Updated installation instructions for optional MPI and GPU components.

README.rst

@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ Package overview
         CONTRIBUTORS
         docs/
         gprMax/
+        gsoc-ideas.md
         LICENSE
         README.rst
         setup.cfg
@@ -52,6 +53,7 @@ Package overview
 * ``CONTRIBUTORS`` contains a list of names of people who have contributed to the gprMax codebase.
 * ``docs`` contains source files for the User Guide. The User Guide is written using `reStructuredText <http://docutils.sourceforge.net/rst.html>`_ markup, and is built using `Sphinx <http://sphinx-doc.org>`_ and `Read the Docs <https://readthedocs.org>`_.
 * ``gprMax`` is the main package. Within this package the main module is ``gprMax.py``
+* ``gsoc-ideas.md`` is a list of potential project ideas for `Google Summer of Code <https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com>`_ program
 * ``LICENSE`` contains information on the `GNU General Public License v3 or higher <http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html>`_.
 * ``README.rst`` contains getting started information on installation, usage, and new features/changes.
 * ``setup.cfg`` is used to set preference for code formatting/styling using flake8.
@@ -77,7 +79,7 @@ You can `watch screencasts <http://docs.gprmax.com/en/latest/screencasts.html>`_
 
 We recommend using Miniconda to install Python and the required Python packages for gprMax in a self-contained Python environment. Miniconda is a mini version of Anaconda which is a completely free Python distribution (including for commercial use and redistribution). It includes more than 300 of the most popular Python packages for science, math, engineering, and data analysis.
 
-* `Download and install Miniconda <http://conda.pydata.org/miniconda.html>`_. Choose the Python 3.x version for your platform (see the `Quick Install page <http://conda.pydata.org/docs/install/quick.html>`_ for help installing Miniconda)
+* `Download and install Miniconda <http://conda.pydata.org/miniconda.html>`_. Choose the Python 3.x version for your platform. We recommend choosing the installation options to: install Miniconda only for your user account; add Miniconda to your PATH environment variable; and to register Miniconda Python as your default Python. See the `Quick Install page <http://conda.pydata.org/docs/install/quick.html>`_ for help installing Miniconda.
 * Open a Terminal (Linux/macOS) or Command Prompt (Windows) and run the following commands:
 
 .. code-block:: none
@@ -113,7 +115,7 @@ macOS
 Microsoft Windows
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
-* Download and install `Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Build Tools <http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/F/7/5F7ACAEB-8363-451F-9425-68A90F98B238/visualcppbuildtools_full.exe>`_ (currently you must use the 2015 version, not 2017). Use the default installation options.
+* Download and install `Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Build Tools <http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/F/7/5F7ACAEB-8363-451F-9425-68A90F98B238/visualcppbuildtools_full.exe>`_ (currently you must use the 2015 version, not 2017). Use the custom installation option and deselect everything apart from the Windows SDK for your version of Windows.
 
 Alternatively if you are using Windows 10 and feeling adventurous you can install the `Windows Subsystem for Linux <https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/commandline/wsl/about>`_ and then follow the Linux install instructions for gprMax. Note however that currently WSL does not aim to support GUI desktops or applications, e.g. Gnome, KDE, etc....
 

docs/source/gpu.rst

@@ -9,16 +9,15 @@ The most computationally intensive parts of gprMax, which are the FDTD solver lo
 Extra installation steps for GPU usage
 ======================================
 
-The following steps provide guidance on how to install the extra components to allow gprMax to run on your GPU:
-
-1. Install the `NVIDIA CUDA Toolkit <https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-toolkit>`_. You can follow the Installation Guides in the `NVIDIA CUDA Toolkit Documentation <http://docs.nvidia.com/cuda/index.html#installation-guides>`_
-2. Install the pycuda Python module. Open a Terminal (Linux/macOS) or Command Prompt (Windows), navigate into the top-level gprMax directory, and if it is not already active, activate the gprMax conda environment :code:`source activate gprMax` (Linux/macOS) or :code:`activate gprMax` (Windows). Run :code:`pip install pycuda`
+The following steps provide guidance on how to install the extra components to allow gprMax to run on your NVIDIA GPU:
 
+1. Install the `NVIDIA CUDA Toolkit <https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-toolkit>`_. You can follow the Installation Guides in the `NVIDIA CUDA Toolkit Documentation <http://docs.nvidia.com/cuda/index.html#installation-guides>`_ You must ensure the version of CUDA you install is compatible with the compiler you are using. This information can usually be found in a table in the CUDA Installation Guide under System Requirements. You should add the location of the CUDA compiler (:code:`nvcc`) to your user path.
+2. Install the pycuda Python module. Open a Terminal (Linux/macOS) or Command Prompt (Windows), navigate into the top-level gprMax directory, and if it is not already active, activate the gprMax conda environment :code:`conda activate gprMax`. Run :code:`pip install pycuda`
 
 Running gprMax using GPU(s)
 ===========================
 
-Open a Terminal (Linux/macOS) or Command Prompt (Windows), navigate into the top-level gprMax directory, and if it is not already active, activate the gprMax conda environment :code:`source activate gprMax` (Linux/macOS) or :code:`activate gprMax` (Windows)
+Open a Terminal (Linux/macOS) or Command Prompt (Windows), navigate into the top-level gprMax directory, and if it is not already active, activate the gprMax conda environment :code:`conda activate gprMax`
 
 Run one of the test models:
 

docs/source/openmp_mpi.rst

@@ -16,7 +16,24 @@ MPI
 
 The Message Passing Interface (MPI) has been utilised to implement a simple task farm that can be used to distribute a series of models as independent tasks. This can be useful in many GPR simulations where a B-scan (composed of multiple A-scans) is required. Each A-scan can be task-farmed as a independent model. Within each independent model OpenMP threading will continue to be used (as described above). Overall this creates what is know as a mixed mode OpenMP/MPI job.
 
-By default the MPI task farm functionality is turned off. It can be switched on using the ``-mpi`` command line flag. MPI requires an installation of the ``mpi4py`` Python package, which itself depends on an underlying MPI installation, usually `OpenMPI <http://www.open-mpi.org>`_. On Microsoft Windows ``mpi4py`` requires `Microsoft MPI 6 <https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=47259>`_.
+By default the MPI task farm functionality is turned off. It can be used with the ``-mpi`` command line option, which specifies the total number of MPI tasks, i.e. master + workers, for the MPI task farm. This option is most usefully combined with ``-n`` to allow individual models to be farmed out using a MPI task farm, e.g. to create a B-scan with 60 traces and use MPI to farm out each trace: ``(gprMax)$ python -m gprMax user_models/cylinder_Bscan_2D.in -n 60 -mpi 61``.
+
+Extra installation steps for MPI task farm usage
+------------------------------------------------
+
+The following steps provide guidance on how to install the extra components to allow the MPI task farm functionality with gprMax:
+
+1. Install a flavour of MPI on your system.
+
+Linux/macOS
+^^^^^^^^^^^
+It is recommended to use `OpenMPI <http://www.open-mpi.org>`_.
+
+Microsoft Windows
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+It is recommended to use `Microsoft MPI <https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/message-passing-interface/microsoft-mpi>`_. Download and install both the .exe and .msi files.
+
+2. Install the ``mpi4py`` Python module. Open a Terminal (Linux/macOS) or Command Prompt (Windows), navigate into the top-level gprMax directory, and if it is not already active, activate the gprMax conda environment :code:`conda activate gprMax`. Run :code:`pip install mpi4py`
 
 HPC job scripts
 ===============