Download Populus 5.3
Here we summarize steps for installing a Java virtual machine and/or the Populus application on your computer. We also explain a simple procedure for updating earlier Java versions of Populus to the current Populus 5.3.
Populus Files:
A Populus installation now only requires the following files:
- Populus.jar
- PopulusHelp.pdf
The batch file may still be useful (and is included anyway), but it is not necessary as the Populus.jar file should run the program upon double-clicking it. All the batch file says is "java -jar Populus.jar". A "PopulusHelp.pdf" file must be in the same directory as Populus.jar for Populus to find the help file. If you use the Spanish version of the help file, the exact same rule applies even though the content of the pdf will be different.
For Windows 95 / 98 / 2000 / NT 4.0 / ME / XP:
There are two steps necessary to get Populus running on your computer. On the last release of Populus, we recieved quite a few people asking questions regarding this process. For the easiest type of installation, we have you download the file Populus53Installer.zip. This file will unzip (with a standard utility like WinZip) to give the file Populus53Installer.jar. This file is itself the installation program, but written in Java itself. Therefore, you will need to download the Java2 Runtime Environment (JRE) to run our installation program. We do this because you will need to have a JRE installed to run Populus itself anyway. If you double-click on the Populus53Installer.jar file and your computer doesn't know what to do, then you know that you will need to install the JRE. Instructions are provided below. One of the other questions we often recieved had to do with difficulties in the downloading process. If you are having problems, you might try right-clicking on the download link and selecting "Save As..." and choosing a specific download location. It is also possible that the name downloaded file might be changed to load.cgi (which is an internet browser error), if that is the case, then change the title to Populus53Installer.jar.
a. Install a JRE. We did not bundle a JRE with Populus because it is likely that many users will already have one installed. One way to determine if one is installed is double-clicking on Populus53Installer.jar - if your computer doesn't know how to handle the file, then you need to install a JRE. The other, more technical way is to open a command (DOS) prompt and enter: "java -version". This will tell you what version you have installed, if one is installed at all.
If you don't have a JRE, or you have an earlier version than 1.2.2, you can download one without cost from Sun MicroSystems. Their download site is:
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/download.html
You will want the J2SE JRE Windows Installation link. The JRE download under 10 MB, and is easy to install using the directions provided by Sun. The link is for JRE 1.4.2, but version 1.3.1 should work too.
b. Install Populus 5.3 on your computer. There are few different methods depending on what you need. We provide an installer program here, and a Spanish version of the same thing here. These downloads are approximately 8 MB. If you wish to download the application without the help file, you can do so here (2 MB). When you start the program, you will get a safely ignorable error indicating the absence of the help file. The help files are also available separately in English and Spanish (6 MB each). Note that the Spanish help file is merely the English help file with Spanish translations for selected models. Further translation is in progress.
To run Populus 5.3 on Mac OS X, you do not need to download a Java Runtime Environment from Sun MicroSystems; Mac OS X comes bundled with one already in place.
On the Populus website we provide (6.5 MB) an application bundle specifically for Mac OS X. This is simply the jar file with a wrapper to make it easier to run, and it is ready to use just like any other Mac OS X application. If you use Internet Explorer, it is possible that the downloaded file will be named "load.cgi". If this is the case, then rename the file to "PopulusOSX53.dmg.gz" and it should unpack fine. Safari doesn't seem to have the same problem.
Please note: the Java 2 tools (API) used in building Populus are not supported on Mac operating systems older than OS X. We presume that such machines will gradually be phased out or updated, and do not plan to support them. The pdf help files (English, Spanish) will still open in pre-OS X systems.
Because this program was written in Java, Populus will run on Linux and Unix machines, but it has only been tested by ourselves on Windows and Mac OS X. We assume that Linux and Unix users understand how to start a Java program. To run Populus, download the jar file and its help file (English, Spanish) and then use the console (or a script) to run the program. The jar file should itself be executable, but if it isn't, then all you should need is the command:
java -jar Populus.jar
When updating to Populus 5.3, the best thing to do is start a new installation from scratch as opposed to replacing jar files. This is because the application structure has changed significantly.