REGINA-GUI(1)

📦
version 7.4.1 · 3 versions
, in arch rolling, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 REGINA-GUI 💖

okay bestie, so this is the manual page for regina-gui from The Regina Handbook — section 1 of the manual, obvs — and I'm gonna walk you through it like we're texting at 2am, except everything here is factually correct because I would never do you dirty like that. 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

regina-gui — Regina's graphical user interface 💅

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

regina-gui [ file ... ]

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

So, Regina is a whole software package for studying 3-manifold triangulations and normal surfaces. That's the main character energy right there. ✨

But wait, there's more, because of course there is:

  • angle structures
  • census enumeration
  • combinatorial recognition of triangulations
  • high-level tasks like 3-sphere recognition and connected sum decomposition

And Regina comes with a full graphical user interface, plus Python bindings and a low-level C++ programming interface. Versatile queen. 👑

This particular program starts the full graphical user interface, and ngl it's the usual way of starting Regina. Any files you pass on the command-line will be opened on startup. That's it. That's the whole vibe. 🎀

🌈 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES 🌈

The following environment variables influence the behaviour of this program. Like, actually influence it. Not just vibes.

  • REGINA_PYLIBDIR — the directory containing the Python module regina.

So here's the tea: if you've installed Regina's Python module in a standard Python location (i.e., Python can import it directly without extending sys.path), then REGINA_PYLIBDIR should be left empty or undefined. Leave it alone bestie, it's fine. 🧚

Normally you should not need to set this option yourself. This program should know how to find Regina's Python module in standard situations, and those standard situations include:

  • fixed filesystem installations (e.g., GNU/Linux and Windows)
  • relocatable app bundles (e.g., macOS)
  • running directly from the source tree
  • REGINA_HOME — the directory beneath which Regina's data files are installed.

These include (amongst other things):

  • example files in $REGINA_HOME/examples/
  • API documentation in $REGINA_HOME/engine-docs/
  • census databases in $REGINA_HOME/data/census/

Same deal as before: normally you should not need to set this option yourself. This program should know how to find its data files in standard situations, which include:

  • fixed filesystem installations (e.g., GNU/Linux and Windows)
  • relocatable app bundles (e.g., macOS)
  • running directly from the source tree
not me telling you twice that you probably don't need to touch these — that's literally what the original says and I am not about to guess at behaviour I wasn't given. 💀

🍓 MACOS USERS 🍓

If you downloaded a drag-and-drop app bundle, this is the program that runs when you open it. Iconic behaviour honestly.

But heads up: the executable itself is simply called Regina, not regina-gui. So don't go looking for regina-gui in your app bundle, she goes by a stage name there. 🙈

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

regina-python.

Also, Regina comes with a rich users' handbook, which you can access via Help->Regina Handbook in the menu. You can also read the users' handbook online at http://regina-normal.github.io/docs/. Go read it, it's giving ✨well-documented✨.

⭐ AUTHOR ⭐

Many people have been involved in the development of Regina; see the users' handbook for a full list of credits. Group project, but make it math. 🫶

okay and that's the whole page!! This was The Regina Handbook, dated 25 August 2025, and yes, REGINA-GUI(1) is the name at the top and the bottom of the original, so now you know both. slay, bye bestie 💖🌸🎀

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