Octave for Microsoft Windows: Difference between revisions

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GNU Octave is primarily developed on GNU/Linux and other POSIX conformal systems. The ports of GNU Octave to Windows use different approaches to get most of the original Octave and adapt it to Microsoft Windows idiosyncrasies (eg: dynamic libraries, file paths, permissions, environment variables, GUI system, etc). Bear this in mind and don't panic if you get unexpected results. There are a lot of suggestions on the mailing lists for tuning your Octave installation.
:''This article is about using pre-built installers of Octave for Windows; for instructions about building it, see [[Windows Installer]].''


About version numbers (March 2011):
{{Note|Windows installers are available for the latest version of '''Octave ({{Release}}, released on {{Release Date}})''' from https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/octave/windows/.}}
*The 3.4.x are current releases.
*The 3.2.x are previous releases.


=Standalone ports=
Users are encouraged to use the latest version unless a specific feature or requirement warrants using an older version of the software. Version specific instructions and installation notes are provided below.
==Octave 3.2.4 for Windows MinGW32==


'''Download:''' http://sourceforge.net/projects/octave/files/Octave_Windows%20-%20MinGW/Octave%203.2.4%20for%20Windows%20MinGW32%20Installer/Octave-3.2.4_i686-pc-mingw32_gcc-4.4.0_setup.exe/download
:'''Note:''' As of version 4.4.1, '''Octave no longer supports Windows XP'''. There may be some workarounds to get Octave installed and running in command line mode (see Bug {{bug|54662}}), but maintainers cannot provide support and troubleshooting for this beyond what has already been documented.


'''Maintainer:''' Benjamin Lindner
=Installers for Microsoft Windows=


'''Latest release:''' 2010-03-25
The easiest way to install GNU Octave on Microsoft Windows is by using [http://hg.octave.org/mxe-octave/ MXE] builds.  For the current release, both 32-bit and 64-bit installers and zip archived packages (.zip and .7z formats) can be found at https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/octave/windows/.


Includes:
* For executable installers: the user can simply run the downloaded file and follow the on-screen installation prompts.  It is recommended that the installation path does not include spaces or non-ASCII characters.  Shortcuts to the program will be created automatically.


*GNU Octave, version 3.2.4 (i686-pc-mingw32)
* For the 7z/zip archives:
*atlas 3.8.2
# Extract the file content to a directory on the harddrive (such as {{Path|C:\Octave}}). Spaces or non-ASCII characters in the path are discouraged and may cause program errors.
*mingw32 (GCC 4.4.0 on http://www.mingw.org )
# Manually create a shortcut  to the {{Path|octave.vbs}} file in the main installation directory. (Right-click on the file, select 'Create Shortcut', and move the new shortcut to your desired location.)  
*gnuplot Version 4.4.0 specially prepared for octave
# If a command-line only instance of Octave is desired, the user can create a shortcut as stated above, right-click on the shortcut, select Properties, and add <code>--no-gui</code> to the end of the Target field.
*mini-MSYS 1.0.11
# Run the {{Path|post-install.bat}} file before running Octave the first time to reduce plot delays due to the Windows font cache and make the pre-installed packages visible to the system.
*notepad++ 5.6.7 as text editor
*Some components of octave-forge packages
**actuarial-1.1.0 (New!)
**audio-1.1.4
**benchmark-1.1.1
**bim-1.0.0 (New!)  
**bioinfo-0.1.2
**combinatorics-1.0.9
**communications-1.0.10
**control-1.0.11
**data-smoothing-1.2.0
**econometrics-1.0.8
**fenv-0.1.0 (New!)
**financial-0.3.2
**fixed-0.7.10
**fpl-1.0.0 (New!)
**ga-0.9.7
**general-1.2.0 (updated)
**generate_html-0.1.2 (New!)
**gnuplot-1.0.1 (New!)
**gpc-0.1.7
**gsl-1.0.8
**ident-1.0.7
**image-1.0.10
**informationtheory-0.1.8
**integration-1.0.7
**io-1.0.11 (updated)
**irsa-1.0.7
**java-1.2.7 (New!)
**jhandles-0.3.5 (New!)
**linear-algebra-1.0.8
**mapping-1.0.7
**miscellaneous-1.0.9
**missing-functions-1.0.2
**msh-1.0.0 (New!)
**nlwing2-1.1.1 (New!)
**nnet-0.1.10
**nurbs-1.0.3 (New!)
**ocs-0.0.4 (New!)
**oct2mat-1.0.7 (New!)
**octcdf-1.0.17 (updated 1.0.17+)
**octgpr-1.1.5 (New!)
**odebvp-1.0.6
**odepkg-0.6.10 (updated)
**optim-1.0.12 (updated)
**optiminterp-0.3.2
**outliers-0.13.9
**physicalconstants-0.1.7
**plot-1.0.7
**quaternion-1.0.0
**signal-1.0.10
**simp-1.1.0 (New!)
**sockets-1.0.5
**specfun-1.0.8
**special-matrix-1.0.7
**spline-gcvspl-1.0.8 (New!)
**splines-1.0.7
**statistics-1.0.9
**strings-1.0.7
**struct-1.0.7
**symband-1.0.10 (New!)
**symbolic-1.0.9
**time-1.0.9
**video-1.0.2 (New!)
**windows-1.0.8(updated to 1.0.8+)
**zenity-0.5.7


