/***************************************************************************/ /* DIAMOND - Crystal and Molecular Structure Visualization - */ /* Version 5.0.2 */ /*** ***/ /* (C) Copyright 2024 Crystal Impact, H.Putz & K.Brandenburg GbR, */ /* Bonn, Germany. */ /* All rights reserved. */ /* Author: Dr. Klaus Brandenburg */ /*** ***/ /* Latest update of this Readme File: February 6, 2024 */ /***************************************************************************/ 0. Contents of this Readme File ------------------------------- 1. Installing Diamond 2. Registering Diamond Document File Type 3. Installing POV-Ray 4. Installing Crystallography Open Database 5. Documentation 6. Online Update 7. Uninstalling Diamond 8. Online Support 9. Known Bugs 10. Contacting Crystal Impact 1. Installing Diamond --------------------- Before you install and run the Diamond 5 software, you should check the following minimum system requirements: - Microsoft Windows XP, 2003 Server, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1, Windows 10, or Windows 11 operating system. (Does not run with Windows RT or Windows 10 when in "S mode".) - Intel or AMD (or compatible) processor with x86 instruction set. - 1 GB of RAM. - 3.8 GB of free disk space (12.4 GB with COD, see chapter 3). - Graphics resolution of at least 1024 x 768 pixels (1280 pixel width or higher is strongly recommended), with at least 32,768 colors ("High Color"). - DVD-ROM drive (for installation from DVD). - Microsoft-compatible mouse. a) Install from download package: If you have not already done so, download the installer from: http://www.crystalimpact.de/diamond/v5download.htm Then run the downloaded setup executable to launch the installation procedure and follow the instructions on the screen. This setup procedure may take several minutes. b) Install from DVD-ROM (or other media): Please insert the DIAMOND DVD into your DVD-ROM drive and wait a few seconds; an installation selection program will start automatically. Afterwards, please click on the big Diamond logo next to "Install Diamond". The actual DIAMOND installation program will start and lead you through the setup process. Please follow the instructions on the screen. If nothing happens for a reasonable amount of time after you inserted the DVD-ROM into your drive, start the Windows Explorer, right-click on your DVD-ROM icon, and select "Autoplay". c) License installation: If you have installed DIAMOND from a download package or from a Crystal Impact software demonstration DVD (or other media), the program runs in demonstration mode. In order to turn DIAMOND into a full-featured version, you need a personal license file, which you most likely have received by e-mail when purchasing the software. Copy your personal license file ("yourlicense.lic") (and replace the demo license file) into the Diamond program directory (which is by default located at: "C:\Program Files\Diamond 5\" or "C:\Program Files(x86)\Diamond 5\"). You may need administrator rights to copy the license file into the Diamond program directory! Note that you need to run the installer using administrator rights explicitly. If you are not running the PC as administrator, you can right-click on the installer file, then select "Run as administrator" from the context menu. Please read the terms of the "End User License Agreement", which will appear in one of the dialog windows of the setup program! Note: May be a newer version of Diamond than the one that you have downloaded or received on a DVD-ROM is available in the meantime. In this case, Diamond will automatically offer an automatic online update to this latest version. For details, see chapter 5 ("Online Update") below. 2. Registering Diamond Document File Type ----------------------------------------- When you first run Diamond after the installation, you should do this with administrator rights in order to register the Diamond Document file type (i.e. files with the extension ".diamdoc") on your PC. (Whenever Diamond is started, it checks if the Diamond Document file type is already registered for the current Diamond version on your PC and adds this registration to the Windows Registry, if not yet done.) While with earlier versions of Diamond and/or earlier versions of Windows this worked even with normal user rights, you now *need administrator rights* to let Diamond add the registration to the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT section of the Windows Registry. In case you have multiple versions of Diamond on your PC, you can use the command "Register Diamond Document Type" from the "Tools" menu. This command offers a tool to register the Diamond document file type in the Windows Registry as well as to remove corresponding settings for older versions of Diamond. It can be used, if you encounter trouble opening a Diamond document file (file extension ".diamdoc") from the Windows Explorer or from the Windows desktop with this current version of Diamond. Note: For the reasons mentioned above, you must run Diamond as administrator in order to process this command. Otherwise the writing or deleting of/from (at least parts of) the Windows Registry will most likely fail. 3. Installing POV-Ray --------------------- Once you have installed DIAMOND, you should also install POV-Ray(TM) (if it is not already present on your computer) in order to be able to produce photorealistic pictures. Please follow the instructions below: You can install POV-Ray(TM) (www.povray.org) either by clicking on the corresponding button in the installation selection program, or by double-clicking on the file "povwin-3.7-agpl3-setup.exe" in the "POV-Ray" directory on the DIAMOND DVD-ROM. If you install from separately downloaded files, simply double-click on this file in the directory where you have stored it on your hard disk. The POV-Ray(TM) installation program will start and lead you through the setup process. Please follow the instructions on the screen. Please note: (1) The POV-Ray editor (to edit, change, render, and debug POV-Ray 3D scene files) uses a different license type and is thus not included in the above mentioned software package. The last step in the installation procedure will point you to a POV-Ray web page where you can download the POV-Ray editor from. We strongly recommend to install this editor, too, even if you do not intend to edit or debug POV-Ray scene files. Otherwise you will receive a prompt whenever Diamond starts a POV-Ray rendering job and the command "Tools/POV-Ray/Launch Environment..." fails or shows an auxiliary POV-Ray window where you cannot edit the POV-Ray scene file. (2) You should run POV-Ray separately before you make the first POV-Ray rendering job from Diamond. Otherwise Diamond may have trouble locating the POV-Ray executable "pvengine[64].exe" on your hard disk. 4. Installing Crystallography Open Database ------------------------------------------- Unlike in Diamond version 4, the Crystallography Open Database (COD) is not more part of the installation package, because the size of the database files (Diamond-specific "diambase" format) has grown to 27 files with a total size of 8.4 GB (COD version 2021-04-15). To download the Diamond-specific version of the COD, visit our Diamond 5 download page: http://www.crystalimpact.de/diamond/v5download.htm Here you will find also instructions how to download and where to unpack the ZIP file. The default location is: "C:\Program Files\Diamond 5\COD\" or "C:\Program Files(x86)\Diamond 5\COD\"). You will need administrator rights to unpack the "diambase" files into this directory. Alternatively you can use a different folder and specify the path to the "diambase" files in the "File Search Options" dialog, available from the "Search Files" dialog, which is opened with the "File"/"Search" command. 