The utilities and gismoApps code needed for the new xml format for
the detector description are now in dev for Solaris and Linux.  
Also included are Tony Waite's SIO (in dev since December on all 
platforms), Dan Flath's towerId code, and support for L2.  To use
it you can either link your own (test) executable bat_bat or win_win,
or use the ones in my area:

     ~jrb/lcdtest/myGismoApps/bat/bat/test/exe/SunOS/bat_bat
     ~jrb/lcdtest/myGismoApps/bat/bat/test/exe/SunOS/win_win

     ~jrb/lcdtest/myGismoApps/bat/bat/test/exe/Linux/bat_bat
     ~jrb/lcdtest/myGismoApps/bat/bat/test/exe/Linux/win_win

In any case you must be running on a SLAC Solaris or Linux machine
with access to afs.

You'll need to add or modify existing lines to get something like the 
following in your DEC profile:



set stem util --source=/afs/slac/g/nld/Utilities // if not already there

//
// Set branches for facilities not in prod
//

set branch det/det dev
set branch lcd/lcd dev
set branch lcd/util dev
set branch lum/lum dev
set branch muon/muon dev
set branch trk/trk dev
set branch vxd/vxd dev
set branch cal/cal dev
set branch lcd/gen dev

set branch util/xml dev

// If you want to link your own executables.  "myTestDir" should be
// replaced by a suitable directory in your area 
set branch bat/bat test  myTestDir  
set branch win/win test  myTestDir

//
// Set group external names
// The following 2 lines are really one long line, wrapped only to keep the
// email from getting too wide
set external --group LCD_DETECTOR_FILE  
/afs/slac/g/nld/Utilities/util/xml/dev/dat/largeParms2.xml

//
// Externals for XML.  (Probably these should be --group)
// The first one is only needed if you're planning to re-compile code.
//
set external XML_INC /afs/slac/g/nld/xmlImport/xml4c/xml4csrc2_3_1/@sys/include
set external XML_DIR /afs/slac/g/nld/xmlImport/xml4c/xml4csrc2_3_1/@sys/lib
set external ICU_DIR /afs/slac/g/nld/xmlImport/icu/@sys/lib
set external ICU_DATA [log in to unmask]

Caveats:
1.  The code hasn't been tested beyond the most basic check that it does
    run and does something more or less sensible with the standard diagnostic
    single-particle event (/afs/slac/g/nld/GismoApps/dat/lcd_1mu.dat) at
    least most of the time. About 1/2 of the events generated for L2 on 
    Solaris produce the error message

       WARNING:
       MCParticle::propagate - too many steps, stoppping

    The same thing happens on Linux with much less frequency (about 1 in 10).

    I don't see any such messages for L1, nor for S1 on Linux, but I saw
    one bad S1 event (different problem) out of 30 requested on Solaris.

    Of course I'd like to hear about any other problems people encounter.

2.  I have no plans to package up these versions for distribution nor
    to port the code to other platforms.  You must run from a SLAC
    Linux or Solaris machine with set-up as described above.  Porting
    the lcd-specific code should not be difficult; the hard part is
    likely to be either in building the XML parser on another platform
    (if unix) or in modifying makefiles to link correctly to the parser
    (NT, some unix).  I will attempt to answer questions from anyone who
    wants to try porting to another platform.

                                            Joanne