Zip Contents:
-------------

This zip file contains all the hardware and software simulators 
that support the book and the course.  We  call this collection
the "Simulators Suite". 


If you are installing the Simulators Suite for the first time:
--------------------------------------------------------------

It is best to create a directory called "simulators" on your 
computer, and extract the entire contents of the zip file to it 
AS IS, without changing the default directories structure. After 
extracting, your "simulators" directory should contain several 
sub-directories and batch files.

It is recommended that you will not put any of your own files 
under the "simulators" directory.  Put them in other directories, 
and make sure to back them up periodically (there is no need to 
back up the simulators, since you can always download a new 
version from our site).


If you are installing a new version of the Simulators Suite:
------------------------------------------------------------

Simply put the new simulators.zip file in your existing 
"simulators" directory and extract everything. This will replace 
old simulator versions with new ones and may add some new 
simulators and other goodies (it is advisable to erase the 
directory's contents before extracting the new version to make 
sure that no garbage is left).


Software Requirements (brief):
------------------------------

The Simulators Suite requires JRE1.3 or JDK1.3 (or later 
versions).


Software Requirements (detailed):
---------------------------------

The simulators that we supply were written in Java.  In order to 
run them, your computer must be equipped with either the JRE 
(Java Runtime Environment, about 5MB) or the JDK (Java 
Development Kit, also called SDK, about 30MB).  The JRE gives you 
the ability to run Java programs on your computer (any programs, 
not only ours). The JDK enables you to develop and compile Java 
programs on your computer.

If you want to use our simulators, all you need is the JRE.  If 
you want to do Java programming, you need the JDK (which includes 
the JRE).  This decision is up to you, and depends on things that 
you do outside this course.

The JRE and the JDK can be downloaded free of charge from 
http://www.javasoft.com.  You must select version 1.3 or up.

If you've downloaded and installed the JDK, make sure that the 
"bin" folder of the JDK (usually something like c:\JDK1.3.1\bin) 
is included in the PATH system variable on your computer. Also, 
make sure that the CLASSPATH system variable contains the 
tools.jar file, which is located in the "lib" folder of the JDK. 
Note that the installation process may make these required 
changes automatically.

Changing system variables up to Win98 is done in the "set 
<variable-name>=..." line in the c:\autoexec.bat file. In NT and 
WIN2000, it is done by updating the variable line in Control 
Panel->System->Advanced->Environment Variables.

The installation of the JRE is much simpler, since the PATH & 
CLASSPATH variables are updated automatically as part of the 
installation.


Trouble Shooting:
-----------------

If the simulators don't work, make sure that the correct JDK 
folder is included in your PATH & CLASSPATH system variables.

If the simulators' GUI doesn't work properly, make sure that you 
are using version 1.3 or later. The software may work on version 
1.2 as well, but with many GUI problems.