Macintosh Installation Instructions for Application Package Downloads

Quit Mathematica if it is running. Uninstall the older version of the application package, if present. Click Download to download the compressed application package file.

The File Download window will appear. Click Save to continue.

If the newly downloaded file is an Internet-Enabled Disk Image (.dmg), then proceed to Step 4. Otherwise, uncompress the archive. The resulting files should be placed in a folder of the name of the Add On you downloaded. To make Mathematica aware of this folder, place it in Mathematica's path. This is either:

$InstallationDirectory/AddOns/Applications - for all users of the current Mathematica version.

Example: The default $InstallationDirectory for Mathematica 5.0, 5.1, and 5.2 on Macintosh is

/Applications/Mathematica\ 5.x.app/

Example: The default $InstallationDirectory for Mathematica 6.0 is

/Applications/Mathematica.app/

If you would like to navigate to this folder with the file browser instead of the Mac OS X terminal, click the Mathematica icon while holding down the CTRL key, and select Show Package Contents.

$BaseDirectory/Applications - for all users of Mathematica on the current machine. (Previous versions of Mathematica used $AddOnsDirectory/Applications instead.)

Example: The default $BaseDirectory for Mathematica 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, and 6.0 on Macintosh is

/Library/Mathematica

$UserBaseDirectory/Applications - for just the current user of Mathematica on the current machine. (Previous versions of Mathematica used $UserAddOnsDirectory/Applications instead.)

Example: The default $UserBaseDirectory for Mathematica 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, and 6.0 on Macintosh is

~/Library/Mathematica

Note that ~ is your home directory.

You may evaluate any of the above global variables ($BaseDirectory, $UserBaseDirectory, etc.) in Mathematica to find out where they point if you are concerned. Finally, after copying the package files to one of the above locations, finish the install with step 8 below.

With many web browsers, the downloaded dmg file will automatically mount and the installer file will appear in its place. Double-click the installer file icon to launch the installer.

If the dmg does not mount automatically, double-click the downloaded dmg file to mount the installer. The installer file will appear. Double-click the installer file icon to launch the installer. If the dmg file does not mount, please contact Technical Support.

A dialog box appears. Click Continue to start the installation.

A dialog box appears showing the default installation location. Click Select Folder to choose another installation location if necessary. Click Install when you are ready to begin copying files.

A dialog box appears when the installation is complete. Click OK to quit the installer. The application package is now ready to use.

The next time you start Mathematica, choose Help > Rebuild Help Index. The application package's documentation will then be available in the Help Browser's Add-Ons & Links category.

If you are using Mathematica 6, the next time you start Mathematica, choose Help > Documentation Center. Click the Installed Add-Ons link, and choose the application from the Installed Add-Ons list that appears.