Messages from Usenet group comp.lang.idl-pvwave, compiled by Paulo Penteado
In article <2eapap$7s7@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU>, hbh@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Heidi Hammel) wrote: > > Question -- Has anyone out there tried running IDL through MacX? Any luck? I run IDL through MacX all the time. I'm using MacX 1.1. There is a newer version that others around here use successfully. > Background -- I am trying to run IDL on a dec 5000 (ULTRIX V4.3A Rev. 146). > My workstation is a quadra 700 (sys 7.0.1), and I am using MacX 1.1.7. > The window manager on the dec 5000 is twm. I am working in an color > rooted window because some of the astronomical image processing > software I want to use (written in IDL) requires a window manager > better than MacX. I have 5000 K allocated to MacX. > > Problem -- IDL is just not working - for example, I try to run the > xinteranimate example in the IDL Basics book (pg. 42). > > (1) I get failures like: > > % Compiled module: XREGISTERED. > X Toolkit Warning: Cannot allocate colormap entry for "wheat" > % X windows protocol error: (BadValue - integer parameter out of range). You may have other X clients that have already grabbed entries (perhaps all of them) in the shared color map. If you need lots of colors, you may need to turn on a private color map. Private color maps let you use all 256 colors at the expense of flashing the LUT when you move the cursor around. See the IDL manual on the X device. > (2) There is not enough space (in MacX????) to evaluate the xinteranimate > for 40 graphs like the example shows, so I am only doing 10. How to do more? In the Get Info dialog box for MacX, just set the memory as high as you can afford before you start MacX. I always start MacX last of all my apps in case I need to restart it to change the memory size. For long animations I use 10 or 12 MB. You can figure out how much you need based on the size and number of your pixmaps. The About MacX window will show you how much memory you have and how much is in use. You can watch it fill up as you load an animation. > (3) Even with the limited 10-graph animation, the window I get to control > xinteranimate has just sort of outlines of black boxes, with nothing in > them. No text, so slider. > > (4) When I move the cursor into the defective control window, twm fails > on the dec5000 with a segmentation violation. > > The other IDL software has a similar problem, in that the moment I move > the cursor into the active area of the image processing window, twm > fails with a segmentation violation. I think this may be window manager problem, almost certainly memory related. Are you trying to run in a root window under MacX? If you let the Mac handle the window management you may have better luck and you won't need a window manager (twm). I set my DISPLAY to bowman.tamu.edu:0.2 for color, rootless client winds. Each client appears in its own Mac window. This may be different in MacX 1.2. Check the MacX manual. ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- Dr. Kenneth P. Bowman 409-862-4060 Climate System Research Program 409-862-4132 fax Department of Meteorology bowman@csrp.tamu.edu Texas A&M University PP-Glider College Station, TX 77843-3150
Still struggling with IDL via MacX. I am upgrading IDL to a newer version - maybe that'll help with some of the problems. Thanks for the tips: I did find the patch for twm crashing. I'll also try increasing the memory size from 5000 to 10000K. I'm still pondering the suggestion to use VersaTerm-PRO; while I do have it, I've rarely used it (I use NCSA Telnet). Good tip on the colormap entry warning, I'll check private color maps. But is that related to the X windows protocol error? I was initially running rootless, but I reluctantly went to rooted because the MacX window manager chooses its default window locations poorly; for example, its default for the first IDL window is *under* the menu bar across the top of the Mac screen. Even more indivious, plot windows appeared far off to one side with only an edge visible, and the data in them was lost (i.e., was not refreshed when I dragged the window fully onto the screen unless I physically replotted). With twm, I can position windows with a click when they are being opened, so at least they are fully on the screen with the data visible. heidi hbh@astron.mit.edu -- Heidi B. Hammel (hbh@astron.mit.edu) MIT 54-416 EAPS Dept.
In <2eq9ke$sk3@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU> hbh@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Heidi Hammel) writes: > Even more indivious, plot windows appeared far off to one side with only > an edge visible, and the data in them was lost (i.e., was not refreshed > when I dragged the window fully onto the screen unless I physically > replotted). Rootless windows are automatically refreshed if you provide a Xwindows "backing store": Solution 1: let IDL provide the backing store by typing: device,retain=2 See the IDL manual for details. I have put the above line in my $IDL_STARTUP file (see manual). Solution 2: let MacX 1.2 provide the backing store. Select this in the MacX Display Preferences (Edit menu). Good luck, Fred. ____________________________________________________________ _________________ Fred Walsteijn | Internet: walsteyn@fys.ruu.nl Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research | Utrecht University, The Netherlands |