NUT-Nutrition Software

I ran into compilation problems when I first tried to compile the fltk component (hence, yesterday I was going to cover only the console program). I'm not sure what I did to get it working, but I think it was downloading fltk 1.3 manually from the fltk Web site, then compiling and installing it separately. If you manage to get it compiled, you can run the GUI program now by entering:

 $ ./Nut 

Note the capital letter above—it's the differentiator between the GUI and command-line programs.

If you'd like quick access to NUT, copy the executables into bin folders. If you're still in the fltk directory, change back into the main directory of the nut folder:

 $ cd .. 

Next, enter these commands as either root or sudo:

 # mv nut /usr/local/bin/ # mv nut.1 /usr/local/man/man1/ # mv fltk/Nut /usr/local/bin 

Now you either can run the command-line version with nut or the GUI with Nut.

Usage

Unfortunately, the long installation instructions haven't left me much room to cover the actual usage of NUT, but thankfully, things are pretty simple to use.

The console version uses a series of number-driven menus to navigate between functions and foods. For instance, option 1 is for recording meals, followed immediately by a prompt for the date, the meal number and, finally, the name of the food.

Entering the name of the food needn't be precise, as NUT's main strength is its database. Long lists of premade choices exist, and each choice has detailed information regarding a food's nutritional value, such as protein, carbohydrates, specific vitamins and so on.

Head back into the main menu, and more options exist, such as an analysis of your meals and food suggestions, trend plotting and so on, but most people will want to look at options 4 and 6. Here you can browse the extensive database, comparing nutritional values of all sorts of food and drink to your heart's content. The entries are extensive—everything from Red Bull to bearded seal meat.

As for the GUI, I'm not 100% sure, but it appears to have more options than the console version, such as reset controls and the ability to control various ratios. Perhaps I missed them in the console version, but either way, there's definitely more on the screen, more of the time. Plus, everything is broken down into tabs, making the whole process more intuitive, saving the user from navigating endless submenus.

All in all, this is a very clever program despite the currently long-winded installation process. Once those issues are ironed out, NUT will be a seriously nifty nutrition program.

Read More: http://nut.sourceforge.net