Notes:
==Packages==


*Although there are some remaining known issues, some bugs reported to the octave-3.2.3 have been corrected. In addition, useful octave-forge packages are added (Java, Jhandles, ....). Please see 'RELEASE_NOTES.txt' to know them in details: http://sourceforge.net/projects/octave/files/Octave_Windows%20-%20MinGW/Octave%203.2.4%20for%20Windows%20MinGW32%20Installer/RELEASE_NOTES-3.2.4.txt/download
A selection of pre-built, [[Octave Forge]] packages are included with for all versions of the official Windows release. If you followed the installation directions above you can confirm the package list by typing the command below at the Octave command prompt:
*Default Octave install folder changed to to like 'C:\Octave\3.2.4_gcc-4.4.0\'. If you have installed octave in the folder with path name having white a space or white spaces, for example, 'C:\Program Files\', 'pkg install (package name)' command will be failed: http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/message.php?msg_name=4A1AF9EF.1000005@hotmail.com


Additional important topics found after the release:
  >> pkg list
*It is reported that the oct2mat octave-forge package affects plot related commands. The purpose of the package is to convert m-file into matlab-compatible coding style. Please see the documentation of the octave-forge (oct2mat - freetb4matlab) from http://octave.sourceforge.net/functions_by_package.php)
*:Report for this problem: http://old.nabble.com/Re:-Octave-3.2.4-mingw32-available-p28053703.html
*:Explanation of the problem: http://old.nabble.com/Re:-Octave-3.2.4-mingw32-available-p28090303.html
*:Realistic solution at this moment, do not install the oct2mat package when you install octave with octave-forge packages if you do not use this package. One one of different solutions is to execute
      pkg rebuild -noauto oct2mat
*:at the octave prompt and then restart octave. The operation results in the oct2mat package not to be auto-loaded in startup. When you want to use oct2mat, execute "pkg load oct2mat" command.
*The plot octave-forge package still have ginput code although the ginput function is now merge into octave itself. Therefore conflict occur if the plot package is installed. To avoid this problem, rename 'ginput.m' in the folder .....\Octave\3.2.4_gcc-4.4.0\share\octave\packages\plot-1.0.7, for example ginput.ob.m. In some computers which has one core CPU, response of ginput is very slow. In the case, modify '__gnuplot_ginput__.m' according to the following thread. http://old.nabble.com/ginput-on-Octave-3.2.4-mingw32-to28093888.html
*From gnuplot-4.4.0, the default terminal of gnuplot for windows is the wxt terminal. Some users may set the GNUTERM environmental variable for the windows terminal being default. The gnuplot for windows allows to set GNUTERM to 'win' (abbreviated form) but octave does not recognize the abbreviated form for terminal name. If one would like set GNUTERM to windows terminal, one should specify it as 'windows' (full form) but not 'win' (abbreviated form). In detail see the following thread: http://old.nabble.com/flicking-problem-again-Octave-3.2.4-mingw32-td28038688.html


==Octave-3.4.2-mingw + octaveforge pkgs==
A typical output (for version {{Release}}) is:
#Octave-3.4.2-mingw (without pkgs)
                                                                                           
