Difference between revisions of "Simple Windows Installation"

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(How to install ConText Minimals with Scite on Windows XP or Vista so they work well together)
 
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import context
 
import context
 
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# Save the file and close SciTE.
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Remember to save the file. Then close SciTE.

Revision as of 11:59, 8 September 2009

Note. Valid as of September 2009.

This page gives instructions on how to easily install ConTeXt Minimals and the SciTe editor on your XP or Vista so that you can compile a document with a few mouse-clicks. If this is not what you want to do, see the Installation page instead.

Step 1: Download all bits and pieces

  • ConTeXt: Vyatcheslav Yatskovsky's Windows installer for the Minimals is the hassle-free alternative
  • SciTE Editor: Go to Scintilla's SciTE Download Page and get full download in the "Windows executables" section. Make sure you get wscite.zip (not scite.zip).
  • Ruby (only needed for running pdftex, i.e. ConTeXt MKII): if you have files that need to be run in MKII/pdftex, download Ruby (a scripting language, a bit like Perl); if you start from scratch, Ruby is not needed!


Now you have all the files you need to successfully setup ConTeXt on your Windows computer. But do not drop the network connection yet! You will need internet to get the rest of ConTeXt while installing, which is why the Minimals Installer is so small itself.


Step 2: Install

  • Start ConTeXt installation by double-clicking on the downloaded installer .exe file.
    • before or during installation you can refer to instruction slides
    • take note of where your ConTeXt gets installed, you'll need to find those files for configuration
    • install the stable ConTeXt; you don't want your first tries to stumble on buggy beta code
    • when the ConTeXt installer has finished, you can move away from the network if needed.
  • Next, unzip SciTE to the location of your choice
  • If you need Ruby, install it by double-clicking the downloaded installer file. Do not install SciTE via Ruby installer (even thought it'll offer that), the One True SciTE is the one you get from Scintilla

Now all the components of a working system are installed: ConTeXt Minimals and SciTE for ConTeXt MKIV (only), ConTeXt Minimals, SciTE and Ruby for ConTeXt MKIV and MKII.


Step 3: Configure

  1. In your ConTeXt files (default name of the main folder is contextminimal) locate scite-ctx.lua. Copy this file to your recently unzipped SciTE folder (by default called wscite).
  2. Again in your ConTeXt files, locate scite-ctx.properties and context.properties. Copy these files to your personal profile folder; in XP that's usually C:\Documents and Settings\yourusername\ (or the equivalent in your language), in Vista C:\Users\yourusername.
  3. Now open SciTE by double-clicking on the SciTE icon. You still need to tell it where to look for the ConTeXt related settings. For this, go to the Options menu and click on Open User Options File. You should get a blank page. Now type into the file
import scite-ctx
import context

Remember to save the file. Then close SciTE.