AnyWave:Faq
Frequently asked questions (FAQ) about AnyWave. If you don't have an answer to your question reading the Documentation, you may find useful information here.
Donwloading AnyWave
Click on the link below to download AnyWave for your platform:
Download AnyWave
The current available versions are:
- Windows 32bit - February 2014
- Windows 64bit - April 2014
- Mac OS X - April 2014
- Linux amd64 Debian - April 2014
The user guide is alvailable here.
How to install AnyWave
Windows
The 32bit version of AnyWave will run on all Windows versions starting with Windows XP.
However, on 64bit Windows systems, it will run as a 32bit application. Therefore, AnyWave won't take advantage of all the memory installed on the system.
Please install the 64bit version of AnyWave on a 64bit Windows.
The 64bit version of AnyWave will run on Windows Vista x64, Windows 7 x64 and Windows 8 x64.
Download the zip file, uncompress it in a temporary folder then launch the installer. You must have administrative's privileges in order to install the software.
Mac OS X
The Mac OS X version of AnyWave supports Mac OS 10.5 to 10.9.
Be sure to have Qt 4.8.5 installed on your Mac. If not, download and install Qt before trying to install AnyWave.
Donwload the zip file, uncompress it on a temporary folder then open the package installer and follow instructions.
You might need to install additionnal software in order to get access to some features of AnyWave. See below.
AnyWave will send notifications messages during some operations. To see those messages you will need to install Growl.
Linux
AnyWave is available as a Debian package for the amd64 architecture. The package should install as well on Ubuntu Linux.
Download the package and install it on your system using dpkg -i mypackage.deb in a terminal or by double clicking on the file.
Once all the required dependencies have been installed, AnyWave will be available using the anywave command from a terminal.
Plug-ins
What is a plug-in?
AnyWave uses external modules called plug-ins, that are loaded at startup and extend the functionalities of the application.
Depending on the platform, plug-ins are files with different extensions.
On Windows systems plug-ins are .dll files where on Mac OS X systems the extension is .dylib. Linux version of AnyWave will use plugin with .so extension.
There are several types of plug-ins used by AnyWave:
- Reader plug-ins are responsible of reading data file formats.
- Writer plug-ins are responsible of writing data to a data file format.
- Signal processing plug-ins will run some processing on data and present or not the results in AnyWave.
- Display plug-ins are responsible of displaying specific data type. Typically, the results computed by signal processing plug-ins.
How to install a plug-in
When installing AnyWave, some plug-ins are also installed, allowing to read file formats or making some basic processings on data.
Those plug-ins are put in a folder where AnyWave is installed.
Depending on the platform, the path where AnyWave resides can change and the name of the plug-ins directory too.
On Windows, the user can choose where to install AnyWave. For example, AnyWave can be installed on C:\AnyWave.
If you look at C:\AnyWave you will notice the presence of a directory called Plugins. This is the location where to put plug-ins.
Note that the operation may require administrative privileges.
On Mac OS X, AnyWave will be installed where all applications go, the /Applications folder.
Besides the AnyWave application, there will be a directory named Anywave_Plugins. This is the place to put new plug-ins for AnyWave.
Note that the operation requires administrative privileges.
How to install user plug-ins
If the user has no administrative privileges and cannot install new plug-ins where AnyWave is installed, the solution is to put plug-ins in the user's home directory.
The first time AnyWave starts, it creates a folder in the user's home directory. (On Windows systems that directory is the well known "My Documents" folder.)
The place where to put user plug-ins will then be: /user's home dir/AnyWave/Plugins
Installing plug-ins in that location will allow AnyWave to use them without requiring administrative privileges.
More over, it allows installation of plug-ins that will only be available to the user.
Matlab plug-in
AnyWave offers the possibility to run signal processing plug-ins which was written in Matlab programming language.
There are two ways to run Matlab code as plug-ins. You may have a Matlab Compiled plug-in and put it in either the application's plugins folder or your own plugin directory.
Matlab Compiled Plugin
A Matlab Compiled plugin is most likely a classic C++ plug-in.
The difference is that the Matlab code will run through the use of the Matlab Compiler Runtime.
Therefore, AnyWave won't be able to load and use Matlab Compiled Plug-ins until the Matlab Compiler Runtime (MCR) is installed on the computer.
That is the only requirement in order for AnyWave to run Matlab Compiled Plug-ins:
Please install the Matlab Compiler Runtime 2012b on your computer.
ATTENTION: the required version is 2012b as AnyWave was designed to use that specific version of the runtime.
Once the Matlab Compiler Runtime is installed, AnyWave should detect it automatically (if the default installation parameters were used), and Matlab Compiled Plug-ins will then be available.
Note: The MCR needs to be installed once and for all. You should not have two different versions of the MCR on the same computer. Please uninstall other versions than 2012b.
A Matlab Compiled plug-in looks like a classic plug-in except that it is composed of two files: the AnyWave plug-in and the Matlab Compiled code.
Both files have the same extension (.dll, .so or .dylib) and can be placed in the plugins folder.
Matlab is not needed to run AnyWave and used a Matlab Compiled plug-in.
Matlab Scripted Plugin
If you are a mighty Matlab programmer and thus have Matlab installed on your computer, you may use and develop a Matlab Scripted plugin.
A Matlab Scripted plugin is a Matlab function that will be called by AnyWave.
It is possible to use a Matlab Scripted plugin written by someone else just by installing it in AnyWave.
How to install a Matlab Scripted Plugin
AnyWave provides a specific location where to put Matlab Scripted plug-ins:
You may use the global plugin directory or the user's plugin directory. On both locations you will find a subfolder called Matlab.
AnyWave will look for Matlab Scripted plug-ins in the two locations. (AnyWave Application directory/Plugins/Matlab or /user's home/AnyWave/Plugins/Matlab)
A Matlab Scripted plug-in is a simple folder containing files. If you want more details about Matlab Scripted plug-ins, please refer to the How to write a Matlab Scripted plug-in.
To summarize:
Matlab Scripted plug-ins have to go in:Application dir/Plugins/Matlab or /user's home/AnyWave/Plugins/Matlab
Python plug-ins
As for Matlab Scripted Plug-ins, AnyWave offers the possibility to write signal processing plug-in in Python.
A Python 2.7 interpreter is embedded in AnyWave, so you don't need Python to be installed on the computer. However, it is possible to use the python installed on your system, specially the numerous packages available.
For now, Python packages are not distributed with current versions of AnyWave but it is planned for future versions. Among the various python packages, one is required to write plug-ins, the numpy package.
Be sure to have a Python installation with that package on your computer before trying to use Python plug-ins in AnyWave.
A Python plug-in is very similar to a Matlab Scripted Plug-in. The install procedure is the same except that you have to copy the plugin in a folder named Python:
Python plug-ins have to go in:AnyWave application/Plugins/Python/ or /user's home/AnyWave/Plugins/Python
