Problems with WinGX

Q 1. I have just downloaded the new version 1.70 of WinGX and now SHELXL (or other programs like PLATON) do not work anymore, despite the fact that I know they are in the \wingx\bin directory. What is wrong ?

A 1. Probably you used your old version of WINGX.INI when installing the program. This problem is most likely to happen if WinGX is installed onto a different drive than your crystal data files.You can either

just delete WINGX.INI, and restart WinGX. It will then build a new version of WINGX.INI.
edit WINGX.INI and make sure that the entries ForeignProgramsDirectory and SystemFilesDirectory point to the correct directories on the correct drives. Change entries like \wingx\bin to the drive specific, e.g. c:\wingx\bin (or whatever drive you have installed WinGX.)

The reason is that the directory structure of WinGX has changed.

Q 2. How can I get the PC version of SHELXL97 which I got from George Sheldrick to work in WinGX ?

A 2. WinGX comes with a version of SHELXL97, but you may prefer to use the executable obtained for George Sheldrick (it will probably be faster). Install it as a User menu item. See the new WinGX installation instructions under section 1.3.3. "Setting up WinGX". Note that the file naming conventions are different, i.e. the Sheldrick version writes a list file called name.LST instead of SHELXL.LST.

Q 3. When I try to start the program I immediately get an error saying that the file ELEMENT.DAT cannot be found. What is wrong?

A 3. The program has not been installed properly - the directory pointed to by the entry SystemFilesDirectory in WINGX.INI is incorrect. Please check this carefully and if necessary re-install with the latest version from the web-site.

Q 4. When I install the program the file WINGX.INI is not created What is wrong?

A 4. Nothing. The new version of WinGX 1.70 will build a new WINGX.INI file if it does not find one. This auto build is not completelt foolproof though. See Q1 above fo further details.

Louis J. Farrugia

Department of Chemistry, Joseph Black Building,
University Of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ
Telephone +44 (0)141 330 5137
FAX +44 (0)141 330 4888

E-mail [email protected]

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