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Tutorial (TOC) > Getting Started

TEST is designed to work in multiple platforms (Windows, MacOS, etc.) over the Internet as well as install locally from a CD. Moreover, it is served from a wide variety of servers around the world (for high access speed) and customized for different groups of users. As a result, ensuring that TEST works in your computer at its full potential requires a one time investment of a few minutes of your time. The whole process - creating a TEST account, setting up your browser for cookies, Javascript, Java, and Flash, and taking TEST for a test drive - is described in a step-by-step manner in this tutorial below.

A. Create a TEST Account
1. Launch a new browser window (alongside this tutorial) and point that window to www.thermofluids.net. In case the server is too slow, try www.usc.edu/mirror/testcenter, a reliable and fast mirror of TEST. Did the TEST home page show up? The top part of the home page should look something like Fig. A.1 with the TEST logo on the left, a login block at the center, and the label Guest Mode displayed on the right. If you do not see the TEST logo or the login block, go to the Troubleshooting section, E.1, to tune your browser to run Javascript. As you reload the page, the home page of TEST should now look like Fig. A.1. If so, proceed to step A.2; otherwise, go to section E.6.

Fig. A.1 Image of top portion of the TEST home page.

2. For a personalized account to access TEST from anywhere - home or work, click the create an account link in the login block (see Fig. A.1). Registration is quite simple and requires only a few pieces of information - your name, your email address (which serves as your login id as well as the address where your initial password is emailed), etc. The last part of the form should look like the following figure (Fig. A.2).

Fig. A.2 Image of top portion of the TEST home page.

If you are an educator, you will be asked to provide some more information - your web page and office addresses, and the IP address of your computer lab if you want free access by your students from your campus (this can be done at a later time too).

As soon as you submit the registration form, a temporary account, valid for 30 days, is created for you with your email address as the login id and a randomly generated password, which is sent to the email address you provided during registration immediately. If you do not receive your password in a few minutes (some mail applications are set to check for new email every 15 minutes or so, and some may move this email to your SPAM folder since it is machine generated), please write to us at support@thermofluids.net.

Once you receive the password, log in to TEST as described below.

B. Log In and Log Out
1. Allow Cookies: TEST is mirrored by servers all around the world while the login process is controlled by a single server in San Diego. When two different servers are involved, browsers (IE, Firefox, Navigator, etc) become reluctant to allow cookie creation (necessary for login) in your PC. You have to lower the privacy settings in your browser following the instructions in the Troubleshooting section E.3. Since 1998 TEST has been accessed by tens of thousands of users without a single security issue. Because TEST runs on a sandbox created by your browser, it is incapable of writing to your disk (except for the cookie which is written in a temporary area of your hard disk, deleted automatically by the browser after every session), or crash your computer. Only after you allow cookies to be created by a third party (as instructed in section E.3), proceed to the next step as follows.

2. Campus Site License: If you are accessing TEST from an educational campus, check if you campus has a site license. Just click on the Log In button in the login block (see Fig. A.1) without supplying your login id or password. If your campus has a site license, the login block should be replaced by a greeting message as shown in Fig. B.1 below. To log in from outside the campus, or if your campus does not have a site license (see step B.4 to learn how to acquire a free site license for your campus), proceed to the next step, B.3.

Fig. B.1 Image of the home page after a site license user clicks the Log In button (see Fig. A.1).

3. Log In: In the login block (see Fig. B.1), enter your login id (the email you used while creating the account) and password (sent to you by the TEST server after registration). It is easy to retrieve or change password by following the Forgot password or Change password link in the login block (see Fig. B.2).

As you successfully log in, the home page should change with the login block replaced by a greetings message. The Guest Mode label also should be replaced by Evaluation Mode (see Fig. B.2).

If you enter a wrong login id or password, appropriate warning message will be displayed. However, if nothing happens and you find the login block unchanged, try again. You may have to lower the privacy settings (read section E.2) to Low to allow third party cookie creation and try yet one more time. If you still have problems logging in, go to Step E.6.

Reduced screenshot.

Fig. B.2 Transition of the home page as the user logs in during the evaluation period (30 days).

4. Log Out: A login session lasts for 2 hours. You can open multiple browser window without having to log in every time. When you log out, the cookie is cleared from your local machine as well as the server and you are free to login from any computer for a new session. If you forget to log out, the session will automatically time out in 2 hours. If you try to log in from another location within that time frame, the server will first log you out, and you have to try to log in a second time for a new session.

| A: Create an Account | B: Login | C: Test Drive | D: Permanent Access | E: Troubleshooting |

C. Test-Drive TEST
This part of the tutorial is going to ensure that your browser has all the necessary plug-ins to run different TEST modules.