#:Octave3.4.2_gcc4.5.2_20110914.7z - MD5:4AA0DD4C97F73B2E9E0F7370CD8AD719 - http://www.multiupload.com/TCUHKNNH9S
Package Name        | Version | Installation directory
#Octaveforge pkgs, built for Octave-3.4.2-mingw
--------------------+---------+-----------------------
#:Octave3.4.2_gcc4.5.2_pkgs_20111014.7z - MD5:49097AF3C6FC6CDB58EE83F510A50993 - http://www.multiupload.com/DCWFZOUGZA
    communications  |  1.2.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\communications-1.2.1
*'''Maintainer:''' Nitzan Arazi
            control  |  3.1.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\control-3.1.0
*'''Latest update:''' 2011-10-14
    data-smoothing  |  1.3.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\data-smoothing-1.3.0
*Packages are archived by the 7zip. The 7zip software can be download from http://www.7-zip.org/
          database  |  2.4.3 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\database-2.4.3
          dataframe  |  1.2.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\dataframe-1.2.0
              dicom  |  0.2.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\dicom-0.2.1
          financial  |  0.5.3 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\financial-0.5.3
              fits  |  1.0.7 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\fits-1.0.7
fuzzy-logic-toolkit |  0.4.5 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\fuzzy-logic-toolkit-0.4.5
                ga  |  0.10.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\ga-0.10.0
            general  |  2.1.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\general-2.1.0
      generate_html  |  0.3.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\generate_html-0.3.1
          geometry  |  3.0.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\geometry-3.0.0
                gsl  |  2.1.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\gsl-2.1.1
              image  |  2.10.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\image-2.10.0
instrument-control  |  0.3.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\instrument-control-0.3.1
          interval  |  3.2.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\interval-3.2.0
                io  |  2.4.12 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\io-2.4.12
    linear-algebra  |  2.2.2 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\linear-algebra-2.2.2
              lssa  |  0.1.3 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\lssa-0.1.3
              ltfat  |  2.3.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\ltfat-2.3.1
            mapping  |  1.2.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\mapping-1.2.1
      miscellaneous  |  1.2.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\miscellaneous-1.2.1
                nan  |  3.1.4 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\nan-3.1.4
            netcdf  |  1.0.12 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\netcdf-1.0.12
              nurbs  |  1.3.13 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\nurbs-1.3.13
                ocs  |  0.1.5 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\ocs-0.1.5
            odepkg  |  0.8.5 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\odepkg-0.8.5
              optim  |  1.5.3 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\optim-1.5.3
        optiminterp  |  0.3.5 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\optiminterp-0.3.5
        quaternion  |  2.4.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\quaternion-2.4.0
          queueing  |  1.2.6 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\queueing-1.2.6
            signal  |  1.4.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\signal-1.4.0
            sockets  |  1.2.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\sockets-1.2.0
          sparsersb  |  1.0.6 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\sparsersb-1.0.6
            specfun  |  1.1.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\specfun-1.1.0
            splines  |  1.3.2 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\splines-1.3.2
        statistics  |  1.4.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\statistics-1.4.0
                stk  |  2.5.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\stk-2.5.1
            strings  |  1.2.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\strings-1.2.0
            struct  |  1.0.15 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\struct-1.0.15
            tisean  |  0.2.3 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\tisean-0.2.3
                tsa  |  4.4.5 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\tsa-4.4.5
              video  |  1.2.4 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\video-1.2.4
            windows  |  1.3.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\windows-1.3.0
            zeromq  |  1.3.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\zeromq-1.3.0


Includes:
If Octave was installed from a zip of 7z archive and you did not run the {{Path|post-install.bat}} file, you may need to run:
 
  >> pkg rebuild


*GNU Octave, version 3.4.2 (i686-pc-mingw32)
All packages can be updated to the latest version by running:
*A new fltk graphics_toolkit is available
 
*gnuplot 4.4.3
  >> pkg update
*fig2dev 3.2.5c
*ghostscript 9.0.2
*PSTOEDIT 3.50
*Msys + MinGW? tool chains
*some Octave-forge packages  
**actuarial-1.1.0
**ad-1.0.6
**audio-1.1.4
**benchmark-1.1.1
**bim-1.0.2 (Updated 2011-10-14)
**bioinfo-0.1.2
**civil-engineering-1.0.7
**communications-1.1.0 (Updated 2011-10-14)
**control-2.2.0 (Updated 2011-10-14)
**data-smoothing-1.2.3 (Updated 2011-10-14)
**dataframe-0.8.2
**econometrics-1.0.8
**fenv-0.1.0
**financial-0.3.2
**fpl-1.2.0
**fuzzy-logic-toolkit-0.2.4 (Updated 2011-10-14)
**ga-0.9.8
**general-1.2.2
**generate_html-0.1.3
**geometry-1.1.3 (added on 2011-10-14)
**gnuplot-1.0.1
**gpc-0.1.7
**gsl-1.0.8
**ident-1.0.7
**image-1.0.15 (Updated 2011-10-14)
**informationtheory-0.1.8
**integration-1.0.7
**io-1.0.15 (Updated 2011-10-14)
**irsa-1.0.7
**java-1.2.8 (Updated 2011-09-07)
**linear-algebra-2.0.0_svn20111014 (Updated 2011-10-14)
**mapping-1.0.7
**mechanics-1.1.0 (added on 2011-10-14)
**miscellaneous-1.0.11 (Updated 2011-09-14)
**missing-functions-1.0.2
**msh-1.0.2
**multicore-0.2.15
**nlwing2-1.2.0
**nnet-0.1.13
**nurbs-1.3.5 (Updated 2011-10-14)
**ocs-0.1.1
**oct2mat-1.0.7
**octclip-1.0.0
**octgpr-1.2.0
**odebvp-1.0.6
**odepkg-0.8.0
**optim-1.0.16
**optiminterp-0.3.3
**outliers-0.13.9
**physicalconstants-0.1.7
**plot-1.0.8
**quaternion-1.0.0
**secs1d-0.0.8
**secs2d-0.0.8
**secs3d-0.0.1 (added on 2011-10-14)
**signal-1.0.11
**simp-1.1.0
**sockets-1.0.7_svn20111014 (updated 2011-10-14)
**specfun-1.0.9
**special-matrix-1.0.7
**spline-gcvspl-1.0.8
**splines-1.0.7
**statistics-1.0.10
**strings-1.0.7
**struct-1.0.9
**symband-1.0.10
**symbolic-1.0.9
**tcl-octave-0.1.8
**time-1.0.9
**tsa-4.1.1
**video-1.0.2
**vrml-1.0.12_svn20111014_patched (added 2011-10-14)
**windows-1.1.0 (Updated 2011-09-07)
**xraylib-1.0.8
**zenity-0.5.7


