Introduction

natool is a command-line synch manager for the Neuros II Digital Audio Computer.

Requirements

To run natool, you need:

1. A unix-ish workstation (e.g. a PC running Linux or *BSD).

2. A non-ancient version of Perl. (I used 5.8.8, so you're unlikely to find one that won't work.)

It might work under Cygwin but hasn't been tested. natool assumes that the workstation's filesystem is case-sensitive. If this is not the case, it could lead to audio files being duplicated or clobbered in some rare circumstances. natool also assumes Unix-style paths so avoid using Windows-style paths under Cygwin.

Running Without Installing

You can run natool from the source directory by typing

bin/natool

This is safe if you just want to try it out.

Note, however, that you must invoke it with an explicit path. Putting the bin directory into your PATH will not work. Neither will moving natool to another directory. This is because natool needs the leading path to find its libraries.

Installation

natool uses a non-standard installation scheme designed to make it as self-contained as possible. To install natool in /usr/local:

sudo perl install.pl

from the top of the installation tarball.

(Actually, first take a look at install.pl to make sure it doesn't do anything evil, then type the above command. Because typing a command AS ROOT because a stranger tells you to is bad security practice.)

To install it elsewhere, use the "--prefix" option:

perl install.pl --prefix ~/my_apps/

You must have permission to write to the destination directory for this to work.

Hacking Hints

The directory 'regression_tests contains a collection of regression tests. The script 'test.sh' runs those tests and also the unit tests in 'Neuros/t'.

If you wish to extend natool, you will do well to read the detailed description of the Neuros' database that is included with Positron, another command-line Neuros sync tool. This was invaluable to me despite now being somewhat out of date.

If you read C, it may also be worthwhile to download the firmware source code for the final reference on what is and is not allowed by the Neuros.

See also:

natool.1.pod  -- the man page.
Copyright.txt -- the copyright statement.
LICENSE.GPL   -- the license under which natool is distributed.