1. Animations: On the left column of the home page you will see several small icons. Click on the one named Featured-VT. An animation should appear on the screen above the task bar. If so, you should have no problems displaying any animation from the library. Alternatively, you can try the Animation link from the task bar and try out animations from different chapters.

If the test fails and no animation is displayed, you need to install Flash Player by following the procedure described in section E.4.

2. Daemons: These are the thermodynamic calculators at the core of TEST. Click on the icon named UnitConverter (Fig. C.1)Wait for about 30 seconds (the second time you load a daemon it takes a much shorter time). The UnitConverter daemon is quite simple to use - simply select a category, say, energy, then one unit from the left column, and one on the right (see Fig. C.2).

If even after a minute, nothing appears on the screen or you keep staring at a gray box, your browser does not have java installed. Go to section E.5 to install Java.

Fig. C.1 Test links.

Reduced screenshot.

Fig. C.2 Image of the Unit Converter Daemon.

After the Unit Converter works as described, try the Featured Daemon link (Fig. C.1). The open steady daemon (see Fig. C.3) with the perfect gas as the working fluid should load in less than a minute (remember, the loading time progressively goes down as the browser cashes some important files). You will work with daemons in a separate Tutorial titled My First TEST Solution, but you can play with the displayed daemon by entering (clicking the checkbox and typing in numbers on the yellow input field) p1 as 100 kPa, T1 as 500 K, Vel1 as 10 m/s, and mdot1 as 0.1 kg/s, and then clicking the Calculate button to evaluate the area of cross-section at State-1.

If you still have problems displaying the daemons as described, go to Step E.6.

Reduced screenshot.

Fig. C.3 Screen shot of the Featured Daemon, calculator for open, steady system with a perfect gas as the working fluid. The state panel (state-1) is being displayed as the selected panel.

3. Steam Table: The old-fashioned tables in TEST requires a relatively new version of a browser for the intended display. To test if the tables and charts work in your browser, click on the Map link on the task bar, and then on the node Daemons.Basics.Tables (see Fig. C.4). This brings up a list of tables, select one, say, the superheated steam table. A formatted table, part of which is shown in Fig. C.5, should be displayed. If not, you have an old browser, upgrade your browser following instructions in section E.1.

Fig. C.4 Traditional tables and charts are also linked by the Map.

Fig. C.5 Formatted colored tables make it easier to look up properties during a manual solution.

4. Examples/Problems: Click on the Examples link on the task bar (Fig. C.6), and select, say, chapter 8 from the table of content. Each problem description can be seen to be associated with several links - TEST solution, manual solution, and even the schematic is linked (to an animation). As you click on any of these links, the screen should split into two halves with the linked page displayed on the bottom. Figure C.7 below shows the manual solution of Example E8-6. If you do not see the solution, go to step E.6.

The Problems link similarly takes you the end-of-chapter problems. However, the solution manual is accessible to authorized educators and professionals only.

Fig. C.6 Link to 15 chapters of examples.

Fig. C.7 Formatted colored tables make it easier to look up properties during a manual solution.

D. Permanent TEST Account
After a successful test-drive, the next stop should be My First TEST Solution (linked from the Tutorial T.O.C.), which goes into details of a particular daemon to show how a TEST solution is obtained and how it can be used for verifying manual answers, what-if studies, and getting insight into a problem. The evaluation account is for 30 days. To upgrade it to Academic or Professional Mode for an extended period of time, visit the myAccount page and choose an option that best fits your need.

1. The myAccount Page: For security reason (so that someone else cannot change your password if you forget to logout), you have to log in again when you try to access the myAccount page by clicking the link on the task bar or login block. There (see Fig. D.2 below), you can change your personal information, subscribe TEST, order a CD for local installation, extend or upgrade your current license, and obtain free academic license for your educational institution. These options are displayed in a table toward the bottom of the myAccount page.

Fig. D.1 Link to the myAccount page, where you must log in again.

Fig. D.2 Partial image of the myAccount page, where you can upgrade your account.