Installation of the Octave package:
Other packages can be installed by running:
*Read readme.txt in Octave3.4.2_gcc4.5.2_20110914.7z
*Unzip to a directory which doesn't have space chars i.e. C:\Octave\Octave3.4.2_gcc4.5.2\ keeping the directory structure in the archive.
*Copy octave.lnk to any convenient location and edit its properties respectively to point to octave.exe and octave.ico.


Installation of the Octave-forge packages:
  >> pkg install -forge <package name>
*Read Octave3.4.2_gcc4.5.2_pkgs_readme.txt and Octave3.4.2_gcc4.5.2_pkgs_changes.txt in Octave3.4.2_gcc4.5.2_pkgs_20110914.7z.
*In order to update octave_packages database and auto-load most packages (excluding 'ad' and 'windows' which may crash octave when loaded and 'clear all' is executed), launch Octave and execute:


        pkg rebuild -auto
To install a new or updated package version manually, the package file can be downloaded from the [https://octave.sourceforge.io/packages.php Octave Forge website] to the working directory and can be installed using:
        pkg rebuild -noauto ad windows


*You can adjust your installed packages status per your specific needs and usage by executing one of the following commands:
  >> pkg install package_file_name.tar.gz
*To interactively load or unload a package
        pkg load <pkg_name>
*: or
        pkg unload <pkg_name>
*To disable auto-load for specific pkg <pkg_name>
        pkg rebuild -noauto <pkg_name>
*To enable auto-load for specific pkg <pkg_name>
        pkg rebuild -auto <pkg_name>
*To completely uninstall a package
        pkg uninstall <pkg_name>     


Notes
Detailed instructions for installing individual Octave Forge packages are given at https://octave.sourceforge.io/packages.php.
*For details, please see http://old.nabble.com/Octave-3.4.2-mingw-%2B-octaveforge-pkgs-to32394771.html
*This archive doesn't contain any editor! In order to install Notepad++ (recommended) as an editor:
**download the installation package from http://notepad-plus-plus.org/
**install, edit <your octave dir>\share\octave\site\m\startup\octaverc
**un-comment the line which sets octave default editor: EDITOR('C:\\Program Files\\Notepad++\\notepad++.exe');
*Octave Binaries are built by Tatsuro Matsuoka (http://www.tatsuromatsuoka.com/octave/Eng/Win/)
*Octave manual (octave-3.4.2.pdf.zip, octave-3.4.2.html.zip) can be download from http://www.tatsuromatsuoka.com/octave/Eng/Win/


==Octave-3.4.3-mingw + octaveforge pkgs==
=GNU Octave on [https://cygwin.com/ cygwin]=


#Octave-3.4.3-mingw (without pkgs)
*'''Maintainer:''' Marco Atzeri
#: Octave3.4.3_gcc4.5.2_20111025.7z - MD5:5AA004D933E000E762AE2AE95573ACBD - http://www.multiupload.com/KDQ1N463UW
*'''Latest release:''' 2018-08-17
#Octaveforge pkgs, built for Octave-3.4.3-mingw
#: Octave3.4.3_gcc4.5.2_pkgs_20111026.7z - MD5:2987F6078B4AD161F2D23634D5109D61 - http://www.multiupload.com/7U6J23CSZ6
*'''Maintainer:''' Nitzan Arazi
*'''Latest update:''' 2011-10-26
*Packages are archived by 7zip. 7zip software can be download from http://www.7-zip.org/


