Installation

Please download the appropriate package for your operating system from the beta directory and follow the installation instructions below.

Available Package: shapeXT-v2026.XX.X-git-Windows-x86_64.zip

Currently, the Windows version is provided as a portable ZIP archive without a dedicated installer.

1. Extract: Download the .zip file and extract its contents to a folder of your choice (e.g., your Desktop or C:\Program Files\).
2. Run: Open the extracted folder and double-click shapeXT.exe to launch the application.
3. Security Warning: Since the executable is not yet digitally signed (code signing will be added before the public release), Windows Defender SmartScreen might display a blue warning box saying “Windows protected your PC”. To bypass this, click on More info and then select Run anyway.
4. File Association: To automatically open structure files with shapeXT, simply launch the program and navigate to the menu bar: click on Options → Open Files with shapeXT… and select the file formats you want to associate.

Available Package: shapeXT-v2026.XX.X-git-macOS-arm64.dmg

The macOS version comes as a standard disk image and is fully signed and notarized by Apple.

1. Install: Download and double-click the .dmg file to mount it.
2. Copy: Drag and drop the shapeXT application icon into your Applications folder.
3. File Association: Common crystallography and chemistry file formats (.sxt, .jsxt, .cif, .res, .diamdoc) are automatically associated with shapeXT right after the installation. You can start opening files right away!

Available Packages:

• shapeXT-v2026.XX.X-git-Ubuntu2404-x86_64.tar.gz
• shapeXT-v2026.XX.X-git-Debian13-x86_64.tar.gz

Note: While these packages are built for Ubuntu 24.04 and Debian 13, they should generally work on other modern distributions like Fedora as well. A universal .AppImage will be provided in a future update.

1. Extract: Download the appropriate .tar.gz archive for your system and extract it to a directory of your choice (e.g., ~/shapeXT or /opt/shapeXT).
2. Run: Open your file manager or terminal, navigate to the extracted directory, and execute the shapeXT.sh script.
3. Desktop Integration: When you run shapeXT for the first time, it will ask if you want to apply desktop integration. If you agree, the software will install a .desktop file and register the corresponding MIME types. This will add shapeXT to your system's application launcher and enable double-click support for structure files.
4. Manual Integration: If you skipped the initial prompt, you can always integrate shapeXT into your desktop environment later by navigating to Options → Create Desktop Entry… within the application.