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Revision of HOWTO build OpenMx from the source repository from Tue, 01/03/2012 - 04:33

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OS X installation

Recent versions of OS X have SVN pre-installed, so you should be able to download the source via SVN at the terminal. If you have not already, download the latest Xcode development system from Apple and install the compiler software.
The gfortran compiler no longer comes with the Xcode package. You'll need to download it separately. The R developers have a webpage with many, many versions of the gfortran software. Make sure to scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and then select the gfortran library that matches your OS X version and Xcode version.

Now follow the instructions for the Unix installation.

Windows installation

A prerequisite for compiling OpenMx on Windows platforms is the Rtools Windows toolset. Download the latest version of Rtools from their website and run the installer. The Rtools installer does not add the R directory to your PATH environment variable. See here for help on setting the path in Windows 2000/XP. See here for help on setting the path in Windows Vista. The default R directory is placed in C:\Program Files\R\R-2.X.X\bin.

TortoiseSVN is a subversion graphical user interface that you may find helpful. Some tips: We recommend checking out the OpenMx repository into a folder that does not contain any spaces in its absolute path. If you receive a permission denied error when running "make install", follow the instructions on the R FAQ for Windows: I don't have permission to write to the R library directory.

In R 2.9.x and earlier, you need Microsoft's HTML Help Workshop in order to create R help files under Windows. After you have installed the software, add C:\Program Files\HTML Help Workshop to your PATH environment variable.

Now follow the instructions for the Unix installation.

Unix installation

This version should compile under any Unix with the GNU C compiler (included with Xcode on OS X).

SVN Source Archive

To install OpenMx, download the source using SVN. If you want anonymous svn access then leave out the --username argument.

  1. You will want to check out the repository to a local working copy, placed wherever you like, probably a directory such as "~/Applications/bin" or "~/local/"
  2. Check out the repository creating the local directory OpenMx if necessary:
    cd ~/Applications/bin/
    svn checkout --username <yourUserName>  http://openmx.psyc.virginia.edu/svn   OpenMx

After you have downloaded an initial working copy, SVN can keep this up to date with svn update. Learn more with man svn or tutorial sites like this one.

  tinkerbell:OpenMx tim$ svn update
    A    trunk/docs/source/Factor1.png
    U    trunk/docs/source/FactorModelPath.rst
    D    trunk/models/passing/bivSat3.R

A = Added, U = Updated, D = Deleted

You can also check the status of your working copy

    cd ~/Applications/bin/
    svn status OpenMx  # learn if any changes have been made, including new files
  • For a list of recent changes check out the ChangeLog file in the most recent distribution.

Building and Installing OpenMx from the downloaded source

cd (change directory) to the trunk directory, and make

  cd  ~/OpenMx/trunk/
  make install

Options for the make process are as follows:

  • make build - build a binary release of the OpenMx library for export.
  • make install - create the OpenMx library and tries to install it as an R library.
  • make check - create the OpenMx library and runs the R library checker.
  • make html - create the Sphinx documentation in the docs/build/html directory. You will need to have the Sphinx package installed.
  • make pdf - create a pdf file in the build directory of the OpenMx documentation.
  • make clean - clean out the build subdirectory. Sometimes you may need to run "make clean" if you get error messages with the other make build.
  • make test - run all the models in the demo and models/passing subdirectories. The number of errors found will be reported (should be 0).

Problems With make

  1. Try make clean
  2. Ensure your copy of the source is up-to-date
    # cd to your local copy's trunk directory, and svn update
  3. Checkout the repository again.
  4. Make sure that you are building from the trunk directory.
  5. Make sure you have all the R dependencies installed.

Comments

You can also check the status of your working copy

The build instructions for Windows are extremely out-of-date...