[ADMB Users] Environment variables in ADMB

[Arni Magnusson]

Hi Dan,

The glue that holds ADMB together is environment variables:

1. PATH should point to the directories containing tpl2cpp and g++ (e.g. 
c:/ADMB/gcc440/bin and c:/gnu/GCC440/bin), and optionally other 
directories

2. ADMB_HOME should point to the main ADMB directory (e.g. c:/ADMB/gcc440)

ADMB-IDE requires these additional environment variables:

3. PATH should also point to the Emacs and GDB directories (e.g. 
c:/gnu/GDB/bin and c:/gnu/EMACS/bin)

4. HOME should point to the directory containing the .emacs file (e.g. 
c:/~)

---

My guess is that your Emacs does not load the ADMB toolbar because the 
HOME environment variable does not point to the directory containing the 
.emacs file.

If the Dos shell does not recognize 'makeadm simple', then the PATH 
environment variable does not point to a directory containing makeadm.bat. 
You may want to check items 1-4 above with your IT specialist. Also note 
that 'makeadm simple' is deprecated and has been replaced with 'admb 
simple'.

There are many ways to set environment variables, and each method has its 
pros and cons. Conditions 1-4 above apply to Windows, Linux, and probably 
all other operating systems.

The ADMB-IDE installer tries to set the environment variables for the 
general Windows user, but fails when the user does not have administrator 
privileges. I haven't tested the details of how it fails, but I would 
expect some error messages during the installation.

Arni



On Wed, 26 May 2010, Dan Kehler wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I wasn't sure if I should be sending this to the support group or users 
> group. In any case, I am trying to install admb-ide on a windows 
> machine. I successfully did this on a home PC running Windows 7 after 
> several failed tries. To be honest, I installed and uninstalled the C++ 
> compilers, admb, admb-ide and emacs many times. In the end a "clean" 
> install of admb-ide worked like a charm, and I can use the emacs toolbar 
> to translate, compile and run .tpl files. It is a great interface.
>
> Now, i am trying to install admb-ide on my office PC running Windows XP. 
> Due to the security settings, I have to call in an IT specialist to log 
> in as an administrator to install admb-ide. It looks like everything is 
> getting installed correctly - admb, gcc, gdb, emacs, but the admb 
> toolbar does not show up in emacs. I assume it is a problem with emacs 
> reading the admb.el file.
>
> Trying to run admb from the command prompt doesn't work either.
>
> In this directory:
>
> C:\admb\gcc440\examples\admb\simple
>
> typing ' makeadm simple'
>
> I get the following error: 'makeadm' is not recognized as an internal or 
> external command, operable program or batch file.
>
> My question is: should the admb-ide installer have worked without me 
> needing to change anything, i.e. should the admb toolbar show up in 
> emacs? If yes, have you come across anyone encountering problems 
> stemming from the computer's security settings?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Dan
>