5. Documentation ---------------- a) Tutorial: A tutorial is available in Acrobat Reader format (PDF). We strongly recommend to work through the tutorial in order to learn about Diamond's most prominent features, so that you can get the most of it later when you work on your own data. You can access the tutorial either from the menu ("Help"/"Tutorial") of from the Windows Start menu: "Start/Programs/Diamond 5/Tutorial". In the regular case this will open Microsoft Edge to show the PDF file. If not, you can use Acrobat Reader to read the tutorial file. You can download it free-of-charge from: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html b) User manual: A comprehensive user manual is available as a series of HTML files, starting from "Manual_overview.htm". You can open the manual either from the menu ("Help"/"Manual") or from the Windows Start menu: "Start/Programs/Diamond 5/User Manual". c) What's New: We recommend using the "What's New" command in the "Help" menu to open the "What's New in Diamond Version 5" HTML page that guides you through the new features of version 5. d) Online help: In addition to user manual, tutorial, and "What's New...", Diamond includes a Help Library (the "online help") covering all aspects of Diamond and its use. To access the Help Library when Diamond is running, choose the "Contents", "Index..." or "Search..." command from the Help menu. You can also access the Help Library from the Windows Start menu: "Start/Programs/Diamond 5/Diamond Help". Besides this, you can open the online help context-sensitive by pressing the F1 key. 6. Online Update ---------------- Diamond is able to automatically download and install a new version once it has become available. It connects to the Crystal Impact webserver and compares the version of the most recent update available there to the version which is currently installed on your PC. In order to achieve this, a working connection to the internet is required, of course. If you are not connected to the internet, Diamond will ask you to do so before continuing. If a more recent version is found on the webserver, a list of changes and improved features in the new version will be displayed, and you will be asked if you would like to download the corresponding update. Once you have acknowledged and the corresponding files have been downloaded, you will be asked to close all open Diamond windows so that the update program can replace the program executable. After the update has been completed, Diamond will be restarted so that you can check if the update was successful. This can e.g. be achieved by selecting the "About Diamond..." command in the "Help" menu and checking the version number and date in the dialog which is displayed. By default, Diamond checks the Crystal Impact webserver for a new version automatically each time it is executed. If you would like to disable this feature (e.g. if you are not permanently connected to the internet), you can do so on the "Desktop" page of the "Tools/Options" dialog, simply by removing the hook in front of "Check for available updates when starting" at the bottom of the dialog. If you have disabled the "Check for available updates" option, you can update your software online manually by selecting the "Online Update" command from the "Help" menu. The procedure will be the same as the one described above for the automatic update. 7. Uninstalling Diamond ----------------------- a) Windows 7 and earlier versions: If you would like to uninstall Diamond, please click on the Windows "Start" button, then click on "Programs", and finally select the command "Uninstall Diamond" from the "Diamond" subfolder. Alternatively, you can also open the "Control Panel" from the "Settings" folder in the Windows "Start" menu. Afterwards, double-click on "Software" (on some operating systems called "Add/Remove Programs") in order to bring up the normal Windows software installation dialog. In the list, please mark "Diamond", then click "Change/Remove". As soon as the uninstall program has been opened, please click "OK" in order to remove Diamond. b) Windows 8: Unless there is no (regular) Start Menu available from the Windows 8 Desktop, the easiest way is to go to the Windows 8 Start screen and start typing "Diamond 5". While you are typing, Windows will provide you with a list at the right side of the screen, there click/tap on "Uninstall Diamond 5", which will start the uninstaller as described above under "Windows 7..." c) Windows 10/11: Depends on if a Start menu is configured (usually on desktop or laptop computers) or not (e.g. on tablet or tablet-like computers). 8. Online Support ----------------- In case of trouble with Diamond, you can quickly access the most recent support documents on the Crystal Impact web site for Diamond ("www.crystalimpact.com/diamond/") by selecting "Update Page", "Frequently Asked Questions", "How To", or "Known Bugs" on Diamond's "Start" screen. By default the "Start" screen is displayed whenever you start Diamond. If not, run the "Help"/"Start Page" command. You can also send an e-mail to: support@crystalimpact.com You might also want to visit the Diamond webpage from time to time: http://www.crystalimpact.com/diamond/Default.htm 9. Known Bugs ---------------------------- A list of all currently known bugs is available on: http://www.crystalimpact.com/diamond/v5bugs.htm If you encounter a bug that is not yet described there, please send an e-mail describing your problem to: support@crystalimpact.com 10. Contacting Crystal Impact ----------------------------- To contact a Crystal Impact sales representative, either send e-mail to sales@crystalimpact.com fax to +49-228-9813644 call +49-228-9813643 or write to: Crystal Impact, Kreuzherrenstr. 102, D-53227 Bonn, Germany. You can also visit the Diamond sales webpage at http://www.crystalimpact.com/diamond/sales.htm and download an order form you can send either by fax or conventional mail.