Includes:
*Latest packages:


*GNU Octave, version 3.4.3 (i686-pc-mingw32)
:octave-4.4.1-1
*A new fltk graphics_toolkit is available
:Its announce on cygwin mailing list [https://www.cygwin.com/ml/cygwin-announce/2018-08/msg00021.html]
*gnuplot 4.4.3
*fig2dev 3.2.5c
*ghostscript 9.0.2
*PSTOEDIT 3.50
*Msys + MinGW? tool chains
*PDF and html documentation
*some Octave-forge packages
**actuarial-1.1.0
**ad-1.0.6
**audio-1.1.4
**benchmark-1.1.1
**bim-1.0.2
**bioinfo-0.1.2
**civil-engineering-1.0.7
**combinatorics-1.0.9
**communications-1.1.0_patched
**control-2.2.0
**data-smoothing-1.2.3
**dataframe-0.8.2
**econometrics-1.0.8
**fenv-0.1.0
**financial-0.3.2
**fpl-1.2.0
**fuzzy-logic-toolkit-0.2.4
**ga-0.9.8
**general-1.2.2
**generate_html-0.1.3
**geometry-1.2.0
**gnuplot-1.0.1
**gpc-0.1.7
**gsl-1.0.8
**ident-1.0.7
**image-1.0.15
**informationtheory-0.1.8
**integration-1.0.7
**io-1.0.15 + supporting java jars
**irsa-1.0.7
**java-1.2.8_patched + java.opts file
**linear-algebra-2.0.0_svn20111014
**mapping-1.0.7
**mechanics-1.1.0
**miscellaneous-1.0.11_svn20110912
**missing-functions-1.0.2
**msh-1.0.2
**multicore-0.2.15
**nlwing2-1.2.0
**nnet-0.1.13
**nurbs-1.3.5
**ocs-0.1.1_patched
**octclip-1.0.0
**octgpr-1.2.0
**odebvp-1.0.6
**odepkg-0.8.0
**optim-1.0.16
**optiminterp-0.3.3
**outliers-0.13.9
**physicalconstants-0.1.7
**plot-1.0.8
**quaternion-1.0.0
**secs1d-0.0.8
**secs2d-0.0.8
**secs3d-0.0.1
**signal-1.0.11
**simp-1.1.0
**sockets-1.0.7_svn20111014
**specfun-1.0.9
**special-matrix-1.0.7
**spline-gcvspl-1.0.8
**splines-1.0.7
**statistics-1.0.10
**strings-1.0.7
**struct-1.0.9
**symband-1.0.10
**symbolic-1.1.0
**tcl-octave-0.1.8
**time-1.0.9
**tsa-4.1.1
**video-1.0.2_patched
**vrml-1.0.12_svn20111014_patched
**windows-1.1.0
**xraylib-1.0.8
**zenity-0.5.7


Installation of the Octave package:
:Octave Forge packages have each a cygwin package.
:Its announce on cygwin mailing list [https://cygwin.com/ml/cygwin-announce/2017-01/msg00078.html]
: Full cygwin package list is available here [https://cygwin.com/packages/]
: At 2017-04-06, 64 forge packages were available.


*Read readme.txt in Octave3.4.3_gcc4.5.2_20111025.7z
*To install :
*Unzip to a directory which doesn't have space chars i.e. C:\Octave\Octave3.4.3_gcc4.5.2\ keeping the directory structure in the archive.
: run cygwin setup-x86.exe (for cygwin 32 bit) or  setup-x86_64.exe (for cygwin 64 bit) and select them in the Math category.  
*Copy octave3.4.3_gcc4.5.2.lnk to any convenient location and edit its properties respectively to point to bin\octave.exe and share\octave\3.4.3\imagelib\octave-logo.ico.
:  All the package dependencies will be also installed.
*Copy octave3.4.3_gcc4.5.2_docs.lnk to any convenient location and edit its properties respectively to point to doc\octave and share\octave\3.4.3\imagelib\octave-logo.ico.


