Big for MATLAB
-------------------------
Big is a powerful, easy-to-use software package that
makes it easy to write distributed programs using scripting language
such as Matlab. It is a fork of the NetWorkSpaces (TM) project, 
similar to JavaSpaces (TM) for example, that makes it easy to write 
distributed applications. This software has been tested under Linux, 
Mac OS X, and Windows XP.

For more information on installing Big for Matlab, please see
the accompanying INSTALL file.

To use Big, you'll need a Big server installed and
running on a machine that you can connect to. The Big server
is an open-source program implemented in Python using the Twisted
framework. It is packaged separately from the client software. You can
download a copy of the NetWorkSpace server at github,
http://github.com/bigcomputing/big-server.  The sleigh plugin can be
found @ http://github.com/bigcomputing/big-simple-sleigh.

The server only needs to be installed on one machine, while multiple
copies of client software may be installed on more than one machine on
the network.

For more information on installing the Big server, please see
the INSTALL file in the Big server package.

Once you've got a Big server up and running, you're ready to
use Big.  You can do a simple test to make sure everything is
installed properly by typing the following:

  % matlab
  >> ws = netWorkSpace('matlab space');
  >> store(ws, 'x', 1);

The above three lines start a matlab session, create a workspace named
'matlab space', and store a variable x with value 1 to the workspace.

If you've encountered error messages in the above three lines, it's
likely that you didn't set up MATLABPATH correctly.  You should append
the absolute path of where the client software is installed to your
MATLABPATH environment variable.

To read the usage on a function, you can simply type

  >> help function_name

This returns a detailed descriptions of the function usage.

You can also view what's in the workspace using a web interface.  To do
this, you point your browser to http://server_host_name:8766, where
server_host_name is the machine that Big server resides on.

In order to examine values that you've created in a workspace using the
server's web interface, you need to run a Matlab babelfish.  The
babelfish translates values into a human readable format so they can be
displayed in the web browser.  If a value is a string, then the web
interface simply displays the contents of the string, without any help
from the babelfish.  But, if the value is any other type of Matlab
object, it needs help from the Matlab babelfish.  To start the
babelfish, execute the following command in another matlab prompt:

  >> babelfish

Note: this function will not return until you exit out of Matlab.

More examples on using Big are available in the doc directory
and in the manual.