Basic Installation
System Requirements
Macintosh users:
- PowerPC processor or later
- Mac OS system 8 or later
- at least 5 MB of free RAM; 10 MB preferred
- 3.5 MB of free space on hard disk
- CD-ROM drive
- color monitor
Windows users:
- Windows 95, 98 or NT. May run on Windows 3.x with Win32s.
- 486 PCs and above
- 16 MB of total RAM
- 4 MB of free space on hard disk
- CD-ROM drive
- SVGA or VGA monitor with 256 colors
Macintosh users
Installation:
- Insert Perseus Disk 1 into your CD-ROM drive.
- Open the Perseus Disk 1 icon on your desktop.
- Open the folder named MacInstall.
- Drag the folder named Perseus folder from the MacInstall folder to your hard drive.
- In the MacInstall folder, open the folder named Put fonts in System folder.
- Please read the README file on the Greek font.
- Simply drag the suitcases named Athenian fonts and NancyBlue onto your System Folder. The computer will ask if you wish to store these fonts in the font folder. Click OK.
- You have now installed the software and fonts required to run Perseus.
Startup:
- Go to the Perseus folder on your hard drive.
- Double click on the item named Perseus.
- A startup screen will appear telling you that Perseus is loading.
- Momentarily, the Perseus gateway will appear.
Perseus is now ready to use!
Windows users
Installation:
- Insert Perseus Disk 1 into your CD-ROM drive.
- Open the Perseus Disk 1/CD-ROM drive icon which may be found by opening the My Computer icon
- Open the folder named WinInstall.
- Double-click the item named Perseus. The self-extracting archive will open automatically.
- Click OK. You will be prompted concerning the name and location of the folder into which you wish to install the Perseus software. The default name is Perseus. Choose the name and location of your folder and click UnZip.
- When the archive has been unzipped successfully, you will be prompted accordingly. Click OK.
- In the WinInstall folder, double click the item named Fonts.
- You will be prompted concerning the name and location of the folder into which you wish to install the fonts. Locate your correct Fonts folder and click UnZip.
- When the archive has been unzipped successfully, you will be prompted accordingly. Click OK.
- You have now installed the software and fonts required to run Perseus.
Startup:
- Go to the folder into which you installed the Perseus software.
- Double click on the item named Perseus.
- A startup screen will appear telling you that Perseus is loading.
- Momentarily, the Perseus gateway will appear.
Perseus is now ready to use!
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Custom Installation onto a Hard Drive
Some users may find it faster and more convenient to install the contents of one or more Perseus CD-ROMs onto a hard drive. Platform Independent Perseus offers the user the ability to customize the installation process in the Perseus Preferences menu.
Common vs. Unique Resources
When performing a custom installation it is important to be aware of the distinction between common and unique Perseus resources. It is also helpful to have a familiarity with the various kinds of materials on each of the four Perseus CD-ROMs. There are some duplicated folders which appear on all four Perseus CD-ROMs; these contain certain core elements of the program data which permit the user to run Perseus regardless of which of the four CD-ROMs is in the CD-ROM drive. The items duplicated on all four CD-ROMs are contained in the folder named Common. The items in the Common folder are: Universal Images, Catalogs and Site plans, Essays, the Encyclopedia, Sources Used, Thumbnail images, the Browser, and the English Index.
However, other resources reside on particular disks. Primary Texts and Text Tools, the Atlas, and full-size Sculpture images (except the Olympia Sculpture) live on Perseus Disk 1; Olympia Sculpture and full-size Architecture and Site images live on Disk 2; full-size Vase images from collections listed in the Perseus Vase Index under A-M live on Disk 3; full-size Vase images from collections listed in the Perseus Vase Index under N-Z and Coins live on Disk 4.
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Complete Installation of the Comprehensive Edition
Step 1: Determine if you have enough space on your hard disk drive or device.
At this writing, most new computer systems come equipped with a hard drive the size of 2 gigabytes, and many systems offer hard drives four times larger. A 2.1 gigabyte removable hard disk drive is currently priced at $200. This is more than enough room for all of Perseus, since you need only one copy of the Common folder which is duplicated across all four CD-ROMs. The total amount of unduplicated data in the Comprehensive edition is approximately 1.4 gigabytes. Some file systems have more efficient storage than others, so you should allow for some latitude when determining how much disk space is available for your installation.
Step 2: On the hard drive of your choice, create or select the folder into which you will install Perseus.
You may wish to call your folder "My Complete Perseus," or something more original. It does not matter what the name of the folder is. In this example, we will simply call the folder "Perseus."
