OxCal > Installation

# Installation

- Introduction
- Accessing the site
- Browser requirements for remote access
- Use on your own computer
- Summary of browser capabilities
- Installation on a Server

## Introduction

This version of OxCal can be used in a number of different ways depending on how frequent and intensive your use of the program is likely to be:

- Web access to OxCal - this is the easiest to set up and use and is suitable for most people; for this you only need a suitable browser and SVG Viewer (unless the browser has inbuilt SVG support).
- Use on your own computer - this is suitable for those analysing large models or many dates or where access over the internet is not possible or too slow; see section on use on your own computer.
- OxCal server - this is suitable for radiocarbon labs, workgroups, teaching or those who wish to use the program a great deal; see installation on a server.

The program has three main components:

- Input module - web based (runs in a browser).
- Analysis program (OxCalWin/OxCalMac/OxCalLinux) - a command line utility which runs either on a server, or on your own computer.
- Output module - web based (runs in a browser).

If you are accessing a server all you will need to deal with is the input and output modules which are integrated, the analysis module runs on the server once you have defined the inputs for the program.

## Accessing the site

To access the server, you need a username and password. To get this you click on [New user] and enter your initials, surname and Email address.

A password will then be emailed to you which you can use to enter the site. It is a good idea as you log on to click on [Change password/email] and enter a password that you can remember. You will also have to re-enter your initials, name and email address.

Once you are logged on you have access to your own working area on the server for storing your OxCal data. This data can also be saved locally which is a good idea as the data on the server will not be kept indefinitely.

See Input of data for the next stage once you are sure that your web browser is suitable.

## Browser requirements for remote access

The input and output modules perform a lot of operations themselves and so require an up-to-date browser that is set to allow cookies, javascript and pop-up windows. In addition the graphical output is generated within the OxCalPlot module and so if you want graphs you will need to use a browser capable of displaying SVG output. As this is a fairly new standard this limits the choice of browsers.

The best SVG capabilities are currently provided by the browsers Safari, Google Chrome, Opera, Firefox and the Adobe SVG viewer which is available for free download from:

Adobe - Scalable Vector Graphics: SVG zone

The choice of browser will depend on your operating system.

### Windows

The following setups work very satisfactorily under windows:

- Firefox v1.5 or later with built in SVG support.
- Opera 9 or later with built in SVG support - this also works well and in the same way as Firefox, and you can copy the graph at screen resolution directly.
- Google Chrome.

You can also use Internet Explorer with the Adobe SVG Viewer - though the latter is not to be supported much longer because all other main browsers now support SVG directly.

### Mac OS X

Here the choice is similar except that Internet Explorer is not available in a usable version. The recommended setups are:

- Safari 3 with built in SVG support.
- Firefox with built in SVG.
- Opera 9 with built in SVG.

### Others

You may also have success with other operating systems. This is likely to depend on whether you can get Firefox or Opera to work properly on your system.

## Use on your own computer

The program can also be run directly on your own computer. However the integrated package only runs with Firefox (v1.5 or later) or any of the other Mozzila browsers (Camino, Netscape Navigator or SeaMonkey) because specific extensions are required to call external programs and open/save local files.

Download the distribution package from the OxCal website and unzip the package.

### Installation on a PC

Copy the OxCal directory from the package to the directory:

C:\Program Files\

To run the program you need to open the URL:

file://C:/Program%20Files/OxCal/Index.html

with the Firefox browser (v1.5 or later). The program uses browser extensions to run the program and save files.

The first time you run the program it will create a default directory for you:

C:\Documents and Settings\username\OxCal\

### Installation on a Mac

Copy the OxCal directory from the package to the directory:

/Applications/

To run the program you need to open the URL:

file:///Applications/OxCal/Index.html

with the Firefox browser (v1.5 or later). The program uses browser extensions to run the program and save files.

The first time you run the program it will create a default directory for you:

/Users/username/OxCal/

### Installation on Linux

This is essentially the same as for Mac but uses a different executable which has been compiled under Ubuntu.

## Summary of browser capabilities

Browser | Capabilities
--- | ---
Server version | Local installation
Text | Graphics | Save SVG | Save as PDF/PNG | Text | Graphics | Save SVG | Save as PDF/PNG
Camino |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Firefox |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Google Chrome |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Internet Explorer |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Internet Explorer with Adobe SVG Viewer |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Minefield |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Netscape Navigator |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Opera |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
SeaMonkey |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Safari 2 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Safari 3/4 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Webkit |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |

Internet Explorer is now the only major browser not supporting SVG natively and should only be used as a last resort.

## Installation on a server

You can also install the program on a shared drive of a server in exactly the same way as above. The client machines need to have Firefox or one of the other compatable browsers installed.

Those wishing to set up OxCal on a php server should contact the author of the program.

### Server requirements

The server version will run on Windows or Mac OS X servers. The program uses php to perform the active server operations.

A standard php setup should be sufficient. Php should not be run in safe mode and the execution time should be extended. To achieve this the php.ini file should be edited to contain these lines:

    safe_mode = Off
    max_execution_time = 6000

This will set a maximum analysis time of 100 minutes which is suitable for all but the biggest models. you may wish to set this to a lower value for only calibrations which take very little time. All of the graphics generation is performed on the client machines so only the OxCal analysis uses significant server resources.

### Directory structure

OxCal uses three different directories:

- The web pages and php files - stored in the Webserver document area
- The OxCal binary and associated files - stored in another directory (eg '/Applications/OxCal' on a Mac or 'C:\Program Files\OxCal' on a Windows machine; this directory needs to be set to have read (but not write) and execute permissions for the php daemon.
- The OxCal user area - stored in another directory (eg '/Library/OxCal/userdata' on a Mac or 'C:/Documents and Settings/OxCal4/userdata' on a Windows machine; this directory needs to be set to have read and write permissions for the php daemon.

The file config.php needs to be edited to contain the right directory paths and system calls for running OxCal. Three example files (configMac.php, configMacServer.php and configWindows.php) have example settings and should provide a starting point. The relevant file needs to be copied to config.php before use.