ISB International Society of Biomechanics
  
Downloading Files from ISBweb

  

Try This First...
 
To view a file, simply left-click on the link and see what happens. Usually your browser will do something intelligent.

To save a file on your local disk, right-click on the link and select "Save link as..." to store the file that the link points to.

If you have problems, read on...

       
Plain Text Files
       
These files can be viewed simply by left-clicking on the link, which is shown in blue and underlined. Then use the File-->Save As function of your browser to save it on your disk.

Some common text file extensions:

  • .BAT -- MSDOS command script, commonly used for installation of programs, or running a sequence of programs. Will only execute on MSDOS and Windows compatible computers. To execute in MSDOS, type the name of the file without extension. In Windows, double click on the file, or use the "Run command" function.
  • .m -- Matlab script or function. Requires Matlab from MathWorks Inc.
  • .c -- C source code. Should run on all platforms, please notify the author in case of problems.
  • .h -- C header files. Used in combination with C source code.
  • .f -- Fortran 77 source code. Will be accepted by all platforms, but notify the author in case of problems.
  • .FOR or .FORTRAN -- VMS Fortran source code. Found in some of the contributions by Herman Woltring. Try to compile and manually edit the source where problems occur. TYPE and ACCEPT statements should be converted to PRINT and READ. Comments should be placed on separate lines, starting with "C".

Differnces Between DOS (Windows)  & UNIX Text Files
     
DOS and Windows text files have CR-LF, carriage return and line feed (= CTRL-J and CTRL-M) at the end of each line. UNIX text files have LF (= CTRL-J) only at the end of each line. When a document is in your browser window, it has already been translated to your operating system, and File-->Save As will work properly. Translation may not occur if you use right-click and "Save Link As...", so avoid this for text files. Most text files on the ISB site are stored in UNIX format.

You may experience problems with text files that are stored in a file archive (.tar, .zip etc.). This has, for instance, been reported with the KineMat software package. Matlab programs will execute correctly, but you may see strange characters at the end of a line when you open the file in a text editor. Also, some programs (such as MSDOS grep) do not work properly when CTRL-M is missing. To convert a UNIX text file to DOS, open it in EDIT (the old MSDOS text editor) and save it again. To convert a DOS text file to UNIX, use this UNIX script. (download this file using right-click since the script contains the CTRL-M character which you *don't* want translated!).

    
Word Processor Files
  
Word Processors files usually have a .doc extension. We try not to post them but some MS Word documents can be found.  Contributors, please submit your documentation in one of the following formats (in order of preference:)
1. PDF
2. HTML
3. Plain text
  
PDF Files
 
Documents converted to Adobe's Portable Document Format can be read by just about any operating system. Go to www.adobe,com to download free viewing utilities and browser plug-ins.
  
Binary Executables
Most of the executables to be found on ISBweb are DOS/Windows programs and some utilities for UNIX.

ITo be safe, always download executables using the right-mouse button and the "Save Link As..." function.

  • .EXE -- MSDOS/Windows executable. To execute in MSDOS, type the name of the file without extension. In Windows, double click on the file, or use the "Run command" function.
  • .mexsg -- Matlab function binary for SGI

UNIX executables cannot be recognized by their filename extension, so use right-click if a link is indicated to be a UNIX executable.

  
Archive Files
  
File archives are binary files that contain several files packed together, sometimes using a compression algorithm. Browsers usually recognize the file type and use plug-in software to decompress and unpack the files. File archives are not readable in the browser, so if the browser does not recognize the file type, use the right-click, select "Save Link As..." and then process the file manually.

In case of problems, read on for more details. Some common filename extensions:

  • .ZIP or .zip -- Commonly used on DOS/Windows platform. To unpack the files, use an "unzip" program. Various versions can be found for free on the Internet, for Windows as well as UNIX platform. For Windows, try WinZip. On UNIX, first see if UNZIP is already installed by typing "which unzip". If the program is not installed, get it from the Internet. Here is an executable for IRIX (SGI UNIX). Here is C source code for generic UNIX.
  • .gz -- Commonly used on UNIX platforms. To unpack the files, use the "gunzip" program which is probably is already installed on your UNIX computer. Else, find one on the Internet. WinZip will also decode .gz files.
  • .tar -- Commonly used on UNIX platforms. Every UNIX system has 'tar' installed. To decode a file "foo.tar", type: 
       tar -xvf foo.tar

    WinZip will also decode .tar files.

  • .Z -- Commonly used on UNIX platforms. A .Z file contains just one file, but it is compressed to save space. To uncompress, use the UNIX command "uncompress". On Windows, you can use WinZip. Sometimes .tar files are compressed, which results in an extension .tar.Z. A file foo.tar.Z is decoded as follows: 
       uncompress foo.tar.Z
   tar -xvf foo.tar
  

Commercial / Legal Issues
  
Unless indicated otherwise, all material posted on ISBweb can be used without restriction for non-commercial purposes. The author of software or owner of data should be contacted if commercial use is intended.