Getting started

System requirements

To get ANSLAB working properly, your system must meet at least the following requirements: [Top]

Installation

Before the installation of ANSLAB can be started, make sure that you already received the user credentials for your license (i.e. the username and password). Without this information you won't be able to proceed.

Carry out the following steps to install ANSLAB:
  1. Download the installer.
  2. Extract the installer to an empty directory of your choice.
  3. Start MATLAB and change the current directory to the one into which you extracted the installer files.
  4. Type 
    anslabinstaller
    into the command window and press <ENTER>. The dialog shown on the right will appear.
  5. Fill the username and the password into the respective fields.
  6. Optional: you might also let the installer automatically add the path of the newly installed ANSLAB version to the MATLAB path. In order to do this, check the option "Automatically add ANSLAB to the MATLAB path". If you decide not to do so you will have to add the path yourself before being able to start ANSLAB.
  7. Choose the ANSLAB version to be installed. By default the installer will always install the latest version available unless another version is chosen manually.
  8. Select a destination directory for the installation by pressing the button labeled "..." (entering a path directly into the text field is not possible). This directory should be a newly created and empty one (e.g. "C:\Program Files\ANSLAB").
    Note: while it is possible to install ANSLAB into a shared network directory, this is not recommended since this can lead to unexpected behavior of ANSLAB (since parts of the ANSLAB configuration are stored inside the ANSLAB directory).
  9. Once you entered all the information necessary, you are ready to install ANSLAB by pressing the button labeled "Install ANSLAB".
    Note: since the installer will download the complete package for the version to be installed, this process may take a while (usually no longer than 5 to 10 minutes). You can follow the progress of the installation process in the installation log.
  10. Once the installation is finished you may close the installer and are ready to run ANSLAB.
    Note: prior to starting ANSLAB the folder of the installer must be left in order to avoid conflicts between the installer and ANSLAB.
In case you encounter any problems during the installation, please consult the trouble shooting section first. If this does not help to solve the problem, please contact the ANSLAB support at support@anslab.net.

After a successful installation the ANSLAB folder has the following subfolder structure:
Folder Containing
anslablib main m-file folder for all ANSLAB functions
anslabutil default option files for channel labels, plot formats, etc.
anslabtestdata example data in the format required for ANSLAB analysis

*Note: the anslab help folder has been removed as of version 2.6. You are encouraged to use the online version of the help files.

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Activation

Full License

The license information (i.e. the username and the password) will be stored with your ANSLAB installation automatically when installing ANSLAB. When doing an analysis in ANSLAB for the first time after ANSLAB has been started, the license is checked with the licensing server.

Hence, although a manual activation is still available in ANSLAB, as of ANSLAB 2.6 it will usually only be necessary to manually activate ANSLAB if your user credentials get changed.

Trial License (limited to 30 days)

When using a trial license the activation procedure is the same as in case of a full license but you need a permanent connection to the internet.

If you use a trial license and purchased a full license, the according changes will take effect immediately once your license has been converted to a full license (done by us). In such a case just restart ANSLAB and the changed license will instantly be recognized by ANSLAB (i.e. usually no manual re-activation is necessary). In such a case ANSLAB will notify you with a dialog.

Important: since the installer also checks for a valid license, the trial period of 30 days starts with the day you install ANSLAB.

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Updating ANSLAB

In order to always work with the most recent version of ANSLAB a check for new updates is carried out automatically on every start. Once an update is found, you are asked if you want to apply the update. If you decide to do so, the respective patches are downloaded and installed automatically. Upon completion of the update process ANSLAB gets restarted.

Before any files of ANSLAB get updated or deleted by the update, the files affected by the update will be backed up to avoid any data loss (e.g. if you modified the source code to suit your needs). The filename and location of the backup are shown in the dialog which is displayed after the update has been completed. These updates are contained in the subfolder "updatebackups" inside the ANSLAB folder. The files are normal ZIP-archives, which are always named as "updatebackup-YYYYMMDD-HHMM.zip", where "YYYYMMDD" and "HHMM" denote the date and time of the backup, respectively.

Files not belonging to ANSLAB will not be touched or backed up during the update process. In addition, as long as there is no new version available for a modified file, the changes will not be overwritten by the update.

Note: it is not possible to update to a new release by simply updating (e.g. from 2.6 to 2.7). If you want to upgrade to a new release, please install the new release as described in the installation section.

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