2. Free Academic Site License : If you are an educator, please write to Dr. Bhattacharjee (subrata@thermo.sdsu.edu) directly for a permanent TEST account, and, if you want, a free academic site license for your students. For the latter, you have to include the IP address range of the computers in your institution from which TEST will be accessed. Once those addresses are programmed into our server, any one from your campus can access the Academic Mode of TEST. Also, after your personal account is upgraded, the Evaluation Mode should be replaced by Professional or Academic mode as shown in Fig. D.3 below, giving you greater access to TEST. These free licenses are renewed every two years upon request.

Fig. D.3 Evaluation Mode changes to Academic or Professional Mode upon upgrade.

2. Student Access: As described above, an academic site license allows all students to access TEST by simply clicking the Log In button from the campus. If your campus does not seem to have a site license, please contact your professor and introduce him/her to TEST. For accessing TEST off campus, the Academic Web Edition is the most affordable license. For local installation, a license with a CD must be ordered. Once again, all these information can be found in the myAccount page.

3. Professional Access: TEST-Pro is an expanded version of TEST with a much richer set of data. Professional users should subscribe to TEST-Pro, which comes with a CD for local installation.

4. Master CD: Finally, TEST can be distributed among students for installation in their personal computers from a Master CD. This is probably the best option if speed over the Internet is not satisfactory.

5. Mirroring TEST : Mirroring TEST is another way to get good performance at your institute. The complete instructions can be found by visiting the Create a Mirror link at the bottom of the mirror list on the TEST home page. Mirroring is completely free, in which the entire TEST web site is copied from our server to yours, once every week.

E. Troubleshooting
Linked from various parts of the tutorial, this section discusses all the necessary upgrades and plug-ins required for smooth running of TEST.

1. Updating Your Browser: TEST requires Internet Explorer (IE) 4.0+ Netscape 6.5+r, Firefox 1.0+. Chances are your browser is not older than that. Nevertheless, upgrading can only make your computer more secure. To know what version you are running, go to the Help menu and select About Internet Explorer. To download the latest edition go to microsoft.com, go to the Download page, and update Windows. It will also update the browser.

Fig. E.1 IE Help menu.

2. Enable Javascript : By default, scripting is enabled in all browsers. Still, check to see if your is disabled somehow. Select Internet Options... from the Tools menu, which is displayed in a pop-up box. Click on the tab named Security and then on the Custom Level.. (see Fig. E.2) button. A new window pops up. Scroll down until you find an item named Scripting. Enable Active Scripting. Then click the OK button. You are done with this setting. If you do not see the settings as mentioned, your browser may be too old. Go to step E.1 above and upgrade your browser.

Fig. E.2 Enabling Javascript in IE.

3. Enable Cookies : Cookies are used by TEST to authenticate users. They are temporary files that are deleted once your TEST session is complete (Provided you log out. Otherwise, it waits for two hours before deleting itself).

Select Internet Options... from the Tools menu, which is displayed in a pop-up box. Click on the tab named Privacy and then lower the sliding bar until you see the rating Low as shown in Fig. E.3. Then click the OK button. You are done with cookie setting.

Once the privacy level allows cookie creation from a third party, you should have no more problems to log in.

Fig. E.3 Allowing cookies.

4. Install Flash Player Plug-In : Flash animation is so common in web pages that most browsers (IE being an exception) come pre-installed with Flash Player. To install the latest version of Flash, visit www.macromedia.com, find the download page, and click on Flash Player. The download takes less than a minute (for broadband users) and your browser is ready to play all VT animations.

5. Install Java Plug-In: Downloading java from www.java.com will ensure that all TEST daemons will run in your system in a flawless manner. Moreover, just like Windows updates itself, so does java. This will make sure that any future version of TEST will work smoothly in your computer. Installation is very simple. Simply go to www.java.com and click on Download Java and the select the Run option when asked. Once Java is installed, you will verify by selecting Internet Options... from the Tools menu, going to the Advanced tab, and scrolling down to find Java as shown in the figure below. It is a good idea to restart your browser before you access a daemon with the newly installed Java.

Fig. E.4 Internet Options.. window shows that Java is installed.

6. Write to Us: The five-step tune up does not really cover all possible hurdles in running TEST. For instance, it is possible that a firewall may have been set up by your institution to block Java Scripts from executing. In that case, the security has to be lowered (by your system administrator) from the central firewall to your computer (other users have done this). Please report any problem you may be still facing using the form at the bottom of the Tutorial page or writing directly to support@thermofluids.net . We would be happy to work with you to ensure that TEST works in your system.