Installation of the Octave-forge packages:
:Graphics is based on X and to plot you will need to start octave within xterm (or similar).
:  I recommend to install "xinit", "xlaunch" and "gnuplot". These packages will pull all the functional Xserver.
:  Otherwise the only graphics will be ASCII art ;-)


*Read Octave3.4.3_gcc4.5.2_pkgs_readme.txt in Octave3.4.3_gcc4.5.2_pkgs_20111026.7z.
==Notes for cygwin==
*In order to update octave_packages database and auto-load most packages (excluding 'ad' and 'windows' which may crash octave when loaded and 'clear all' is executed), launch Octave and execute:
        pkg rebuild -auto
        pkg rebuild -noauto ad windows
        pkg rebuild -auto java


*Last pkg rebuild command is required in order for the java pkg entry to be moved to the top of share\octave\octave_packages db file - thus java pkg is loaded before io pkg is loaded, and io pkg related jars are added to java class path.
*When building from development source (default branch)
*You can adjust your installed packages status per your specific needs and usage by executing one of the following commands:
:    "make check"
*To interactively load or unload a package
:passes almost all the tests. Only, and not substantial, failures are:
        pkg load <pkg_name>
:<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">
*:or
/pub/hg/octave/src/data.cc : 8 failures due to different handling of complex Inf on sort
        pkg unload <pkg_name>
/pub/hg/octave/src/syscalls.cc: 1 failure on fork. This disappears when octave is installed
*To disable auto-load for specific pkg <pkg_name>
/pub/hg/octave/scripts/sparse/svds.m: 1 failure due to test sensitivity on starting point. See
        pkg rebuild -noauto <pkg_name>
https://mailman.cae.wisc.edu/pipermail/octave-maintainers/2011-September/024715.html
*To enable auto-load for specific pkg <pkg_name>
</syntaxhighlight>
        pkg rebuild -auto <pkg_name>
*To completely uninstall a package
        pkg uninstall <pkg_name>     
 
Notes
*This archive doesn't contain any editor! In order to install Notepad++ (recommended) as an editor:
**download the installation package from http://notepad-plus-plus.org/  
**install, edit <your octave dir>\share\octave\site\m\startup\octaverc
**un-comment the line which sets octave default editor: EDITOR('C:\\Program Files\\Notepad++\\notepad++.exe');
 
Octave Binaries are built using Tatsuro Matsuka OctaveLibs?.zip and gplibs.zip (http://www.tatsuromatsuoka.com/octave/Eng/Win/)
 
=Octave on Cygwin=
== Octave 3.4.2 on cygwin==
 
'''Web-Site:''' http://cygwin.com
'''Maintainer:''' Marco Atzeri
'''Latest release:''' 2011-10-03
 
*octave 3.4.2-3
*octave-forge packages octave-forge-20110730-1
*Please select them in Math category in the cygwin setup (using setup.exe).
*:On Cygwin 1.7.9-1 the communication between octave and gnuplot is broken due to a cygwin bug. Please use a cygwin snapshot or 1.7.8-1 until cygwin-1.7.10-1 is released. Cygwin 1.7.8-1 is reported to currently work, but snapshots have notable performance improvements, so they are recommended.
 
Notes:
*To install a cygwin snapshot:
**download cygwin1-20111020.dll.bz2 (current last) from http://cygwin.com/snapshots/
    bunzip2 cygwin1-20111020.dll.bz2
    cp cygwin1-20111020.dll cygwin1.dll
    cp /bin/cygwin1.dll /bin/cygwin1.dll_backup


**exit all cygwin processes and from windows explorer
* To build GNU Octave from cygwin source package, you need to install "cygport" and the relevant development libraries
**copy the cygwin1.dll snapshot to
:<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">
    c:\cygwin\bin
tar -xf octave-4.4.1-1-src.tar.xz
    (or in the equivalent directory of your cygwin installation).
cygport octave.cygport almostall
*Graphics is based on X, so to plot you need to start octave within xterm (or similar).
</syntaxhighlight>
*A new fltk graphics_toolkit is available, and the crash on "print" issue was solved on 3.4.2-3 using the patch proposed here:  
:see [https://cygwinports.github.io/cygport/ cygport documentation] for further info.
    https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?31641


*If a dlls collision arise, the correct invocation of the rebase utility within dash shell is:
=General info=
    rebaseall -s "dll|so|oct"
*:as octave dll's use unexpected ".oct" suffix for its own extension.
*For general build notes, see "etc/README.Cygwin".
*When building from development source (default branch)
    "make check"
*:passes almost all the tests.
*:Only, and not substantial, failures are:
    /pub/hg/octave/src/data.cc : 8 failures due to different handling of complex Inf on sort
    /pub/hg/octave/src/syscalls.cc: 1 failure on fork. This disappears when octave is installed
    /pub/hg/octave/scripts/sparse/svds.m: 1 failure due to test sensitivity on starting point. See
    https://mailman.cae.wisc.edu/pipermail/octave-maintainers/2011-September/024715.html