Step 3: Copy the contents of the four Perseus CD-ROMs into your designated folder.
As mentioned above, there is one folder which appears on all four CD-ROMs. You need only one copy of the Common folder. Therefore, you may wish to select the items you are copying into your designated installation folder. Or, you may simply select everything and wait for your system to prompt you before it recopies something already copied once onto your hard drive. (As mentioned above, you do not need to recopy duplicate items; simply click "cancel" or "no.")
A convenient approach is to a) select all of the contents of Perseus Disk 1 b) drag these onto your designated installation folder c) when this copy is finished, insert Perseus Disk 2 d) select everything except the Common folder, and drag these onto your designated installation folder e) when this copy is finished, repeat the previous step with Perseus Disk 3 and then with Perseus Disk 4.
You will have a complete copy of the contents of the four Perseus CD-ROMs in your designated folder.
Note on Organizing the Perseus data.
You do not have to separate these items according to their Perseus Disk numbers. Everything can go in one folder, regardless of which Perseus Disk it originates from. You may place items in different folders according to the following designations: Common, Perseus Disk 1 data, Perseus Disk 2 data, Perseus Disk 3 data, and Perseus Disk 4 data. These designations are preset and may not be altered. So, for example, you cannot put half of Perseus Disk 1 in one folder and half in another. Think of Comprehensive Perseus as five units of information: Common resources and four sets of data unique to each of the four Perseus CD-ROMs. Each unit may have its own folder or share a folder with any combination of the other units, but the units may not be subdivided. |
Step 4: Change the Perseus Preferences to reflect your installation.
- Step 4a: Go to the Local Perseus Configuration.
Once you have copied everything into your designated folder on your hard drive, you must indicate the location of the Perseus data in the Perseus Preferences. Under the Edit menu, choose the final item, Preferences... and the Perseus Configuration box appears. In the Configure Pop-up Menu, choose Local. (For more on Perseus Preferences in general, click here.)
The Local configuration contains five empty text boxes: one box for the Common Perseus Resources and four others which correspond to the four Perseus CD-ROMs of the Comprehensive Edition. These text boxes are provided so that the you may "tell" the Perseus program the location of the files and folders when you've performed a custom installation.
- Step 4b: Type in your configuration search paths.
In our example, we copied the contents of the four Perseus CD-ROMs into a folder called Perseus. On the PC, our Perseus folder is located on disk drive C; on the Mac, it is located on the hard drive named Socks the Cat. Since all of the contents of all four CD-ROMs are in one folder, our task is relatively simple.
Click in the first empty text box, next to the words Common Perseus Resources in order to activate the cursor. Type in the location of your designated installation folder. For instance, PC users following this example should type:
C:\Perseus
when C is the hard drive on which the folder Perseus may be found.
Mac users following this example should type:
Socks the Cat:Perseus
when Socks the Cat is the hard drive on which the folder Perseus may be found.
Some users may wish to place the Perseus folder into another folder such as Applications or Program Files. If we have installed the data into a folder named Perseus which is located within a folder named Program Files on the PC, we would type:
C:\Program Files\Perseus
If we have installed the data into a folder named Perseus, located within the Applications folder on the Mac, we would type:
Socks the Cat:Applications:Perseus
In our example, all of the contents of the Perseus CD-ROMs are in the same location, so we will type the same information in all five text boxes.
- Step 4c: Commit Changes
When you are finished, make sure to click the Commit Changes button so that Perseus will save these settings.
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Partial Installation of the Comprehensive or Concise Edition
Step 1: Determine what parts of Perseus you wish to install and how much space you have available on your hard drive.
Familiarize yourself with the difference between Common and Unique Resources. You may install any combination of each of the five units of data. For example, you may decide to install the common resources plus the data from Perseus Disk 2. Or perhaps you wish to install the common resources, data from Disk 2 and data from Disk 3. Whichever option you choose, it is highly recommended that you install the common resources as these will greatly facilitate the operation of Perseus.
Some file systems have more efficient storage than others, so you should allow for some latitude when determining how much disk space is available for your installation. If you wish to install the complete Comprehensive Edition of Perseus to your hard drive, please see the instructions above.
Step 2: On the hard drive of your choice, create or select the folder into which you will install Perseus.
You may wish to call your folder "My Perseus Stuff," or something more original. It does not matter what the name of the folder is. In this example, we will simply call the folder "Perseus."
Step 3: Copy selected portions of the data into your designated folder.
