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? mailing lists join 'chuck' and 'chuck-users'
• ChucK homepage
• ChucK wiki page
• context: [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 mailing lists (join 'chuck' and 'chuck-users')