Getting Sparky

We distribute binary versions for SGI running Irix, Sun Sparc using Solaris, DEC Alpha using Digital Unix, x86 and Pentium PCs running Linux or Windows 95/98/NT, and possibly other platforms. See the Sparky web site http://www.cgl.ucsf.edu/home/sparky to see what versions are available.

A trial license and sample data are available. A license for academic use costs few hundred dollars.

sparky-license@cgl.ucsf.edu licensing inquiries
sparky@cgl.ucsf.edu other questions

Sparky was developped by Donald Kneller 1989-95 working with Tack Kuntz at the University of California, San Francisco. Development is continuing at the Computer Graphics Laboratory, UCSF, headed by Tom Ferrin, and within the NMR group lead by Tom James at UCSF. My name is Tom Goddard. I do the programming.

Installing Sparky

Sparky is a graphical program for doing NMR assignment and integration. The latest version is available at: http://www.cgl.ucsf.edu/home/sparky An academic license costs a few hundred dollars. An academic license costs a few hundred dollars. A trial license good for 3 to 6 months is available. See the web page for instructions on getting a license.

Binary distributions of Sparky are available for:

SGIIRIX 5.3
DEC AlphaOSF 4.0d
Sun SparcSolaris 2.5.1
Sun SparcSunOS 4.1.3
PC x86Linux 2.0.30
These will probably run on more recent versions of the operating systems. For example, the SGI version runs on IRIX 6.2 and the DEC version runs on DEC Unix 4.0b. The Linux version requires libc6 (aka glibc 2) libraries available with recent Linux distributions, eg. Red Hat 5.0, Debian 2.0, Slackware 3.6. For other platform you will need to compile the source. This requires a Sparky license, UNIX, X windows, Tcl/Tk, and a C++ compiler. If you have problems installing Sparky send mail to sparky@cgl.ucsf.edu.

Installation instructions

Obtain the sparky distribution sparky-xxx.tar.gz for your hardware and operating system from the Sparky web site and unpack it as follows.

	% mv sparky-xxx.tar.gz /usr/local
	% cd /usr/local
	% gunzip sparky-xxx.tar.gz
	% tar xvf sparky-xxx.tar

This puts the following files in /usr/local/sparky.


  README		- where to get help
  INSTALL		- installation instructions (this file).
  manual		- directory containing manual in HTML.
  bin/sparky		- a script that starts Sparky.
  bin/sparky.exe	- the actual executable.
  bin/pipe2ucsf		- conversion from NMRPipe format to Sparky format.
  bin/ucsfdata		- prints UCSF NMR data header, extracts data matrix.
  bin/vnmr2ucsf		- conversion from Varian VNMR format to Sparky format.
  lib/Sparky		- the Tcl/Tk option database.
  lib/print-prolog.ps	- Postscript used for printing spectrum views.
  python		- code for Python extensions to Sparky

You can put links to the programs in /usr/local/bin as follows, or you can add /usr/local/sparky/bin to your search path.

	% ln -s /usr/local/sparky/bin/sparky /usr/local/bin/sparky
	% ln -s /usr/local/sparky/bin/pipe2ucsf /usr/local/bin/pipe2ucsf
	% ln -s /usr/local/sparky/bin/ucsfdata /usr/local/bin/ucsfdata
	% ln -s /usr/local/sparky/bin/vnmr2ucsf /usr/local/bin/vnmr2ucsf

If you want to put sparky in a directory other than /usr/local/sparky you will need to edit the startup script "bin/sparky" to give the correct path. That completes the installation. See the introduction of the manual for operating instructions.

Compiling Sparky if no binary distribution is available

If a binary distribution is not available for your hardware and operating system you need to compile Sparky from the source code. You will need a Sparky license, UNIX, X windows, Tcl/Tk, and a C++ compiler. Sparky can be extended by users with the Python language (http://www.python.org). If you want to use this you must have Python (free from http://www.python.org) and Tcl/Tk (free from http://sunscript.sun.com).

Unpack the Sparky source distribution and edit the Makefile. Set the paths to the source directory and the installation directory. If you have Python and Tcl/Tk set the lib and include paths. Shared object libraries for Tcl/Tk are required. If you don't want to use the GNU C++ compiler g++ change the definition of CC. Add any flags needed by your ompiler to the CFLAGS variable. If you want to install in a directory other than /usr/local/sparky edit the path in the sparky startup script "sparky". Now run make (or without Python make nopython) and if everything compiles run make install (or without Python make install-nopython). You can optionally put links to the programs in /usr/local/bin:

	% ln -s /usr/local/sparky/bin/sparky /usr/local/bin/sparky
	% ln -s /usr/local/sparky/bin/pipe2ucsf /usr/local/bin/pipe2ucsf
	% ln -s /usr/local/sparky/bin/ucsfdata /usr/local/bin/ucsfdata
	% ln -s /usr/local/sparky/bin/vnmr2ucsf /usr/local/bin/vnmr2ucsf

Or you could add /usr/local/sparky/bin to your search path.

Copyright and Liability disclaimer for the Sparky distribution

Copyright 1989-1997 by the Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

The UC Regents make no warranties, either express or implied, as to any matter whatsoever, including without limitation, the condition of the program, merchantability, or fitness for any particular purpose. The UC Regents shall not be liable for any direct, consequential, or other damages suffered by the user or any others resulting from the use of the program.