Running the Linux Demos

The demos in /u/nn/demos are intended to be run on a linux desktop/laptop (although a lot of them are videos that can be run on any platform). To make it easy, we developed a simple command-line interface, run-demos.pl, to run them. (Note: demos.other uses a different interface described in the README file.)

Running a demo

  1. From the "demos" directory, type "run-demos.pl" at the command line. You will be presented with a list of demos.
  2. Enter the number corresponding to the demo you'd like to run. You will be presented with a list of different configurations of this demo.
  3. Enter the number corresponding to the configuration you want to run or enter "R" to read a description of the demo.

Setting up a new demo

  1. Create a new subdirectory of the "demos" directory. Make sure to give the diretory a descriptive name, as it will be used to label a menu item in the "run-demos.pl" script. Put all files associated with your demo in the subdirectory. If possible, statically link your executable so it will still work when shared libraries are moved around.
  2. In this subdirectory, create a script called ".scr" that will run your demo. Make sure to set all necessary environment variables, etc. Don't forget to set the execute privileges appropriately. If your demo can be run several different ways, you can create multiple scripts. If your demo depends on programs outside of the demo directory, make sure to give the user the option (e.g. by setting environment variables) of specifying the paths of those programs. This way the script can still work if programs are moved to other directories. Look in the "predprey" directory for a simple example of a script. Again, make sure to give your scripts descriptive names as they will appear as menu items in the "run-demos.pl" script.
  3. In your subdirectory, create an HTML file called "description.html" that explains the demo and gives any special instructions for its use. If the demo depends on programs outside of the demo directory, make sure to state those dependencies there. The user will have the option of viewing this file in a browser before they run your demo.
  4. From the demos directory, type "run-demos.pl" at the command line to verify that your demo and all its configurations appear as options, and check that they run correctly in different environments.
Last modified: Sun Sep 25 15:12:30 PDT 2022