A Windows GUI

To make SPECTRUM easier to use for those Windows users who are not conversant with command-line computing, and with pedagogical purposes in mind, I have written a GUI shell for SPECTRUM using Visual Basic. It is illustrated in Figure . With this shell, it is possible to compute a synthetic spectrum, apply macroturbulent and rotational broadening and smooth the resulting spectrum with just a few mouse clicks.

Figure: The Visual Basic GUI for the Windows version of SPECTRUM.

To install this shell, download the file spectrum101.zip and place it in the same folder you used to install SPECTRUM in § . I recommend c:$\backslash$spectrum; I have had problems if I installed this under ``My Documents'', as the path name was apparently too long for Visual Basic. Unzip the file into this directory; you will find the files setup.lst, setup.exe and spectrum101.cab. Double click on setup.exe. This will run the install program for the shell; it may be necessary to reboot Windows before the program will completely install. When prompted, specify the directory where you have copied the other files (e.g. c:$\backslash$spectrum) as the location for installing the shell. When the install is completed, the shell can be run from the Run menu (click on the Windows Start button). You must first select the working directory (the folder where all the other files reside). If you have carried out the above instructions, the proper working directory should already be selected. Then, select the stellar atmosphere from the list in the file list box, the linelist (e.g. luke.lst) and specify the spectral range, computational spacing, and, if you wish, whether the output spectrum will be broadened by rotation and/or macroturbulence and smoothed. Once all the program parameters have been specified, click on EXECUTE and sit back and relax. SPECTRUM will be launched in a minimized DOS window, which will disappear when all the calculations have completed. The output file will be in the working directory. It is an ascii file with wavelength in the first column and intensity or flux in the second. It can be displayed in any plotting program, such as EXCEL, SIGMAPLOT, etc.