Linux Install

[rlaggren]

From the FWIW department. This is how I install Fund Manager under Linux. "Step 3" is the slightly non-standard one that I needed to figure out to make it work. I _hope_ I remembered all the steps from a couple weeks ago. There may well be other ways and perhaps running a more current version of wine or defining a more recent version of Windows (than 8.1) would be easier. IAC:

These commands are run from a command shell under
any Linux distro. They will (usually - life can
be complicated) install Fund Manager and allow
running it fully. Command line is used because
it is the most universally functional lingua-
franca for any computer system, even WinDoze.

An aside on running command line programs for
those that may not be familiar with the process:
The commands will spit out a _lot_ of messages
and complaints. This is normal, but especially
with open source software because open source
software like the "wine" program (which is the
translator application that runs WinDoze programs
under Linux) can undergo constant continuous
upgrading and at any one time a program will have
dozens, sometimes hundreds, of improvements
planned or in process - loose ends, if you like.
Because this command line output is never seen
by users staying within a graphical environment,
the programs are rarely if ever muzzled - even
funnctioning properly, they never shut up!

OK. Onward. Here is the process to run Fund
Manager under Linux. You must have "wine" installed
and both "winetricks" and "winecfg", if those
programs were not automatically installed with
wine. These two helper programs make it MUCH easier
to deal with WinDoze programs in Linux.


<<Step 1>>
[cmd-shell]> winetricks

. Select "Create WINEPREFIX"
. Select 32bit
. Define (ie. name) the wine "Prefix" for your
WinDoze program (ie. Fund Manager)
. If you get a dialog about "Mono not found",
select "Install"
. Exit wintricks


<<Step 2>>
[cmd-shell]> winecfg

. Select Windows 8.1
. Tab "Graphics". Set resolution to something
that gives you a nice size type face on the
screen. For my 17" monitor, I use 168. (You
probably need to experiment to get it right.
Try the program after installation and then
rerun winecfg.)
. exit winecfg


<<Step 3>>
[cmd-shell]> winetricks wininet=builtin winihttp=native

This forces/overrides the default wine setup for
the named libraries.



Now run the Fund Manager install program.
(use the correct location/name for _your_ install program
- these are _my_ names and dirs on my system)

<<Step 4>>
[cmd-shell]> WINEPREFIX=/home/test/.local/share/wineprefixes/FundMgr wine fundmn2020p6.exe


You need to get the directories right - they can vary
for your system. Double quote any phrase (like a file
name) that has spaces. See next command.

What you see in the cmd line above is:
. Specify the WINEPREFIX location created earlier
for FundManager using "winetricks"; then (on the
same command line) execute the install program
"fm.exe" (in my system I placed "fm.exe in a dir
where the system knows to look for programs -
so I did not need to spell out a directory
location).

. A WINEPREFIX is a unique, named, WinDoze system.
. Where WINEPREFIX gets created, ie. what directories,
depends on _your_ system setup and the above command
needs to use the dirs on _your_ system. Ditto below.


Run Fund Manager. This command line can be used from a
command shell, like we're doing here. OR, it can be used
in a StartMenu or a desktop icon or a widget or in a
script. I place it in the StartMenu, once I get things
working the way I want.

<<Step 5>>
[cmd-shell]>WINEPREFIX=/home/test/.local/share/wineprefixes/FundMgr wine "/home/test/.local/share/wineprefixes/FundMgr/drive_c/Program Files/Fund Manager/fm.exe"



That's it. In my OpenSuse 15.1, using a very old 4.4 version of wine it worked perfectly, including printing.

[Mark]

Thank you rlaggren for this helpful post.

[rlaggren]

Placing FM data in hidden directories...

In Linux, there is a file and/or directory naming convention which requests that the item (file or directory) be hidden, NOT displayed, when using normal list commands or file managers. The convention is: Start the file name or path segment with a single dot, a period. Pretty much all Linux utilities, like file managers, respect this convention. It's very helpful to avoid cluttering a display with things that have no functional relevance at the user level but which logically or functionally should live close to the rest of the application's data. It also makes it much more difficult to accidentally delete or change application files which a user should normally never touch - it protects the system.

I use this convention for some data files where I don't want to accidentally mess with stuff that should be accessed only through the application program. But there is a problem here for Windows applications under wine. It can be difficult for the program to access hidden data in the Linux system. Eg., switch between databases (ie. master Portfolios), etc, inside a Windows application because the Windows file dialogs provide no way to override the "hidden" attribute of a file or directory.