*To build from cygwin source package, you need to install "cygport" and the relevant development libraries
Be advised that GNU Octave is primarily developed on GNU/Linux and other [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POSIX POSIX] conform systems. The ports of GNU Octave to Microsoft Windows use different approaches to get most of the original Octave and adapt it to Microsoft Windows idiosyncrasies (e.g. dynamic libraries, file paths, permissions, environment variables, GUI system, etc). Bear this in mind and don't panic if you get unexpected results. There are a lot of suggestions on the mailing lists for tuning your Octave installation. GNU Octave standalone ports for Windows are independently compiled using either the [http://mingw.org MinGW] or Microsoft Visual Studio development environments (3.6 or before).
    $ tar -xvjf octave-3.4.2-3-src.tar.bz2
    gl2ps-print.patch
    octave-3.4.2-3.cygport
    octave-3.4.2-3.cygwin.patch
    octave-3.4.2-3.src.patch
    octave-3.4.2.tar.bz2


    $ cygport octave-3.4.2-3.cygport almostall
=See also=


*:see cygport documentation for further info.
* [[Octave for Microsoft Windows (outdated)]] for older instructions.


*currently octave depends on the following packages
[[Category:Installation]]
**libgcc1-4.5.3-2
[[Category:Building]]
**libgfortran3-4.5.3-2
[[Category:Microsoft Windows]]
**libstdc++6-4.5.3-2
**liblapack0-3.2.2-2
**libreadline7-6.1.2-2
**libfftw3_3-3.3-1
**libqrupdate0-1.1.1-1
**libGL1-7.10.3-1
**zlib0-1.2.5-1
**libfontconfig1-2.8.0-1
**libhdf5_6-1.8.6-1

Revision as of 02:33, 6 January 2020

This article is about using pre-built installers of Octave for Windows; for instructions about building it, see Windows Installer.
Info icon.svg
Windows installers are available for the latest version of Octave (9.1.0, released on March 14, 2024) from https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/octave/windows/.

Users are encouraged to use the latest version unless a specific feature or requirement warrants using an older version of the software. Version specific instructions and installation notes are provided below.

Note: As of version 4.4.1, Octave no longer supports Windows XP. There may be some workarounds to get Octave installed and running in command line mode (see Bug #54662), but maintainers cannot provide support and troubleshooting for this beyond what has already been documented.

Installers for Microsoft Windows

The easiest way to install GNU Octave on Microsoft Windows is by using MXE builds. For the current release, both 32-bit and 64-bit installers and zip archived packages (.zip and .7z formats) can be found at https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/octave/windows/.

  • For executable installers: the user can simply run the downloaded file and follow the on-screen installation prompts. It is recommended that the installation path does not include spaces or non-ASCII characters. Shortcuts to the program will be created automatically.
  • For the 7z/zip archives:
  1. Extract the file content to a directory on the harddrive (such as C:\Octave). Spaces or non-ASCII characters in the path are discouraged and may cause program errors.
  2. Manually create a shortcut to the octave.vbs file in the main installation directory. (Right-click on the file, select 'Create Shortcut', and move the new shortcut to your desired location.)
  3. If a command-line only instance of Octave is desired, the user can create a shortcut as stated above, right-click on the shortcut, select Properties, and add --no-gui to the end of the Target field.
  4. Run the post-install.bat file before running Octave the first time to reduce plot delays due to the Windows font cache and make the pre-installed packages visible to the system.

Packages

A selection of pre-built, Octave Forge packages are included with for all versions of the official Windows release. If you followed the installation directions above you can confirm the package list by typing the command below at the Octave command prompt:

  >> pkg list

A typical output (for version 9.1.0) is:

