1 What is riverSpider?

riverSpider is a tool that allows effective debugging using the TTP tool chain. It consists of a BASH (Borne-again shell) script that makes use of several typical Unix/Linux tools.

Because riverSpider started as a Linux tool to help the instructor improve programming efficiency, it was never designed to work in Windows. As more students who use Windows exclusively want to benefit from this tool, the instructor looked into ways to get riverSpider to work in Windows. There is already a solution using PowerShell, but that still has dependency on the installation of PowerShell 7, and the script is significantly different from the BASH version.

2 What is Cygwin?

Cygwin consists of a DLL (dynamically linked library) that provides an emulation layer so that programs designed for a Unix/Linux environment can cross compile and run in Windows. Cywgin also includes a typical set of command line tools that exist in Unix/Linux systems.

Typically, Cygwin requires an installation that is not designed to be “portable.” This means the installation requires administrative permission, and it is not easy to transport the installation from one computer to another. A portable Cygwin installation, however, allows the installation (a folder) to be put on a thumbdrive or any portable medium, and have the tool to run on most Windows computers.

3 Getting the Cygwin-based riverSpider to work

• Download cygRiverSpider.zip. This file has a size of about 700MB.
• The Windows built-in ZIP tool does not work well. Use 7-zip to extract the files.
• Once extracted, use cygwin-portable.cmd to start a Cygwin shell.
• In the Cygwin shell, use cd riverSpider to change the working directory to riverSpider.
• Use notepad READM.md to read the markDown read-me file.
• after setting up all the files as described in the read-me file (this also involves some work in the corresponding Google Sheets document), use ./submit.sh to submit a TTPASM file.