The most simple approach is to place all of our Perseus data into one folder. If you have enough space, it is highly recommended that you install the Common Perseus Resources regardless of your other customization choices. You need only one copy of the Common folder. Select the data from the CD-ROM(s) you wish to install. Remember that the data are the items on each disk which are unique to that disk (on Disk 1 this includes images in numbered folders, the atlas, and the texts and text DB; on Disks 2, 3, and 4 the unique items are the numbered image folders).
Please read the note on organizing the Perseus data before deciding on your set up.
Step 4: Change the Perseus Preferences to reflect your installation.
- Step 4a: Go to the Local Perseus Configuration
Once you have copied everything into your designated folder on your hard drive, you must indicate the location of the Perseus data in the Perseus Preferences. Under the Edit menu, choose the final item, Preferences... and the Perseus Configuration box appears. In the Configure Pop-up Menu, choose Local. (For more on Perseus Preferences in general, click here.)
The Local configuration contains five empty text boxes: one box for the Common Perseus Resources and four others which correspond to the four Perseus CD-ROMs of the Comprehensive Edition. These text boxes are provided so that the you may "tell" the Perseus program the location of the files and folders when you've performed a custom installation.
- Step 4b: Select the text boxes which correspond with the items/disks you have installed locally.
Note that there are five boxes. For a custom installation, you need to enter text into only those boxes which correspond with the materials you have installed. If you have installed the folder called Common from any of the four CD-ROMs, you will need to type information into the first text box, Common Perseus Resources. If you have installed the other data from Disk 1, you will need to type into the second box, etc. If you have not installed the data from a particular CD-ROM, you will leave the text box blank.
- Step 4c: Type in your configuration search paths.
For example, let us say we have installed all of Perseus Disk 1 and Perseus Disk 3 onto our hard drive; we have not installed Disks 2 and 4. We copied the contents of the two CD-ROMs into a folder called Perseus. On the PC, our Perseus folder is located on disk drive C; on the Mac, it is located on the hard drive named Socks the Cat. Since all of the contents of our selected CD-ROMs are in one folder, our task is relatively simple.
Click in the first empty text box, next to the words Common Perseus Resources in order to activate the cursor. Type in the location of your designated installation folder. For instance, PC users following this example should type:
C:\Perseus
when C is the hard drive on which the folder Perseus may be found.
Mac users following this example should type:
Socks the Cat:Perseus
when Socks the Cat is the hard drive on which the folder Perseus may be found.
Some users may wish to place the Perseus folder into another folder such as Applications or Program Files. If we have installed the data into a folder named Perseus which is located within a folder named Program Files on the PC, we would type:
C:\Program Files\Perseus
If we have installed the data into a folder named Perseus, located within the Applications folder on the Mac, we would type:
Socks the Cat:Applications:Perseus
- Step 4d: Repeat step 4c as necessary.
We have filled in one text box (the one corresponding to Common Perseus Resources). Now we must fill in the boxes corresponding to Perseus Disk 1 and Perseus Disk 3. Because we have not installed any of the unique data on Perseus Disk 2 or Perseus Disk 4, these text boxes will remain blank. In our example, we placed all of the Perseus items in one folder, so the information will be identical in each of the text boxes we have utilized. You may wish to place each disk in a different folder. If you have done so, indicate this accordingly. It is highly recommended that you place everything in one folder, as this simplifies the custom installation process.
N.B. Always indicate the correct location of the Common folder in the box next to Common Perseus Resources and the correct location of the unique data on each disk next to the corresponding disk number. Remember, that Common Perseus Resources have a special designation because they appear on all four CD-ROMs.
- Step 4e: Commit Changes
When you are finished, make sure to click the Commit Changes button so that Perseus will save these settings.
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Disk Swapping for CD-ROM Users
Because the thousands of images take up approximately 2GB of storage space, it has been necessary to publish the Comprehensive Edition of Platform Independent Perseus on four CD-ROMs. Most users will simply install the contents of the four disks onto their hard drives. However, if you do run Perseus from a CD-ROM drive (instead of your hard drive or over the network), when you request an image, text or map to be displayed, it may not be on the current CD-ROM. Perseus offers you the choice of immediately swapping the current CD-ROM with the one that has the requested image or canceling the request. If you are using Perseus on a network or have stored all of Perseus on your hard drive, you will not receive messages concerning disk swapping because all images will be available.
