scatterBrain Download, Installation & Upgrade

Owned by SAXS Cluster (Unlicensed)
Nov 09, 2021
3 min read

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The analysis version of the scatterBrain software may be downloaded from the SAXS/WAXS beamline section of the Australian Synchrotron website.
It is usually not necessary to install IDL separately as the scatterBrain download includes a runtime distribution of IDL.


Download

scatterBrain may be downloaded from the Software section of the SAXS webpage. The compressed package is approximately 80 MB in size and includes a runtime distribution of IDL, compiled scatterBrain code, a launcher and various resource files. Separate downloads are available for the Windows, Linux and OS-X versions of the software.

  • Simply click on the link corresponding to the operating system in use
  • Then move the downloaded archive to the directory you wish to use for scatterBrain

Installation

Recommended Installation

Once downloaded the recommended installation procedure for scatterBrain is outlined below. As this uses a runtime version of IDL, the "movie export" feature of scatterBrain will not work with this installation method. For troubleshooting or installations requiring the "movie export" feature please refer to the alternative installation section.

  1. Extract the archived scatterBrain package to the preferred directory of for the software
  2. Launch scatterBrain using the appropriate launcher for the operating system, located in the scatterBrainAnalysis directory:
    • For Windows - scatterbrainanalysis.exe
    • For Linux - scatterbrainanalysis.sh
    • For OS X - scatterbrainanalysis.app
  3. The first time scatterBrain is launched, a hidden directory is created in the home folder, e.g., for windows this might be:
    C:\documents and settings\stephen\.idl\australiansynchrotron\scatterbrain-###-windows\
    • The scatterBrainSettings.xml file is stored in this directory. It contains "user preference" settings and a recent file list. This file persists even with upgrades to scatterBrain


Alternative Installation

In some cases it may be necessary to use a different installation procedure, such as the rare cases where scatterBrain does not launch after performing the recommended installation procedure. Furthermore, the recommended installation does not enable the “movie export” feature due to the licensing restrictions of IDL.

     C++ Redistributable

In some cases it may be necessary to manually install a C++ library to allow scatterBrain to run. This may be diagnosed by the program failing to run after the first splash screen has appeared. The freely available C++ redistributable files for 32-bit and 64-bit windows should be downloaded and installed. If running 64-bit windows it may be necessary to install both the 64 and 32-bit files. 

     Movie Export Installation

The following installation method will be necessary if the "movie export" feature is required or installation issues arise.

  1. Download scatterBrain
  2. Extract the archived scatterBrain package to the preferred directory of the software
  3. Create an account at Exelisvis. Account creation is free
  4. Download and install IDL from the downloads page.
    • The download size is between 400 and 600 MB depending on your operating system. IDL can be downloaded for free, as a license is required only if you are writing your own IDL code. Precompiled code, such as scatterBrain, can be run without a license
  5. Open scatterBrainAnalysis using the file "scatterBrainAnalysis.sav" to launch the program
    • this file is different to the one used in the recommended installation method
  6. The first time scatterBrain is launched, a hidden directory is created in the home folder, e.g., for windows this might be:
    C:\documents and settings\stephen\.idl\australiansynchrotron\scatterbrain-###-windows\
    • The scatterBrainSettings.xml file is stored in this directory. It contains "user preference" settings and a recent file list. This file persists even with upgrades to scatterBrain


Upgrade

Once installed, scatterBrain can currently be upgraded using the main scatterBrain interface. The update process is usually completed automatically and only replaces the "scatterBrainAnalysis.sav" file which contains the actual code. Larger updates may require the resource files to be updated or a new distribution of IDL be downloaded. If a larger update requires manual intervention, e.g. downloading an item from SAXS website, the operator is alerted when checking for updates. It is planned that future versions will alert the operator of updates upon stating the program. As this is not yet implemented, it is necessary to manually check for updates following the steps below:

  1. Start scatterBrain
  2. Select the "Help" tab in the top menu
  3. Select the "Check for Updates" option
  4. Select "Update Now" if updates have been found
  5. If an update was required, restart scatterBrain