Using Linger to do sentence processing experiments. This is just some notes I'm keeping for setting up Linger (and its companion programs).

Mac OS X. This is what I did to get Linger moving on Mac OS X.

The first step is to get Tcl/Tk. I'd suggest going to sourceforge and getting the "Batteries included" build (this has some extra extensions included -- I'm not sure which ones if any Linger relies on. You might be able to get away with the smaller one). On the files page, the current version is called TclTkAquaBI-8.4.2.0.dmg. Download that and mount the disk image (you should be able to double-click on it). There should be an installer package on the disk image that you can double-click and install normally.

Download linger.tar from the Linger web page. The best method is to control-click on the link and choose Save File As... This way no trouble arises from Stuffit (although in principle Stuffit should be able to decompress this). I will assume that it is saved in your home directory.

Open Terminal and type tar xvf linger.tar to decompress the program.

At this point, Linger should actually be working. Try typing cd Linger to get into the new Linger directory and then typing wish linger.tcl to start Linger. A box should appear in the middle of the screen with a Test, Run, and Quit button and some options for running an experiment. You can go ahead and Quit, but it should work. This is all you'd need for data collection.

The requirements for using Lingalyzer (the data analysis program) and Lingrapher (the graphing program) are a bit more involved. The data analysis makes use of a set of statistics programs collectively called |STAT. You need to request this file by email, it is not directly downloadable. Visit the |STAT home page and read the part about obtaining |STAT. When I did this, the file arrived relatively quickly, but it is a bottleneck in the installation process.

When you get |STAT, you'll have a file called stat.tar.Z. I had some trouble with Stuffit trying to expand this, so we'll do this one from the Terminal too. Drag the file into your home direcctory, and then open the Terminal.

Type tar xvzf stat.tar.Z and then you will have a directory called stat.

|STAT comes uncompiled, so you need to compile it. In order to get it to compile I had to do the following:

  • cd stat/src
  • pico stat.h
  • Press Ctrl-W (where) and then Ctrl-V (bottom) to bring yourself to the end of the file.
  • A couple of lines from the bottom is a line that begins #define const(... Just before that line, insert a new line that reads #undef const and then press Ctrl-O, press return (to accept the name stat.h), and press Ctrl-X to exit pico.
  • pico makefile
  • A few lines down from the top is a line that reads DESTDIR=../../bin#. Add a # symbol to the beginning of this line.
  • A few lines further down is a line that reads MAKE =/bin/make#. Change it to read /usr/bin/make instead of /bin/make.
  • Press Ctrl-O, press return (to accept the name stat.h), and press Ctrl-X to exit pico.
  • make
  • You should see it compiling the programs. A few error messages appear, seem to be fatal. The end result should be that the statistics programs will now be in the stat/bin folder.
  • Now, you should put them in a more appropriate place.
  • cd ~
  • sudo mv stat/bin /usr/local/stat
  • You will need to enter your password.
  • Now, we need to put it in the path. We'll do that globally:
  • sudo pico /etc/csh.login
  • This will also require you to enter your password. You should see a short file that ends with a line that starts setenv PATH. At the end of that line, just before the quotation mark, add :/usr/local/stat and then press Ctrl-O, press return (to accept the name stat.h), and press Ctrl-X to exit pico.
  • Type exit and close the Terminal window.
  • To test it, open a new Terminal window and type colex and hit return. If you see "colex: No column numbers were supplied." then |STAT is working.

At this point, the |STAT programs should be installed and Lingalyzer should be functional.

Getting Lingrapher working is a much more involved process. I have not actually succeeded in this. What is required to install the graphics handler Grace. The easiest way to do this in principle is to use fink to install it, because Grace depends on a large number of other packages as well. You also need to install X11.

To install X11, go to www.apple.com/macosx/x11 and download the X11 installer (currently public beta 3). You also need to download the SDK (look for the link in the lower right corner of the download page). This should result in two disk images, each with an installer package. Install both in the standard way (double-click on the package).

To install fink, go to fink.sourceforge.net, click Download, and get the Fink binary installer. This will result in a disk image, run the installer. Don't forget to read the directions on the Download page. In particular, you need to do this:

  • Open the Terminal and type pico .cshrc. A text editor will pop up. Enter this line:
    source /sw/bin/init.csh
    and then hit return. To get out of the editor, press control-O, return, control-X.

Then, go to finkcommander.sourceforge.net and download the binary disk image.

Drag the FinkCommander application to your Applications directory and run it.

I forget what happens next, since I've had FinkCommander installed for a long time. What you want to do, though, is to type grace in the search box in the upper right corner, and select it from the list and, if possible, choose Install from the Binary menu. It didn't really work for me, I had to choose Install from the Source menu. This means a lot of compiling. Go make yourself a sandwich.

Windows. I've gotten Linger running, but I'm not doing the step-by-step process here. To get Tcl/Tk, though, you can start at http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Downloads/ActiveTcl. The rest of it, I've no idea.

Getting an experiment going.

You've got to read the Linger documentation files at this point. The information is there. I hope at some point to put a couple of example files and tips here.