PACT Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Last-Modified:  Fri Mar 26 09:19:19 PST 1999


Welcome to the FAQ for PACT!

INTRODUCTION
PACT is the environment and toolkit that we use to create portable 
applications, and to create functionality not readily available. 
PACT is our environment of choice for handling unique data,
portable computing environments, and the distributed computing 
arenas; and for converting data for the visualization application 
or algorithm of choice. We have created PACT to shield ourselves 
from new software, and hardware so we can concentrate on the 
applications at hand. PACT is beginning to emphasize design that 
takes advantage of massively parallel environments.

We would like to hear of your experiences with PACT. And, we would 
be especially pleased to try to add your mathematical, graphical, 
or other functionality to future distributions of PACT. 

NOTICE

     Absolute portability is our GOAL! 

Most of the time we install PACT 
without problems, the other times take varying amounts of effort to 
track down. Usually the problems are simple, such as missing 
headers. If your experience with PACT is not absolute portability, 
we would like to hear from you so we can try to make it so. Please 
direct all portability issues to:

     sabrown@llnl.gov
 or  minner1@llnl.gov


Thanks to all who have contributed to this FAQ.  Corrections and 
contributions always welcome. Please e-mail comments, additions, 
and corrections to:

                  rodrigues2@llnl.gov 

and use SUBJECT: PACT FAQ

Items needing more input from you and others are marked with a ???.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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1) What is PACT?
2) What machines does PACT run on?
3) Where can I get PACT?
4) How can I get in touch with PACT developers and users?
5) What are the PACT packages?
6) ???

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1) What is PACT?

   PACT stands for Portable Application Code Toolkit. It is a
   self-contained set of tools which support developing and
   using portable programs particularly scientific and engineering
   applications.  It attacks several portability problem areas:
             Binary Data
             Graphics
             Interprocess Communication
   PACT is composed of several (currently 9) specific packages
   each of which address a specific functionality.

2) What machines does PACT run on?

   PACT has been tested on the following systems:
        AIX 2 and up
        HP-UX
        Irix 4.x
        Irix 5.x
        Linux 1.x
        MAC OS 6 and up
        OSF 1.x
	SunOS 4.x
        SunOS 5.x (Solaris)
        Ultrix 
        Unicos 7 and up

   The Macintosh version is hard to manage because of the tools
   available on the platform.  We are trying to improve the
   ease of installation on the Macintosh.

   PACT has run on DOS boxes in the past but needs to be updated.
   The plan has been to use DJGPP and the BGI version of the
   associated library (Desqview X is another possibility).
   MS Windows is also a possibility since alpha ports of the key
   pieces of PACT have been done there from time to time.

3) Where can I get PACT?

Please use ftp to connect to: 

          ftp-lc.llnl.gov 

log in as anonymous, using your email address for the password, 
cd west/pub/pact - to change directory,
binary      - to set the transfer mode,
get the three pact files (yy_mm_dd indicates the date):
          pact-unix.README
          pactyy_mm_dd-doc.tar.gz
          pactyy_mm_dd-src

or the two Mac files:
          pact-mac.README
          pactyy_mm_dd-mac.tar.gz

   pact-???.README explains how to install PACT; pactyy_mm_dd-src
   is the self configuring, self installing distribution file;
   and pactyy_mm_dd-doc.tar.gz contains the PostScript and FrameMaker
   form of the documents for PACT.

4) How can I get in touch with PACT developers and users?

    You can contact the PACT developers by sending to 

      pactdev@llnl.gov 

   The PACT team has setup a Majordomo based mailing list for
   PACT users.  You can subscribe to it by sending the following
   message to Majordomo@lists.llnl.gov

         subscribe pact-users

5) What are the PACT packages?

     SCORE   - hash functions, string handling, environment leveling
     PML     - math routines, geometry, linear solvers, etc
     PDB     - portable binary data handling
     PPC     - portable IPC, RPC, message passing
     PGS     - portable graphics and GUI tools
     PANACEA - simulation code services
     SCHEME  - a R3RS level SCHEME interpreter library
     SX      - a SCHEME with extensions/bindings for all of PACT
     ULTRA   - 1d data presentation, manipulation, analysis code

   PACT is held together by a system of C shell scripts called the
   manager.  The PACT manager can also be used by other code systems
   to assist with source maintenance and control.

6) ???
