These steps only need to be done once, right after you download ns4decode_pkg.zip:
ns4decode_pkg.zip).
ns4decode_pkg.zip to unzip it.
This will create a new folder called ns4decode_pkg.
You may delete the original zip-file now, because that was just a temporary
vessel for delivering the folder to your computer.
ns4decode_pkg folder
wherever you want to keep it.
(Example: you could put it on your Desktop.)
ns4decode doesn't have a graphical user interface. Using ns4decode is a matter of using a Mac OS Terminal window (a standard utility in Mac OS) to write commands that tell ns4decode what you want to do.
The setup steps below prepare the Terminal window so that it knows where to find ns4decode on your computer. This only needs to be done once as long as that Terminal window remains open. If you close the Terminal window, then you'll need to do this again when you open another one.
alias ns4decode=" without the quotation marks,
with no space at the end, and don't press return yet.
Make sure you don't type a space at the end.
ns4decode_pkg folder
from step C above. It contains a file called ns4decode.py.
Drag-and-drop that file into the Terminal window.
This won't move the file, but it will
append the file's location to the command that you started forming in step 2.
ns4decode, you're
really referring to the app ns4decode.py that lives
in the ns4decode_pkg folder.
To confirm this, type the command
ns4decode
There is a way to configure your computer
so that you don't need to repeat the setup steps every time
you close and re-open Terminal. It involves
copying the "alias" command that
you formed in steps 2-3 above and pasting it into a special file
called .zshrc (or .bashrc, depending on which Mac OS you're using)
in your home folder.
That's a standard unix trick, so I won't review the instructions here,
but you can probably find instructions in these search results:
making a permanent alias in Mac OS.