View source for ChucK OSX Install and Run

The classic way to run ChucK is via Terminal/and the command line.  If you haven't used the command line before,
don't worry - you only need learn a few commands and can get a lot of mileage on those.

* Questions?  [http://chuck.cs.princeton.edu/community/ mailing lists] join 'chuck' and 'chuck-users'
* [http://chuck.cs.princeton.edu/ ChucK homepage]
* [[ChucK]] wiki page
* context: [[http://soundlab.cs.princeton.edu/learning/command.html In the Beginning was the Command Line]] by Neal Stephenson


Here we go:

1. download the OSX executable (something like chuck-1.2.x.x-exe.tgz).  The browser may have automatically unzipped this file, leaving you with folder 'chuck-1.2.x.x-exe' somewhere (most likely on your Desktop?)
If you don't see the this folder, let me know.

2. open Terminal, and navigate to the 'chuck-1.2.x.x-exe'
folder/directory.  The directory structure in Terminal mirrors the
folder structure in Finder.  We will be using the following commands:

pwd - prints what directory/folder you are in
ls  - prints the contents of the current diretory
cd  - change directory
cp  - copy file(s)

To navigate to the 'chuck-1.2.x.x-exe' directory (assuming it's on your desktop) if any part of this doesn't work or make sense, please let me know:

  > pwd
  (this is optional, it will print out what directory you are in,
   something like /Users/yourname/ at the beginning.)

  > ls
  (this is also optional, it will print out the files in your current
   directory.)

  > cd Desktop
  (go into the 'Desktop' directory)

  > ls
  (optional, it examines the contents of the directory, you should see
   chuck-1.2.x.x-exe)

  > cd chuck-1.2.x.x-exe
  (note: replace x with the right numbers; go into the 'chuck-1.2.x.x-exe' directory)

  > cd bin
  (go into the 'bin' directory)

  > ls
  (optional, it examines the contents, you should see 'chuck' there)

  > sudo cp chuck /usr/bin
  (enter your password - it should be the same as your login password
   on the computer)
  (this copies 'chuck' into /usr/bin, a common place for programs)

  > sudo chmod 755 /usr/bin/chuck
  (this sets the appropriate permissions)


3. If things went well, chuck should be installed now.  To test that,
type 'chuck' in Terminal, you should see something like this:

  > chuck
  [chuck]: no input files...

If you see this, that means chuck has been installed correctly.
The 'no input files' just means we haven't given chuck anything to run yet.


4. To run a chuck program, let's navigate to the examples/ directory. Let's continue using the same Terminal as in step #2:

   > cd ..
   (this moves one directory back, so if for example we were in
    directory foo/bar/, we should be in foo/ after this command)

   > pwd
   (optional, should say we are now be back in a folder like
    /Users/yourname/Desktop/chuck-1.2.x.x-exe/)

   > cd examples
   (move into the examples directory)

   > ls
   (list the contents, you should see some files and other folders,
    files including otf_01.ck, otf_02.ck, ... etc.)

   > chuck otf_06.ck
   (this runs the otf_06.ck program, you should hear something)

To quit the program, hold down the Ctrl and press C.

To run multiple files in parallel:

   > chuck otf_01 otf_05 otf_06
   (this runs the three programs in parallel.  note the .ck at the end of
    the program name is optional)

   (hit ctrl-c to to quit)

You can also try navigating into other directories (like stk/) using the 'cd' command and running programs in there.  Remember to use 'cd ..' to move back out of a directory.


5. To look at the chuck program files, open them up in any text editor (like TextEdit or pico, a command line editor).  The above encompasses a most of what we need to do in dealing with unix, the rest is chuck.

Questions?  join [http://chuck.cs.princeton.edu/community/ mailing lists] (join 'chuck' and 'chuck-users')