==================================================== Multiple Alignment Construction & Analysis Workbench ==================================================== MACAW is a program for locating, analyzing, and editing blocks of localized sequence similarity among multiple seqences and linking them into a composite multiple alignment. REFERENCES Gregory D. Schuler, Stephen F. Altschul, and David J. Lipman (1991). A Workbench for Multiple Alignment Construction and Analysis. Proteins Struct. Funct. Genet. 9, 180-190. Charles E. Lawrence, Stephen F. Altschul, Mark S. Boguski, Jun S. Liu, Andrew F. Neuwald, and John C. Wootton (1993). Detecting Subtle Sequence Signals: A Gibbs Sampling Strategy for Multiple Alignment. Science 262, 208-214. Samuel Karlin and Stephen F. Altschul (1990). Methods for Assessing the Statistical Significance of Molecular Sequence Features by Using General Scoring Schemes. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 87, 2264-2268 (1990) INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS - WINDOWS DISKETTE - From either the Program Manager or the File Manager, run the SETUP.EXE program on the diskette. - Enter the desired destination directory when prompted to do so. INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS - MACINTOSH DISKETTE - Drag the contents of the diskette to the desired location on your hard disk FTP DOWNLOADING INSTRUCTIONS The program is available for the Macintosh and several flavors of Microsoft Windows. All of them may be downloaded from NCBI's anonymous FTP server (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). Each version is stored in a seperate directory as described below. pub/macaw/win16 This directory contains the 16-bit version of MACAW for Windows 3.1x and Windows for Workgroups 3.1x. The file macawz.exe should be downloaded in binary mode. pub/macaw/win32-intel This directory contains the 32-bit version of MACAW for systems based on the Intel family of processors. It requires either Windows NT or a DOS-hosted version of Windows that also has the Win32s subsystem installed. The file macawz.exe should be downloaded in binary mode. pub/macaw/win32-alpha This directory contains the 32-bit version of MACAW for systems based on the DEC Alpha AXP processor and running Windows NT. The file macawz.exe should be downloaded in binary mode. pub/macaw/mac-68k This directory contains the version of MACAW for Macintosh systems based on the 680x0 family of processors, but also runs on PowerMacs under emulation. The file macaw.sea.hqx (HexBin format) should be downloaded to your mac. Many Mac FTP programs automatcally convert HexBin files, so you will end up with a file called macaw.sea. If you do not have such a program, you will need to perform HexBin conversion yourself using a utility such as Stuffit or Compactor. INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS - WINDOWS ARCHIVE (macawz.exe) - Download (in BINARY mode) the self-extracting archive file MACAWZ.EXE. - At the DOS prompt, type a command like "macawz -d c:\macaw", but substituting your preferred destination path. - Create an icon for MACAW in the Windows Program Manager. INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS - MACINTOSH ARCHIVE (macaw.sea) - Double-click the macaw.sea icon to launch the program - Select the distination folder in the dialog box and press the "Extract" button. MACAW SUPPORT POLICY Scientists at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) develop a variety of computational tools (MACAW is one example) as part of their own research and make them available to the scientific community. Descriptions of software tools and algorithms are published in appropriate journals, and both executables and source code are available upon request from the authors. However, the NCBI cannot provide user support for these tools. If you have questions on the use of MACAW, first consult the on-line help system as well as the original published sources (see References). As a last resort, you may send e-mail to Greg Schuler (schuler@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) or Stephen Altschul (altschul@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov), however, you should not expect a prompt reply.