Package Name        | Version | Installation directory
--------------------+---------+-----------------------
    communications  |   1.2.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\communications-1.2.1
           control  |   3.1.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\control-3.1.0
    data-smoothing  |   1.3.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\data-smoothing-1.3.0
          database  |   2.4.3 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\database-2.4.3
         dataframe  |   1.2.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\dataframe-1.2.0
             dicom  |   0.2.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\dicom-0.2.1
         financial  |   0.5.3 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\financial-0.5.3
              fits  |   1.0.7 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\fits-1.0.7
fuzzy-logic-toolkit |   0.4.5 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\fuzzy-logic-toolkit-0.4.5
                ga  |  0.10.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\ga-0.10.0
           general  |   2.1.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\general-2.1.0
     generate_html  |   0.3.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\generate_html-0.3.1
          geometry  |   3.0.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\geometry-3.0.0
               gsl  |   2.1.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\gsl-2.1.1
             image  |  2.10.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\image-2.10.0
instrument-control  |   0.3.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\instrument-control-0.3.1
          interval  |   3.2.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\interval-3.2.0
                io  |  2.4.12 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\io-2.4.12
    linear-algebra  |   2.2.2 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\linear-algebra-2.2.2
              lssa  |   0.1.3 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\lssa-0.1.3
             ltfat  |   2.3.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\ltfat-2.3.1
           mapping  |   1.2.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\mapping-1.2.1
     miscellaneous  |   1.2.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\miscellaneous-1.2.1
               nan  |   3.1.4 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\nan-3.1.4
            netcdf  |  1.0.12 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\netcdf-1.0.12
             nurbs  |  1.3.13 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\nurbs-1.3.13
               ocs  |   0.1.5 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\ocs-0.1.5
            odepkg  |   0.8.5 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\odepkg-0.8.5
             optim  |   1.5.3 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\optim-1.5.3
       optiminterp  |   0.3.5 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\optiminterp-0.3.5
        quaternion  |   2.4.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\quaternion-2.4.0
          queueing  |   1.2.6 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\queueing-1.2.6
            signal  |   1.4.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\signal-1.4.0
           sockets  |   1.2.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\sockets-1.2.0
         sparsersb  |   1.0.6 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\sparsersb-1.0.6
           specfun  |   1.1.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\specfun-1.1.0
           splines  |   1.3.2 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\splines-1.3.2
        statistics  |   1.4.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\statistics-1.4.0
               stk  |   2.5.1 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\stk-2.5.1
           strings  |   1.2.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\strings-1.2.0
            struct  |  1.0.15 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\struct-1.0.15
            tisean  |   0.2.3 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\tisean-0.2.3
               tsa  |   4.4.5 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\tsa-4.4.5
             video  |   1.2.4 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\video-1.2.4
           windows  |   1.3.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\windows-1.3.0
            zeromq  |   1.3.0 | C:\Octave\OCTAVE~1.0-W\mingw64\share\octave\packages\zeromq-1.3.0

If Octave was installed from a zip of 7z archive and you did not run the post-install.bat file, you may need to run:

  >> pkg rebuild

All packages can be updated to the latest version by running:

  >> pkg update

Other packages can be installed by running:

  >> pkg install -forge <package name>

To install a new or updated package version manually, the package file can be downloaded from the Octave Forge website to the working directory and can be installed using:

  >> pkg install package_file_name.tar.gz

Detailed instructions for installing individual Octave Forge packages are given at https://octave.sourceforge.io/packages.php.

GNU Octave on cygwin

  • Maintainer: Marco Atzeri
  • Latest release: 2018-08-17
  • Latest packages:
octave-4.4.1-1
Its announce on cygwin mailing list [1]
Octave Forge packages have each a cygwin package.
Its announce on cygwin mailing list [2]
Full cygwin package list is available here [3]
At 2017-04-06, 64 forge packages were available.
  • To install :
run cygwin setup-x86.exe (for cygwin 32 bit) or setup-x86_64.exe (for cygwin 64 bit) and select them in the Math category.
All the package dependencies will be also installed.
Graphics is based on X and to plot you will need to start octave within xterm (or similar).
I recommend to install "xinit", "xlaunch" and "gnuplot". These packages will pull all the functional Xserver.
Otherwise the only graphics will be ASCII art ;-)

Notes for cygwin

  • When building from development source (default branch)
"make check"
passes almost all the tests. Only, and not substantial, failures are:
/pub/hg/octave/src/data.cc : 8 failures due to different handling of complex Inf on sort
/pub/hg/octave/src/syscalls.cc: 1 failure on fork. This disappears when octave is installed
/pub/hg/octave/scripts/sparse/svds.m: 1 failure due to test sensitivity on starting point. See 
https://mailman.cae.wisc.edu/pipermail/octave-maintainers/2011-September/024715.html
  • To build GNU Octave from cygwin source package, you need to install "cygport" and the relevant development libraries
tar -xf octave-4.4.1-1-src.tar.xz 
cygport octave.cygport almostall
see cygport documentation for further info.

General info

Be advised that GNU Octave is primarily developed on GNU/Linux and other POSIX conform systems. The ports of GNU Octave to Microsoft Windows use different approaches to get most of the original Octave and adapt it to Microsoft Windows idiosyncrasies (e.g. dynamic libraries, file paths, permissions, environment variables, GUI system, etc). Bear this in mind and don't panic if you get unexpected results. There are a lot of suggestions on the mailing lists for tuning your Octave installation. GNU Octave standalone ports for Windows are independently compiled using either the MinGW or Microsoft Visual Studio development environments (3.6 or before).

See also