APEX WORLDBUILDER INSTALL

Last updated on: 07/23/02

Apex WorldBuilder - A world builder application for the Apex simulation environment from HTML storyboards.

CONTENTS

BACKGROUND

WINDOWS INSTALLATION

MACINTOSH INSTALLATION

CREDITS

REVISION HISTORY

BACKGROUND

Apex WorldBuilder application was developed by the MSE Studio team "The Borg", at Carnegie Mellon University for their Studio project. Apex WorldBuilder application was designed to provide Apex users with a means of converting an HTML storyboard into an Apex simulation world with a minimum of effort. This application will convert a properly formatted HTML storyboard into initialize.lisp file which can be used to run a scenario in Apex.  In this version, the WorldBuilder recognizes only the hotspots and image maps in the HTML storyboard files, and navigates via these hotspots. The WorldBuilder application is written in Java.

WINDOWS INSTALLATION

Before You Begin:

WorldBuilder requires at JRE (Jave Runtime Environment) 1.1.8+ on the Windows platform. JRE is a part of Java Virtual Machine (JVM). The default JRE installed with IE might be sufficient but has not been tested. We recommend that you install a newer version of JVM. To download and install the JVM, go to: http://java.sun.com and follow the instructions on the site.

Installing WorldBuilder:

  1. Navigate your browser to WorldBuilder-a.b.c.zip, where a, b and c correspond to the version number. As of this writing, a=1, b=1 and c=6, i.e. 1.1.6 is the latest version. (If you are using Internet Explorer, specify that you want to Save the file in the download dialog when it comes up. If you are using Netscape or any other browser, please consult the user manual for that browser if you have trouble downloading .zip files).

  2. Extract the contents of WorldBuilder-a.b.c.zip file into WorldBuilder-a.b.c folder. Windows XP supports .zip files natively, so all you need to do is to right-click on the downloaded WorldBuilder-a.b.c.zip, select Extract All... and follow the instructions in the wizard that comes up. On other Windows platforms, we recommend WinZip from http://www.winzip.com. If you are using a third-party .zip extractor and having difficulties extracting files, please consult the user manual for that program.

  3. Navigate inside WorldBuilder-a.b.c folder and double-click on WorldBuilder.jar to run the WorldBuilder application.

Installation Complete!

Troubleshooting - If in Step 3, double-clicking on WorldBuilder.jar does not launch the application, i.e. the archive gets open or an unknown file extension dialog comes up:

  1. Select Folder Options from the Tools menu in Windows Explorer.

  2. Press on the File Types tab, then highlight the entry for the JAR extension.

  3. Press the Change button, then select javaw as the application to run when the file is double-clicked.

  4. If step 3. does not produce the desired result, press Advanced and in the new dialog select Action open and press Edit.... If Action open does not exist, press New....

  5. In either Edit... or New... dialog, in the edit box Application used to perform action: enter "C:\Program Files\java\j2re1.4.0_01\bin\javaw.exe" -jar "%1". If your Java installation is in a different folder use that value for javaw.exe location.

MAC OS 10.x INSTALLATION

Installing WorldBuilder:

  1. Navigate your browser to WorldBuilder-a.b.c.zip. The file should automatically download via Download Manager onto your Desktop. Subsequently, the downloaded .zip file will be automatically expanded into WorldBuilder-a.b.c Folder folder.

  2. Navigate inside WorldBuilder-a.b.c Folder and double-click on WorldBuilder.jar to run the WorldBuilder application.

Installation Complete!

MAC OS 9.x INSTALLATION

Installing WorldBuilder:

  1. Navigate your browser to WorldBuilder-a.b.c.zip. The file should automatically download via Download Manager onto your Desktop. Subsequently, the downloaded .zip file will be automatically expanded into WorldBuilder-a.b.c Folder folder. If the file is not expanded automatically, please consult the Troubleshooting section below.

  2. Navigate inside WorldBuilder-a.b.c Folder and double-click on WorldBuilder application icon to run the WorldBuilder application. This icon is the only one that looks like an application, the other two files look like .jar archives.

Installation Complete!

Troubleshooting:

  1. If in step 1. above WorldBuilder-a.b.c.zip is not expanded automatically

    1. Double-click the downloaded WorldBuilder-a.b.c.zip file. If the dialog comes up, select that you want to use DropZip to handle your file and click OK. WorldBuilder-a.b.c.zip.zip will be created. This file is also created immediately if the dialog did not come up.

    2. Double-click the newly created WorldBuilder.zip.zip file. If the dialog comes up, select that you want to use DropZip to handle your file and click OK. WorldBuilder.zip.zip Folder will be created. This folder is also created immediately if the dialog did not come up.

    3. Navigate inside WorldBuilder.zip.zip Folder and double-click on WorldBuilder application icon to run the WorldBuilder application. This icon is the only one that looks like an application, the other two files look like .jar archives.

  2. If in step 1. above WorldBuilder-a.b.c.zip starts expanding but then an error occurs:

    Unknown zip header format encountered.
    The operation connot continue.

    1. If file named WorldBuilder.bin appered on the Desktop, it is safe to delete it.

    2. Navigate to a folder containing StuffIt Expander application. Usually this application will reside in HD: Applications (Mac OS9): StuffIt Lite 6.5.1 folder.

    3. Drag WorldBuilder-a.b.c.zip and drop it on StuffIt Expander. The archive should be extracted and WorldBuilder-a.b.c Folder folder should be created on the Desktop.
      Proceed with step 2. of the Installation instuctions.

CREDITS

Project Initiator: Professor Bonnie John, HCII, Carnegie Mellon University
Technical Advisor: Mike Freed, Ames Research Center, NASA




MSE Studio Team:

Mike Lewis Project lead
Andrew Guletsky Development lead
J. Darby Mitchell Process lead
Chiharu Kawatake Quality/Planning lead
Cmdr. Dave Root Studio mentor
Dr. Jim Tomayko Studio mentor









REVISION HISTORY

NOTE: The version number is the version of this file, not the application.

REVISION 1.0 Date: 04/23/2002 Updated By: J. Darby Mitchell
Reason: Creation of the file.
 
REVISION 1.1 Date: 04/28/2002 Updated By: J. Darby Mitchell
Reason: Revised per team feedback.
Description: Added procedure for setting the CLASSPATH. Added Contents, Background, What's a CLASSPATH?, Credits and Revision History.
 
REVISION 1.2 Date: 05/03/2002 Updated By: Andrew Guletsky
Reason: Revised per Marianne Berkovich comments.
Description: Checked for correctness and fixed few inconsistencies. Incorporated feedback from Marianne.
 
REVISION 1.3 Date: 05/29/2002 Updated By: Andrew Guletsky
Reason: New, simplified instructions are necessary for WorldBuilder 1.1.1.
Description: Revised to describe new/simplified instructions needed for WorldBuilder 1.1.1.
 
REVISION 1.4 Date: 05/30/2002 Updated By: Mike Lewis
Reason: Added a troubleshooting solution if the .jar file does not run when double-clicked on the Windows platform.
 
REVISION 1.5 Date: 06/09/2002 Updated By: Andrew Guletsky
Reason: Removed version number from the title of the document.
 
REVISION 1.6 Date: 06/22/2002 Updated By: Andrew Guletsky
Reason: Updated OS9 Troubleshooting; Formatting; Checking for correctness.