Fund Manager under wine is perfectly happy to access hidden data _provided_ you can get the path/name, _including_ the "dot" directories/files into FM. The trick is slipping the file spec with dot(s) into FM.

Fortunately it's much easier than getting a pill into a cat. Truly. <g>

I do it by running FM from the command line with the hidden portfolio specified as the command line argument. Note the "Z:" (below) is one of the virtual harddisks which wine offers; it "points" to the root of the Linux file system. The location of my portfolio is built up from that point. Here is the way I cause FM to run and open a hidden portfolio; I put this command in a StartMenu item or desktop widget or script (same idea as a "bat" file) or whatever I use to start programs.

-----
WINEPREFIX="/home/rufus/.local/share/wineprefixes/FundMgr/" wine "/home/rufus/.local/share/wineprefixes/FundMgr/drive_c/Program Files/Fund Manager/fm.exe" "Z:\home\rufus\Documents\Lgl_Fnc\Estate-Laggrens\Securities\.FundMgr\Estate-JVL.mm4"
-----

(Be aware: The above names are for _my_ system. Your names _will_ be different - you must use your own local names. It's the syntax of the above command that is of interest.)

Note, there are _two_ hidden specifications in this command. The first is part of the location of the virtual box holding the Windows system created just for running FM - it's the ".local" element in the WINEPREFIX spec. The second is the hidden directory I placed in my "Estate" directory tree for the FM data - ".FundMgr" element of that file spec.

I want the FM data hidden when it's so close in the same directory tree to a pile of other related data - don't want to accidentally change it while accessing, moving, etc, other estate files.

I want the FM data in the estate directory tree because that will allow me to move the portfolio data along with other estate data, keep it all together, w/out searching around to find and verify and then include the FM data. I just grab a higher level directory and everything moves/copies intact.

I personally have found that the more structurally bullet proof I can make my installations, the less hair pulling I do down the road. Divide/Isolate/Conquer. I try to locate all my data very specifically, not just accept defaults without vetting; some defaults put data in a place other stuff might write over, and/or make it hard to separate out parts you want. Another aspect is just me, the really dumb "dump it into a pile and get to it later" method I use when churning out research or collecting lots of historical data that will need to be processed. There is a _lot_ file moving when I go back and neaten up. Then there is the opsys upgrade which comes down the road approximately every three years. I try to make really certain that any/all actual data, including preference settings, lives in some logical place in the /home directory. Most application systems are pretty good about this, but I like knowing _where_ for damn sure my data is - and sometimes that can be a real mystery when left to the defaults.

The /home dir is sacrosanct and, barring purely evil or stupendously foolish behavior on the part of the distro people or myself, data under the /home dir is safe from system maintenance.

I am not a heavy professional user of Fund Manager so I really don't know how much of the above methods will directly benefit others. I do use file managers very heavily; I'm always doing something in my directory structure. Whether the hidden file techniques may/not be of particular value depends... On a lot. But I hope that providing some options for Linux users can make that market more accessible to FM. I like proselytizing good stuff that puts some real power into the hands of individuals, if they have a need. Better world and all that. <G>

Cheers,
Rufus

[rlaggren]

When running FM under wine the icon may not appear as desired in places like the start menu.

I recently installed FM (again) on the machine I use in Chicago after upgrading the opsys and noticed I wasn't seeing the icon in the "panel" of running programs. I solved this by specifying an icon file in the StartMenu entry I use to run FM.

One must first extract the icon out of the ...exe file so the linux system can reach it to put it in a StartMenu entry. This command line tool is one method of doing this.

1) This tool has no polite, neatly dressed, gui. It is "manual shift" - it runs from the command line. So in your Linux system open a command line shell and move to the directory holding the Fm.exe file.
2) run:
"wrestool -x -t 14 Fm.exe > FM.ico"

FM.ico is the file where "wrestool" places the icon. You can use your favorite graphics editor to open and save that file as some other format, such as "png" if desired. I did not need to.

Sorry, but details of command line shells and installing software such as "wrestool" are beyond this short note. Most Linux systems have fairly good maintenance procedures which vary somewhat between distributions. You would use the methods your chosen Linux distro offers. Good chance there are prettier tools if anybody cared to dig. This is just a quick crib on getting the job done using a very common tool that turned up at the top of the list and s/b available to any Linux user.


Rufus