====== SPACAR Light ======

===== Installation =====

To run simulations with SPACAR Light, the following components all need to be installed:

  - MATLAB (2016a or newer for Windows, 2019b or newer for macOS)
  - [[https://www.spacar.nl/download/2017/spacar2017.zip|SPACAR (full) 2017]]
  - SPACAR Light, distributed via [[https://github.com/precision-utwente/spalight/releases/|GitHub]]
  - For Windows 10: [[https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26999|Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable package]] (choose the x64 version).

Both Windows and macOS (Intel processors) are supported. There's no support for Macs with Apple Silicon (M1 and M2) processors yet.

==== 1. Get MATLAB ====

Note that version older than indicated might work, but they are not supported. After installation, a default user work folder is created automatically. Typically it is 
<code>
on Windows:  C:\Users/[user]\Documents\MATLAB
on macOS:  /Users/[user]/Documents/MATLAB
</code>
You can find the path by running ''userpath'' in the command window.

==== 2. Get SPACAR (full) 2017 ====

Download the zip-file containing SPACAR (full) 2017 (see link at the top of this page). It is recommended that you extract this into a new folder ''spacar'', located in the default user work folder of MATLAB. The ''spacar'' folder will contain some files and a ''private'' folder. The folder structure would then look like:
<code>
[userpath]\spacar\spacar.mexw64
[userpath]\spacar\spacar.mexmaci64
[userpath]\spacar\spavisual.m
[userpath]\spacar\stressbeam.m
... etc ...
[userpath]\spacar\private\
</code>
==== 3. Get SPACAR Light ====

Development is active and happening on [[https://github.com/precision-utwente/spalight/releases/|GitHub]]. The latest version can be found there. In case of bug fixes and new features, that page will reflect the changes.
Download the 'Source code (zip)'-file of the most recent version. Extract this in the same ''spacar'' folder as in the previous step. The following files should now also be present:
<code>
[userpath]\spacar\spacarlight.m
[userpath]\spacar\spacarexample.m
</code>
(The ''README.md'' file and ''.gitignore'' file can be ignored.)

==== 4. Test the installation ====
To test the installation, the ''spacarexample.m'' file is provided (and located in the ''[userpath]\spacar'' folder, as per step 3). Open this file in MATLAB and hit Run. If this produces a new Spavisual window, without errors in the MATLAB command window, it is likely that SPACAR Light is installed correctly.

=== Mac users ===
Running SPACAR on macOS for the first time may trigger [[https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202491|Gatekeeper]], displaying a message that ''spacar.mexmaci64'' cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified. This is to be expected and can be dealt with by clicking Cancel (not Move to Trash). Then, go to System Preferences, Security & Privacy, tab General, and click Open Anyway. Now, again run ''spacarexample.m'' in MATLAB. The same message may appear once more for ''getfrsbf.mexmaci64''; follow the same steps. After that, SPACAR should run.

==== 5. Configure The MATLAB Search Path ====
To keep all files of the SPACAR software bundle together, the ''spacar'' folder was created within the ''userpath'' in a previous step. It is recommended to keep user scripts for a particular model //out// of this folder, and store those at ''[userpath]\myscript.m'' (or within a separate folder ''[userpath]\mymodel\myscript.m'').

When doing so and running ''myscript.m'', MATLAB is likely unable to find SPACAR Light without configuring the search path appropriately. This can be accomplished by simply adding the line
<code matlab>
addpath('spacar')
</code>
to the top of ''myscript.m'' (when it is indeed located at ''[userpath]\myscript.m''; otherwise see ''doc addpath'' in the MATLAB command window.)