VISITview Software Files -- what are they?

   8/17/2000 (updated: 12/15/2009)

There are four pre-packaged collections of VISITview code. Whenever an update is made, all four files are refreshed.

vvinstall.msi
This file contains all the files in the visitpack.zip file (see below), and will walk you through the the installation process. It is just set up for Windows® machines, and will create a folder with icons for launching commonly used VISIT lesson building processes (like the Lesson Builder or Audio Recording).

This is the file you would use if you have Windows® and are just starting out using VISITview. Just download it and then run it to do the install of VISITview!

If you use this installation technique and later want to remove VISITview, then you must do it in the "normal Windows way" -- that is, Start->Settings->Control Panel->Add/Remove Programs

(Please read the description, below, of the visitpack.zip for additional information.)

visitpack.zip
This file contains all the files needed to start making lessons...DOS batch files, Linux scripts, Java "class" files (the 'VISITview program code', if you will), Java runtime (for Windows), Info-ZIPs utilities (Windows), and templates for HTML (for the diehards...). This is the file you would use when just starting (for both building lessons and running a VISITview server).

To begin using VISITview, this is a good starting point.

When an update is issued, if there are interdependent changes, the update notice may recommend that you unzip this file on top of the older code. For example, if you initially installed 'visitpack.zip' in "c:\vview\", then you would just unzip this file into that same directory (overwriting the files there).

visitcode.zip
This file contains just the Java "class" files. For changes that only impact these files, you can just overwrite the files in "c:\vview" as well (as well as the server if you put that somewhere else).

visitlessoncode.zip
This last one contains just the java "class" files that are normally packaged with the lesson files by the VISITview Lesson Builder. The lesson files created by the builder do not contain the lesson builder software and a few other misc files). The intent here is that you would replace all the Java "class" files in your lessons with these, if you want to avail yourself of the changes. This is really intended for those folks who don't use the Lesson Builder....

What to do when an update is made If you are using the Lesson Builder (highly recommended!!!), then we recommend the following when an update is announced:

  1. get the Windows installer (or just the visitpack.zip and overwrite the files in the "c:\vview", or wherever you installed before, directory with their contents).
  2. if you want to incoportate the changes in your lessons, just start the Lesson Builder, and "open" and then "save" your lesson(s). This will automatically include the updated code in the lessons.
  3. if you are running a server, and the instructions explicitly say that a server update is needed, then also overwrite the code on the server (at some locations, this may mean letting your network/systems admin folks know about it).

If you have any questions, please send email to

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