comp.lang.idl-pvwave archive - RDF feed
type: channel
description: Messages from Usenet group comp.lang.idl-pvwave, compiled by Paulo Penteado
items: Thoughts on IDL5.2 GuiBuilder and library widgets

Thoughts on IDL5.2 GuiBuilder and library widgets
type: item
description: Thought I might share a few comments on idl libray guis, and on the idl 5.2 GuiBuilder. I have passsed these comments on to RSI, and had some useful feedback. As far as my requests go, they have been added to the RSI customer request list; maybe if other users see similar needs and write in to rsi, then the requests will be correspondingly higher on the priority list. I should add the caveat that i speak as a scientific user of idl, not as a programmer, so my perspective will probably be naive to the expert users. The GuiBuilder: (a bouquet) It is an excellent interface, very easy to use after getting the hang of it. It does need more documentation at even simpler level than that in the online doc provided . In particular, the base widget has a pull-down menu capability, which can be used to build a program "launcher" with great ease. The IDL5.2 guibuilder is also great for building labels, and buttons, and the necessary program links. (a brickbat): the present version of the GuiBuilder cant build complex widgets; this means building a set of fields to get mixed integers, real numbers and strings into and out of a widget is difficult. In fact I cant for the life of me make use or sense of the GuiBuilder "text widget"; the amount of programming needed to catch the various delete/insert/singleChar/multipleChar options seems pointless when the ancient (and much maligned) WIDED (from idl 4.x) can build a compound-widget gui for fields quickly (altho clumsily). A useful trick to get a set of fields into a gui for editting/selection, is to use the XVAREDIT routine. If (say) we want to enter a title (string) and four axis limits (reals) for a plot, then an instant gui for entering/editting those parameters can be obtained by passing all the parameters to XVAREDIT as a structure; XVAREDIT allows each element of a structure to be ediited in a field separately, and the structure tags provide prompts to the user (example code appended below). I prefer the obsolete version of X…
creator: Michael W Asten
date: 1999-01-15T08:00:00-00:00