Workshop Preparation:

Computer Requirements:

1. Windows: If you have no prior experience with GMT under Windows then this will be the most challenging part of the process. You must either install Cygwin (to gain a minimalistic UNIX bash shell terminal and tools) or install a virtual Linux distribution (e.g., via VMWare or the VirtualBox):
1. Cygwin. The simplest installation is to first install the GMT5.0.0b executables via the GMT5b Windows installer, then do the basic Cygwin installation. As Cygwin inherits the executable PATH from Windows, we get to use GMT immediately. However, we need to install a usable editor (here nedit), ghostscript, gv, and the xinit X server. Here are the minimal step-by-step instructions that I have successfully tried myself:
   1. Download and start startup.exe from cygwin.com.
   2. Choose Install from Internet.
   3. Leave Root be C:\cygwin and install for All Users (change if you know what you are doing).
   4. Select a directory to store packages (Perhaps a cygwin folder in My Documents).
   5. Set Internet connection specifics if they differ from the basic default direct connection.
   6. Choose download site. I picked the first one; pick one in or near your country.
   7. The Select Packages menu appears. By default you get a basic install only. Add these packages:
   • Expand Editors, then select nedit (click "skip" once).
   • Expand Graphics, then select ghostscript and gv.
   • Expand X11, then select xinit.
   • Click Next.
   8. Resolving dependencies: leave box checked, then click Next. This starts the download and install of packages. Get coffee, this takes a while.
   9. Accept defaults on icons and click Finish.
   10. Restart your laptop.
   11. Test your install: Goto Start menu, select All Programs, find Cygwin-X, start XWin Server. This opens a xterm terminal. Try the commands

       pscoast -Rg -JH0/15c -Gbrown -Bg -P -Dc | gv -

       You should now be looking at a global map.

2. Virtual Linux. I personally think Cygwin is very painful, but it is fairly lightweight. The alternative is to install a full-fledged Linux distribution inside a virtual machine. A good, free virtual machine is Virtual Box. You install that program and then you need to download the ISO image (or get a DVD) of some recent Linux distribution like Ubuntu. Basically, you are setting up a Linux computer within Windows. The benefit is that you have full access to a regular Linux distribution and can install whatever programs you like. The downside is that if you are a complete novice on Linux you may be overwhelmed by learning and managing a new operating system. This could be a good solution if you have knowledgable colleagues to help you out. You can then follow instructions for Linux below.
2. OS X: Apple's OS X is built on top of BSD Unix so many things are already there. However, to install GMT 5b you need to compile and therefore you need to have Xcode installed. This used to be found on your OS X Install DVD, but under Snow Leopard Apple started charging USD 5 for this tool, whereas under OS X Lion it is a free download. You will also need a set of Unix tools best obtained by installing one of the package managers fink or MacPorts. I only have experience with fink but they both do the job. In either case, you install one of these managers in order to install packages required by GMT5b, such as ghostscript, gv, gdal, pcre, and netcdf, and an editor such as nedit.
3. Linux: Unless you chose to install the entire distribution, make sure you have basic development tools installed (gcc compiler, autoconf, etc), as well as ghostscript, gv, gdal, pcre, and netCDF, and an editor such as nedit. Note that the GMT5b installation will also offer to install netCDF for you in case your package manager does not list it.

GMT 5b Installation

1. Windows: Use the GMT-5b installer from GMT5's Windows Download site. It will install GMT5b, GSHHS, GDAL, PCRE and netCDF.
2. OS X or Linux: Either go to the GMT5 website and follow instructions for download (identical to the GMT 4 instructions), or choose to install GMT5 via subversion. The latter approach is much preferred as you can then update GMT5 as often as you like instead of being stuck with a particular point release. See the GMT5 page for how to install via subversion.

How can I test I am all set?

1. Open a terminal window
2. Type psxy -

	psxy 5.0.0b [64-bit] [API] - Plot lines, polygons, and symbols on maps

	usage: psxy [<table>] -J<args> -R<west>/<east>/<south>/<north>[/<zmin>/<zmax>][r] [-A[m|p]]
		[-B<args>] [-C<cpt>] [-D<dx>/<dy>] [-E[x|y|X|Y][n][cap][/[+|-]<pen>]]
		[-G<fill>] [-Jz|Z<args>] [-I<intens>] [-K] [-L] [-N] [-O] [-P]
		[-S[<symbol>][<size>|+s<scaling>]] [-T] [-U[<just>/<dx>/<dy>/][c|<label>]]
		[-V[<level>]] [-W[+|-][<pen>]] [-X[a|c|r]<xshift>[u]] [-Y[a|c|r]<yshift>[u]]
		[-a<col>=<name>[,...]] [-bi[i|o][<ncol>][t][w][+L|B]] [-c<ncopies>]
		[-f[i|o]<info>] [-g[a]x|y|d|X|Y|D|[<col>]z[-|+]<gap>[unit]] [-h[i|o][<n>]] [-i<cols>[l][s<scale>][o<offset>][,...]]
		[-p[x|y|z]<azim>/<elev>[/<zlevel>][+w<lon0>/<lat0>[/<z0>][+v<x0>/<y0>]] [-t<transp>] [-:[i|o]]

ogr2ogr

which will either give a full usage message or some "not recognized message". Perhaps you did not install GDAL properly?

Data Sets to install

Workshop Notes and Scripts

• Workshop_Overview.pdf.
• GMT_Scripts.zip.

Additional Software

Do not wait until last minute!