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Universal Images and Disk Contents
Approximately 2500 images are common to all four CD-ROMs. These so-called Universal Images include all images from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Encyclopedia, the Vase Painter Essays, Large Site Plans and the Historical Overview. However, other resources reside on particular disks. Primary Texts and Text Tools, the Atlas, and full-size Sculpture images (except the Olympia Sculpture) live on Perseus Disk 1; Olympia Sculpture and full-size Architecture and Site images live on Disk 2; full-size Vase images from collections listed in the Perseus Vase Index under A-M live on Disk 3; full-size Vase images from collections listed in the Perseus Vase Index under N-Z and Coins live on Disk 4. All else (Universal Images, Catalogs and Site plans, Essays, the Encyclopedia, Sources Used, Thumbnail images, the Browser, and the English Index) is common to all four disks.
Thus, for example, if you are looking at a vase from the Yale University Art Gallery on Disk 3, you must swap CD-ROMs if you want to link with the text of the Odyssey on Disk 1. Alternatively, you may choose to cancel your request to make the link.
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The Swapping Dialog Box
The swapping dialog box appears when you are running Perseus off of CDs and you select an item which is not on the CD currently in your CD-ROM drive. If you have installed the complete contents of the Comprehensive Edition onto a hard drive or if you are running Perseus over the network, you will not see the swapping dialog box. If, however, you are using the Concise Edition of Perseus or you have done a partial install of Perseus onto a hard drive, you may encounter the swapping dialog box.
You may change the options on the swapping dialog box according to your set up or edition of Perseus. The default setting gives you the swapping dialog box with the "swap now" button, enabling you to swap disks. If you are running the concise version of Perseus and you will not be swapping disks in a given Perseus session, you may set your preferences so that the swapping dialog box does not ask you to swap disks.
Swapping Settings: Concise versus Comprehensive
When using the Concise Edition of Perseus, some users may find it preferable to eliminate the "swap now" option on the swapping dialog box. To do this, you need to change the Perseus configuration. Under the Edit menu,
choose Preferences... and the Perseus Configuration box appears. In the Configure Pop-up Menu, choose Local. (For more on Perseus Preferences in general, click here.) The final option is the "Ask to swap disks?" checkbox. The default setting is yes (a check appears in the checkbox). This means that each time you request an item which is on a CD-ROM other than the one in your CD-ROM drive, the swapping dialog box will contain a swap now button. To disable this feature and eliminate this button, simply click on the Ask to swap disks? checkbox to remove the checkmark, and click the Commit Changes button.
N.B. This is an optional setting and is not necessary to running the Concise Edition. Removing the swap now button from the swapping dialog box does not eliminate the box altogether. A message will still appear informing you that the item you have selected is on another Perseus CD-ROM. If the item is an image or a plan, a thumbnail will appear regardless of whether or not there is a swap now button.
Comprehensive edition users (or those who have done a partial installation) who will be swapping CD-ROMs in a given Perseus session need not change the swapping dialog box configuration.
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How to Swap Disks
When you request an image, text, or tool that is not on the current CD-ROM, the swapping dialog box appears asking whether you want to swap CD-ROMs now or cancel the request.
Task: Swapping Disks (Comprehensive Edition only). (New users may wish to return to this section of the documentation after familiarizing themselves with Perseus and the Perseus environment.) Insert Perseus Disk 1 in your CD-ROM drive and start Perseus.
Click the Browser button on the Perseus Gateway or choose Browser from the Links menu. Click on the first item in the Architecture Browser, Aegina, Sanctuary of Aphaia [5 Buildings]. Click the first item in the list which appears below, Aegina, Altar of Aphaia.
The catalog entry for this building now appears. Under Views, double-click the first listed item, Plan.
The swapping dialog box appears. It will read "Image 1990.33.0011a is on disk Perseus Disk 2." To the left of the message is the thumbnail of this image (in this example, a plan), and below are two buttons, Swap Now and Cancel.
To view this image, you need to swap your CD-ROM. Click Swap Now. If you are using a Mac, the computer will automatically eject the CD-ROM from the CD drive. If you are using a PC, you may simply eject the CD-ROM. Another dialog box appears with the message "Please insert Perseus Disk 2." Insert Perseus Disk 2 into your CD-ROM drive, return to Perseus, and click "OK" in the insert disk dialog box. Do not click OK until the appropriate disk is in your CD-ROM drive.
In a moment, the image you requested will appear.
You may start Perseus with any of the four Perseus Disks in your CD-ROM drive. Not all tools are common to all four disks, however. If you start Perseus with Perseus Disk 2, for example, you will need to swap disks to read the primary texts. A listing of which items are on which disks is above.
N. B. Mac users who will be swapping CD-ROMs, may need to turn off File Sharing in the Control Panels of the Macintosh. Otherwise the Mac may not eject the CD.
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