Installing ISETLW Version 3

The ISETLW distribution is a zipped file, isetlwxxxx.zip, where xxx represents the version. Examples: isetlw30b1.zip would contain version 3.0, beta 1 and isetlw30.zip would contain the version 3.0 release.

BETA 0 Release, June 6, 2001
HTMLHelp via the isetlw.chm file is not yet ready. When you click Help in the menu or on the toolbar, it will take you to a web version of help that is fairly extensive, but not yet complete. When the web help is finished, we'll compile it into an HTMLHelp file called isetlw.chm and change the program to point there.

ISETLW version 3.x will only run on Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, 2000, and later.
It will not run on Windows 3.1 or DOS. Use ISETL for DOS and ISETLW 2.0 for Windows 3.1.

ISETLW installation and/or configuration makes NO changes to your Windows operating system. It is completely self-contained in its own folder and can use a work folder (Start in folder) for your data files, but requires no changes to your operating system.

The distribution contains at least 4 files:

The distribution may also contain other .stl command files that are !included from the main isetl.stl command file.

For more information about the ini file and the isetl.stl include file
see Ini File and Main Include File

BETA 0 Release, June 6, 2001
The Beta version cannot !include any files for which the path or filename contains a blank space character. We'll try to fix this in a future release, but for now you will have problems if you set the "Start in" or "working" folder on the Windows shortcut to something like "C:\My Documents". Instead of !include C:\My Documents\isetl.stl it will end up as !include C:\My and give an error that it cannot include that file. This only affects !include. We are able to use the Open, Save, and SaveAs menu choices to open and save with folder and file names with embedded spaces.

To install ISETLW:

  1. Create a folder for ISETLW. This is referred to as the "program" folder.
  2. Copy the distribution files to the folder you just created.
  3. Create a Windows menu item in your Start Menu or on the Desktop that points to isetlw.exe.
  4. Right Click the menu item or ShortCut and select Properties.
  5. Choose the ShortCut tab to set the "Start in" folder.
  6. "Target" points to the location of the isetlw program, isetlw.exe.
  7. "Start in" can be changed to point to a work folder where you will store isetlw data files.
  8. Click OK to close the menu or shortcut properties.

When ISETLW starts up it remembers its "program folder" and its "Start in folder."

ISETLW always looks for its Help file in the program folder. If isetlw.chm is not in the program folder, then choosing Help from the menu or from the toolbar will generate an error message indicating that it couldn't find the file.

ISETLW looks for its configuration file first in the Start in folder, then in the program folder. If isetlw.ini is not in either folder, then an error message will indicate that it couldn't find the file.

ISETLW always tries to !include isetl.stl (include the initial command file) from the Start in folder. isetl.stl can be a file of isetl commands or a file of !include statements that include other isetl command files. If isetl.stl is not in the Start in folder, then an error message will indicate that it couldn't find the file.

Summary: isetlw.chm, the help file, must be in the same folder as the isetlw.exe program file. However, if each student has their own working folder to keep their isetl files, then they can also maintain their own isetlw.ini configuration file and isetl.stl initial include file in that folder. To enable this be sure to set the "Start in" item in the Windows menu shortcut to point to the location of the working folder.

For more information about the ini file and the isetl.stl include file
see Ini File and Main Include File