Figure Composer 5.3.0

This was the one and only 5.3.x release.

PLEASE IGNORE the GitHub-generated source code archive for this release, as it DOES NOT correspond to any commit tag in this repository, which was created long after 5.3.0 was released. Use src_jars_530.zip instead.

Version 5.3.0, originally released 06 December 2021

• Alternate downloads for MacOS. Since MacOS Mojave (10.14), application access to the user's Desktop, Documents, and Downloads folders must be explicitly granted by the user. When the application first accesses such a folder, MacOS raises a dialog to request access. If the user grants access, then the application can read/write folders and files under that folder hierarchy until the user revokes the privilege. However, this mechanism only works for application binaries, not a script-launched application. For this reason, we now offer 3 versions of the FC application bundle for MacOS. For more details, see installation notes below.
• Minor bug fix: In release 5.2.1, we made some changes to the tick mark label generation algorithm to support scientific notation. However, this led to an issue where a tick mark essentially at "0" would be expressed in scientific notation because it wasn't exactly zero (due to the floating-point math used to compute the tick values). This release adjusted the algorithm to treat values very close to 0 (relative to the tick interval size) on a linear axis as exactly 0.

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Installation on Mac OS

Download and unzip the archive FigureComposer_mac_530.zip. Move the extracted folder, FigureComposer, to your Applications directory. Within this folder is the FigureComposer.app application bundle, along with a matlab subfolder containing the Matlab support package. Drag the app bundle onto the Dock for convenient access.

As of v5.3.0, the MacOS application bundle is available in three versions -- one with the bash script launcher, one with a binary application launcher (essentially a compiled version of the script) compatible with MacOS 10.15 (Catalina), and another compatible with Mac OS 11.0 (Big Sur). The latter also works on Mac OS 13.0 (Ventura). It should also work on Mac OS 12.0 (Monterey) and 14.0 (Sonoma), but that has not been tested. If you need to access figure files in any of the protected folders and have a supported OS version, then try the corresponding app bundle:
- FigureComposer_mac_NMR.zip -- FC version N.M.R with the bash script launcher.
- FigureComposer_mac_catalina_NMR.zip -- FC version N.M.R with a binary launcher targeting Mac OS Catalina.
- FigureComposer_mac_bigsur_NMR.zip -- FC version N.M.R with a binary launcher targeting Mac OS Big Sur.

NOTES:

1. In OS X Mountain Lion (10.8) and later, Apple ships the OS configured to prevent you from opening any software that was not downloaded from the Mac App Store. Thus, you will be unable to run FigureComposer, unless you make a change in your System Preferences. Under the Security & Privacy section, set "Allow applications downloaded from" to "Anywhere". If you would rather not open up your machine in this way, you can instead choose to make an exception only for FC. Right-click on the downloaded app bundle, choose "Open" and confirm that you would like to open and run the app. You should only have to do this once!
2. Starting with version 5.1.0, the Apple Java 6 JRE is no longer supported. You must have a Java 7 or better JRE installed.
3. Starting with MacOS 10.14 (Mojave), applications may access the user's protected folders -- such as Desktop, Documents, and Downloads -- only with the user's permission. When the application first attempts such an access, MacOS intervenes -- raising an AppleScript dialog requesting permission from the user. If the user grants access, MacOS remembers that fact. Unfortunately, this mechanism only works for application binaries, but FC 5.2.x and earlier are launched with a bash script. There are workarounds to address this issue: (1) Avoid keeping your FC figure files under any of the protected folders. (2) If that's not possible, you could grant the bash executable itself "Full Access" to the machine (in the Security & Privacy section of System Preferences) -- but that's a security risk and is not recommended. (3) As of FC 5.3.0, choose an application bundle that comes with a binary launcher, as described above.

Installation on Windows

Download and unzip the archive FigureComposer_win_530.zip, then open the resulting folder and run the self-extracting installer, FigureComposerSetup.exe. No administrator privileges are required. Select which application components you want to install. The installer makes the program available only to the current user. You'll find the installed components at Start Menu | All Programs | Figure Composer. You can pin FC to the task bar, and you can uninstall it like any other Windows application.

NOTE: The installed program, FigureComposer.exe, is a small Windows executable that locates the installed Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and uses it to launch FC. If it cannot find the JRE for whatever reason, it will abort with the error "Failed to find Java VM, "JRE load error", or a similar error message. You can still run FC in this scenario, but you must locate the installed JAR file and launch it manually from a Windows Command Prompt via the command java -Xmx1024m -jar figurecomposer.jar. However, starting FC this way means it will lack certain desktop integration features available when it launches as a native executable.

Installation on Linux

Download and unzip the archive FigureComposer_linux_530.zip. A single FigureComposer folder is created; it contains everything needed to run FC, and the Matlab support package is found in the matlab subfolder. Open a C-shell terminal, navigate to the FigureComposer directory, and run launchFC. This short script contains a command that launches the program: java -Xmx1024m -jar figurecomposer.jar. Note: On Ubuntu Linux, you may need to rename this file launchFC.sh.