1.1 Tutorial setup

1. We assume that GMT has been properly and fully installed and that you have the statement setenv GMTHOME $<$path to GMT directory$>$ in your .login as described in the GMT README file.

2. All GMT man pages, documentation, and example scripts are available from the GMT documentation web page. It is assumed these pages have been installed locally at your site; if not they are always available from the main GMT home page.

3. We recommend you create a sub-directory called tutorial, cd into that directory, and copy all the tutorial files directly there with ``cp -r $GMTHOME/tutorial/* . ''.

4. As we discuss GMT principles it may be a good idea to consult the GMT Technical Reference and Cookbook for more detailed explanations.

5. The tutorial uses the supplemental GMT program grdraster to extract subsets of global gridded data sets. For your convenience we also supply the subsets in the event you do not wish to install grdraster and the public data sets it can read. Thus, run the grdraster commands if you have made the installation or ignore them if you have not.

6. For all but the simplest GMT jobs it is recommended that you place all the GMT (and UNIX) commands in a cshell script file and make it executable. To ensure that UNIX recognizes your script as a cshell script it is a good habit always to start the script with the line #!/bin/csh. All the examples in this tutorial assumes you are running the cshell; if you are using something different then you are on your own.

7. Making a script executable is accomplished using the chmod command, e.g., the script figure_1.csh is made executable with ``chmod +x figure_1.csh''.

8. To view a PostScript file (e.g., map.ps) on a UNIX workstation we use ghostview map.ps. On some systems there will be similar commands, like imagetool and pageview on Sun workstations. In this text we will refer to ghostview; please substitute the relevant PostScript previewer on your system.

9. Please cd into the directory tutorial. We are now ready to start.