Pontos
======
See the Wiki site for up-to-date and complete information:
https://sourceforge.net/p/pontos/wiki/Home/
* What to download
Download file "Pontos-3.0.jar" if you only want the program itself.
If you want Pontos' source code, download "Pontos-3.0-src.zip" (you only need this if you are a programmer and want to change the program, or see how it works; otherwise, ignore this file).
If you are in a UNIX-based system and want to put the program in a location that is accessible from anywhere in the command line environment (see below), you might also want to get file "pontos" (if you didn't understand this last sentence, then you can ignore file "pontos").
* Running the program
In some systems (e.g. Windows, Mac OS X, and some Linux), all you need to do is double-click on the downloaded file and it will execute. You are done. If it does not work, it might be that you do not have Java installed (which is more likely to be a problem in newer Mac OS X versions). In that case, I can not help you much beyond pointing you to http://www.java.com and wishing you luck with the install.
However, in some systems (e.g. Ubuntu, where this program was developed) double-clicking on the file will open it as a package of files (which it is, but let's ignore it for the moment) instead of executing it. If that happens on your system, here is what to do (instructions for Ubuntu, your system might be a little different):
- right click on the file;
- choose "Properties";
- find where the permissions for the file can be set;
- choose "Allow executing file as program";
- close the properties window;
- right click on the file again and choose "Open with Sun Java 6 Runtime" (or whatever runtime you have installed).
In some systems where double-clicking should work, you might still need to change permissions as described above.
* Command line execution
Go to the directory where you have the downloaded .jar file and run:
java -jar Pontos.jar
If you want to make the program accessible from anywhere in the command line in a UNIX-based system, you will have to do the following:
- download files "Pontos-3.0.jar" and "pontos";
- make sure "pontos" is executable by running "chmod +x pontos";
- place them in a directory that is in your $PATH;
- to see directories that are in your $PATH, go to the command line and type: "echo $PATH", without the quotes, and see the output (choose one, like /usr/local/bin or);
- you might need administrative access to move the files there;
- change the line that says "java -jar $HOME/bin/Pontos-3.0.jar" to read "java -jar /usr/local/bin/Pontos-3.0.jar" (or whatever the directory where the .jar file is);
If everything worked as intended, you should be able to write "pontos" from any directory in your command line environment and have Pontos run.
* Placing an icon in the desktop for easy access
If you want to have an easy-to-reach icon, you can do it like this (again, instructions for Ubuntu):
- right click on the Desktop;
- choose "Create Launcher..."
- in the window that appears, add the command neede (see below) and whatever else you want for "Name" (which is what will show below the icon);
- the command to use depends on how you got Pontos installed;
- if you successfully got Pontos to run using the "pontos" script from anywhere, as described above, you can simply use "pontos" (without quotes) in the "Command" field;
- if you just have the .jar file somewhere in the computer, you will have to type "java -jar /full/path/to/Pontos-3.0.jar" (without quotes) in the "Command" field;
- for example, if your put the file in "/home/joe/files/", your command should be "java -jar /home/joe/files/Pontos-3.0.jar" (without quotes);
- click OK and test the launcher by double-clicking it; Pontos should open after a second or two.
