!), the gdb debugger is called to generate a stack trace, which is emailed to Whiteley Research for analysis. Since it is rare to find gdb on a Windows system, an alternative is built in. This produces a file named progname.stackdump, which is emailed (if possible) to Whiteley Research.

• Windows does not provide a reliable interface for internet mail, so the email clients and crash-dump report in the XicTools may not work. The mail in XicTools works by passing the message to a Windows interface called ``MAPI'', which in turn relies on another installed program to actually send the mail.

  To get this working in Windows 8, I had to download and install something called ``live mail'' from Microsoft, which eventually worked. This app supports MAPI, apparently the Windows 8 Mail app does not(?). The Windows 8 app also does not work with POP3 servers, solidifying my disrespect.

The ``environment variables'' mentioned in the Xic/WRspice documentation are available, and can be set in a Command Prompt window with the ``set'' command before starting the programs, or from the System entry in the Control Panel (or wherever this capability lives in your version of Windows). Only the latter method works if the programs are started from an icon or menu.

Directory path names used by the programs can use either `/' or ` \ ' as the directory separator character, interchangeably. The path can also contain a drive specifier.

The path variables used by Xic that contain lists of directory paths must use either a space or `;' (semicolon) as a separator. Under Unix, the separation characters are space and `:' (colon).

The text files used by the programs can have either DOS or Unix line termination. Text files produced by the programs under Windows will use the DOS format.

Under Windows, where the concept of a ``home directory'' is somewhat tenuous, the programs will look for environment variables, particularly HOME, and if found interpret the value as a path to the home directory. This is true when programs look for startup files. When the program is started from an icon or shortcut, and the start directory is not explicitly set in the icon properties (it defaults to C:/), the current directory will be the home directory, rather than C:/.

Those used to a Unix environment are encouraged to download and install the Cygwin tools. These include most of your favorite Unix commands, plus a complete compiler toolchain for application development. In particular, the bash shell is quite useful, as it provides a ``DOS box'' that responds to Unix shell commands, and from which one can execute shell scripts. The tools can be downloaded as individual modules.

If it is needed and does not exist, Xic and WRspice will create a \ tmp directory on the current drive. This will contain temporary files, used by the programs. These should be removed automatically when the programs terminate, but if not the files can be safely deleted if Xic and WRspice are not running.