dynare/windows/README.txt

Dynare version 4
================

For information about how to use Dynare, you should have a look at the
documentation located in the 'doc' subdirectory of your Dynare installation (you
should have a shortcut in your Start Menu to access it directly).

Beginners should start with the Dynare user guide. There is also a complete
reference manual documenting all Dynare functions in 'manual\index.html' (however
note that it is a bit outdated).

You can also get more information on the web, on Dynare homepage:

  http://www.dynare.org

Or on Dynare Wiki:

  http://www.cepremap.cnrs.fr/DynareWiki

NOTE: Dynare comes with an automated uninstaller, which you can run from the
"Add/Remove Programs" menu of the Control Panel.


Using Dynare with Matlab
------------------------

Dynare requires Matlab version 6.5 or above. With older versions of Matlab, it
may fail or give unexpected results.

To use Dynare, you just have to add the 'matlab' subdirectory of your Dynare
installation to Matlab's path. You have two options for doing that:

* Use the addpath command, by typing the following (assuming that you have
  installed Dynare at the standard location, and replacing '4.x.y' by correct
  version number):

    addpath c:\dynare\4.x.y\matlab

  Matlab will not remember this setting next time you run it, and you will have
  to do it again.

* Select the "Set Path" entry in the "File" menu, then click on "Add
  Folder...", and select the 'matlab' subdirectory of your Dynare
  installation. Note that you SHOULD NOT use "Add with Subfolders...". Apply
  the settings by clicking on "Save". Note that Matlab will remember this
  setting next time you run it.

You can test your installation by typing 'dynare' at the Matlab prompt. This
should give you an error message complaining that you did not specify a MOD
file.


Using Dynare with Octave
------------------------

Dynare is now available for Octave, a free clone of Matlab (see
<http://www.octave.org>).

For installing Octave on your Windows system, go to:

  http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=2888&package_id=40078

Then pick the 'octave-3.0.1-vs2008-setup.exe' installer. Choose GNUplot
graphical backend (instead of JHandles) during installation. Also note that
this distribution contains a nice text editor, which you can invoke with "edit"
as you would under Matlab.

WARNING: the Octave binary distribution has a bug which makes Octave crash
everytime one types 'clear all' (and therefore everytime one runs Dynare!). A
simple workaround is to type the following command the first time you run
Octave:

  pkg rebuild -noauto ftp ann database

Every time you run Octave, you should type the two following commands (assuming
that you have installed Dynare at the standard location, and replacing '4.x.y'
by correct version number):

  addpath c:\dynare\4.x.y\matlab
  mark_as_command dynare

NOTE: if you don't want to type these two commands every time you run Octave,
you can put them in a file called '.octaverc' in your home directory (generally
'c:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\'). This file is run by Octave at every
startup.

You can test your installation by typing 'dynare' at the Octave prompt. This
should give you an error message complaining that you did not specify a MOD
file.

For more information about Dynare for Octave, go to:

  http://www.cepremap.cnrs.fr/DynareWiki/DynareOctave


Dynamic Loadable Libraries
--------------------------

For better performance, some parts of Dynare are written in the C++ language,
which is faster than standard M-files. These parts are compiled and distributed
as dynamic loadable libraries (DLL), located in the 'mex' subdirectory of your
Dynare installation.

If the DLL are correctly detected by Matlab or Octave, the following should be
displayed when you launch Dynare:

  Configuring Dynare ...
  [mex] Generalized QZ.
  [mex] Sylvester equation solution.
  [mex] Kronecker products.
  [mex] Sparse kronecker products.

On the contrary, if DLL are not detected, Dynare will fallback on slower
alternatives written in M-files, and display the following:

  Configuring Dynare ...
  [m] Generalized QZ.
  [m] Sylvester equation solution.
  [m] Kronecker products.
  [m] Sparse kronecker products.

In this last case, Dynare will run correctly, but with suboptimal speed. There
could be several reasons for Matlab or Octave failing to detect the DLL:

* Your path settings may be wrong. Make sure that the 'matlab' subdirectory of
  your Dynare installation is the only Dynare directory present in the path
  variable.

* Your Matlab or Octave version may be incompatible with the provided binaries.

* You may have a custom M-file in your search path with the same name than a
  DLL, therefore overriding it.


Copyright notice for software
-----------------------------

Most Dynare source files are copyright 1996-2008 Dynare Team. There are some
exceptions to this, which are described in source file headers when relevant.

Dynare is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later
version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
this program (see 'gpl.txt'). If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.


Copyright notice for documentation
----------------------------------

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify Dynare documentation
files under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any
later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant
Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.

A copy of the license can be found in the 'fdl.txt' file.


Credits
-------

Matlab is a registered trademark of The Mathworks, Inc.