Pyafm
=====

Pyafm is a set of tools for controlling atomic force microscopes.  It
provides control of AFM postition using both short-range (piezo) and
long range (stepper) vertical positioning.  There are separate modules
for controlling the piezo (`pypiezo`) and stepper (`stepper`), this
module mostly contains methods that require the capabilities of both.

Packages
========

Gentoo
------

I've packaged pyafm for Gentoo.  You need layman_ and my `wtk
overlay`_.  Install with::

    # emerge -av app-portage/layman
    # layman --add wtk
    # emerge -av sci-physics/pyafm

Although it is not strictly required (thanks to `duck typing`_) you'll
probably also want my `stepper`_ package or an equivalent
stepper implementation.

.. _layman: http://layman.sourceforge.net/
.. _wtk overlay: http://www.physics.drexel.edu/~wking/unfolding-disasters/posts/Gentoo_overlay/
.. _duck typing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_typing
.. _stepper: http://www.physics.drexel.edu/~wking/unfolding-disasters/posts/stepper/


Dependencies
============

Pyafm requires the following Python modules:

* Pypiezo_
* Stepper_ (or equivalent stepper implementation)

.. _stepper: http://www.physics.drexel.edu/~wking/unfolding-disasters/posts/stepper/
.. _pypiezo: http://www.physics.drexel.edu/~wking/unfolding-disasters/posts/pypiezo/


Getting the source
==================

Pyafm is available as a Git_ repository::

    $ git clone http://www.physics.drexel.edu/~wking/code/git/pyafm.git

There are also periodic bundled releases.  For example, get version
0.1 as a gzipped tarball with::

     $ wget http://www.physics.drexel.edu/~wking/code/python/pyafm-0.1.tar.gz
     $ tar -xzvf pyafm-0.1.tar.gz

.. _Git: http://git-scm.com/


Installation
============

After downloading, change to the source directory and run::

    $ python setup.py install

to install pyafm.  Run::

    $ python setup.py install --help

to see a list of installation options you may want to configure.


Usage
=====

TODO