installation_notes · open TELEMAC-MASCARET

Introduction

The TELEMAC system is written in Fortran (standard Fortran 95). The mathematics, the physics, the advanced parallelisation are all in Fortran. Therefore, if you wish to recompile the TELEMAC system from its source code to tune the compiler optimisation to your processor or if you need to input your own Fortran code to model the specifics of your application (boundary, initial conditions, special output variable, etc.) a Fortran compiler is required (compatible with standard Fortran 95).

In addition, surrounding the scientific code are a series of scripts to compile, prepare the input and output files and run the modules of the TELEMAC system. Two sets of scripts exist for historical reasons, one set based on the Perl language the other on the Python language:

Perl has been the preferred scripting language for a long time, including during the commercial distribution of the open TELEMAC-MASCARET system. While this language was suited to the expert developers and distributors of the system, the Perl language suffers a number of disadvantages when compared to newer scripting languages. For instance, Perl is not cross-platform and special cases have to be programmed to make the open TELEMAC-MASCARET system work on Unix, Linux and MS Windows operating systems.

Python has only been introduced a couple of years ago with version v6p1 of the open TELEMAC-MASCARET system. While it is most probably going to be the preferred scripting language in the future, the Python scripts are not as stable as their Perl equivalent. Nonetheless, the Python scripting language is cross platform and much simpler to read, so much so that it is nowadays taught as the first programming language in schools. Eventually, all scripts of the open TELEMAC-MASCARET system will be re-written in Python.

If you are a new user of the open TELEMAC-MASCARET system or if you know about the Python language already, it is recommended that you use the set of Python scripts and its associated installation procedure as it is a little simpler than its Perl equivalent.

Note also, that we are now producing self-install packaging software for MS Windows users, which you can find in the download area of the website. The self-install will install a default Fortran compiler, the SVN source code repository linkage for updates and the Python interpreter (amongst other essentials). We are still in development mode with this – your feedback is important – and we intend to use the same self install for Linux users too.