PACT

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Last-Modified: Mon May 1 11:55:11 PDT 2000

Welcome to the FAQ for PACT!

INTRODUCTION

PACT is the environment and toolkit that we use to create portable applications, and to create functionality not readily available. PACT is our environment of choice for handling unique data, portable computing environments, and the distributed computing arenas; and for converting data for the visualization application or algorithm of choice. We have created PACT to shield ourselves from new software, and hardware so we can concentrate on the applications at hand. PACT is beginning to emphasize design that takes advantage of massively parallel environments.

We would like to hear of your experiences with PACT. And, we would be especially pleased to try to add your mathematical, graphical, or other functionality to future distributions of PACT.

NOTICE

Absolute portability is our GOAL!

Most of the time we install PACT without problems, the other times take varying amounts of effort to track down. Usually the problems are simple, such as missing headers. If your experience with PACT is not absolute portability, we would like to hear from you so we can try to make it so. Please direct all portability issues to:

For questions and comments, please contact the PACT Development Team.

Frequently Asked Questions

1) What is PACT?

PACT stands for Portable Application Code Toolkit. It is a self-contained set of tools which support developing and using portable programs particularly scientific and engineering applications. It attacks several portability problem areas: PACT is composed of several (currently 9) specific packages each of which address a specific functionality.
index

2) What machines does PACT run on?

PACT has been tested on the following systems: The Macintosh version is hard to manage because of the tools available on the platform. We are trying to improve the ease of installation on the Macintosh.

PACT has run on DOS boxes in the past but needs to be updated. The plan has been to use DJGPP and the BGI version of the associated library (Desqview X is another possibility). MS Windows is also a possibility since alpha ports of the key pieces of PACT have been done there from time to time.
index

3) Where can I get PACT?

Please use ftp to connect to:

log in as anonymous, using your email address for the password,
cd /pub/pact - to change directory,
binary - to set the transfer mode,
get the three pact files for UNIX (yy_mm_dd indicates the date):

or the two pact files for MAC

pact-???.README explains how to install PACT; pactyy_mm_dd-src is the self configuring, self installing distribution file; and pactyy_mm_dd-doc.tar.gz contains the PostScript and FrameMaker form of the documents for PACT.
index

4) How can I get in touch with PACT developers and users?

The PACT team has setup a Majordomo based mailing list for users of PACT. You can subscribe to it by sending the following message to Majordomo@lists.llnl.gov You can contact the PACT developers by sending to index

5) What are the PACT packages?

PACT is held together by a system of C shell scripts called the manager. The PACT manager can also be used by other code systems to assist with source maintenance and control.
index

For questions and comments, please contact the PACT Development Team.

and LLNL Disclaimers
UCRL-MI-121100