| How to link IDL files [message #14679] |
Wed, 24 March 1999 00:00  |
VU KHAC Tri
Messages: 25
Registered: March 1999
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Junior Member |
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Hi,
I'm am IDL newbie.
I want to write some IDL procedures split in different files. How can I
call a pro in a file from another pro in another file.
Best regards,
--
#+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++#
| VU KHAC TRI |
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| Re: How to link IDL files [message #14731 is a reply to message #14679] |
Thu, 25 March 1999 00:00  |
davidf
Messages: 2866
Registered: September 1996
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Senior Member |
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David Foster (foster@bial1.ucsd.edu) writes:
> You shouldn't ever need to hand compile files, but you might want
> to "include" them in your current program using something like:
>
> @setarray_utils.pro ; Compiles file
>
> In this case "setarray_utils.pro" is a collection of functions that
> I want to group together because they have a common purpose, and I
> don't necessarily want all it's routines cluttering up my directory
> as separate files.
Sigh...
With modern computer technology, you could probably group
all your program files in a separate sub-directory. :-)
Cheers,
David
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting
Phone: 970-221-0438 E-Mail: davidf@dfanning.com
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com/
Toll-Free IDL Book Orders: 1-888-461-0155
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| Re: How to link IDL files [message #14732 is a reply to message #14679] |
Thu, 25 March 1999 00:00 |
David Foster
Messages: 341
Registered: January 1996
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Senior Member |
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David Fanning wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
> There
> should really never be any reason at all to hand compile
> programs before they are used if your files are structured
> and named correctly.
Vu -
You shouldn't ever need to hand compile files, but you might want
to "include" them in your current program using something like:
@setarray_utils.pro ; Compiles file
In this case "setarray_utils.pro" is a collection of functions that
I want to group together because they have a common purpose, and I
don't necessarily want all it's routines cluttering up my directory
as separate files.
If you use this, you can easily compile all routines that are in another
file and then call them. Used this way, the routines you call don't
necessarily have to be in a file having the same name.
Dave
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
David S. Foster Univ. of California, San Diego
Programmer/Analyst Brain Image Analysis Laboratory
foster@bial1.ucsd.edu Department of Psychiatry
(619) 622-5892 8950 Via La Jolla Drive, Suite 2240
La Jolla, CA 92037
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
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| Re: How to link IDL files [message #14753 is a reply to message #14679] |
Thu, 25 March 1999 00:00 |
davidf
Messages: 2866
Registered: September 1996
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Senior Member |
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Phillip David (pdavid@earthling.net) writes:
> David Fanning (davidf@dfanning.com) picked a few nits, but left himself open
> for some nit picking himself... He wrote:
>>
>> And to just make this absolutely crystal clear, the program
>> module that has the same name as the file should be the
>> LAST program module in the file. If it is not, you will
>> NEVER get automatic compilation (which has got to be one
>> of the best features of IDL) to work correctly. There
>> should really never be any reason at all to hand compile
>> programs before they are used if your files are structured
>> and named correctly.
>
> However, it may be appropriate to write test drivers for your programs, and in
> fact, I recommend this procedure highly. In this case, the test driver gets
> put AFTER the program matching the name of the file. When you want to test
> changes, you compile the file, and the test driver gets compiled as well.
> When you are simply trying to use the program, though, the test driver doesn't
> get compiled. This keeps the namespace from getting cluttered, and even
> occasionally prevents an error by calling a routine named the same as your
> test driver. I know I use the name "test" frequently, and wouldn't want my
> test driver to get replaced by another test driver for another file.
Now, honestly, Phillip. This is just too sophisticated for
the usual riff-raft and falls under the header of giving away
all our secrets. I am strongly in favor of banning this kind
of posting.
Cheers,
David
P.S. You know, if more people wrote drivers for their
programs, I'll bet more people would use them. :-)
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting
Phone: 970-221-0438 E-Mail: davidf@dfanning.com
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com/
Toll-Free IDL Book Orders: 1-888-461-0155
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| Re: How to link IDL files [message #14764 is a reply to message #14679] |
Wed, 24 March 1999 00:00 |
Phillip & Suzanne
Messages: 31
Registered: June 1998
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Member |
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Vapuser wrote:
>
> A piece of syntactic sugar. In unix, when you set the path in the
> shell initialization files, you can tell IDL to search all the
> directories below a certain one by prepending a '+' to the path.
>
> Thus, setenv
>
> IDL_PATH \+/some/directory/path:\+/some/other/path
>
> means search *all* directories below the two directories
> '/some/directory/path' and '/some/other/path'
>
> This is probably true for windows/mac too, I don't know.
There is a way of allowing similar behavior on windows and mac, but it's set
in the preferences file instead of the environment.
Phillip
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| Re: How to link IDL files [message #14765 is a reply to message #14679] |
Wed, 24 March 1999 00:00 |
Phillip & Suzanne
Messages: 31
Registered: June 1998
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Member |
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David Fanning (davidf@dfanning.com) picked a few nits, but left himself open
for some nit picking himself... He wrote:
>
> And to just make this absolutely crystal clear, the program
> module that has the same name as the file should be the
> LAST program module in the file. If it is not, you will
> NEVER get automatic compilation (which has got to be one
> of the best features of IDL) to work correctly. There
> should really never be any reason at all to hand compile
> programs before they are used if your files are structured
> and named correctly.
However, it may be appropriate to write test drivers for your programs, and in
fact, I recommend this procedure highly. In this case, the test driver gets
put AFTER the program matching the name of the file. When you want to test
changes, you compile the file, and the test driver gets compiled as well.
When you are simply trying to use the program, though, the test driver doesn't
get compiled. This keeps the namespace from getting cluttered, and even
occasionally prevents an error by calling a routine named the same as your
test driver. I know I use the name "test" frequently, and wouldn't want my
test driver to get replaced by another test driver for another file.
Phillip
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| Re: How to link IDL files [message #14771 is a reply to message #14679] |
Wed, 24 March 1999 00:00 |
Vapuser
Messages: 63
Registered: November 1998
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Member |
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VU KHAC Tri <tvk@info.fundp.ac.be> writes:
> Hi,
> I'm am IDL newbie.
> I want to write some IDL procedures split in different files. How can I
> call a pro in a file from another pro in another file.
> Best regards,
>
>
> --
> #+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++#
> | VU KHAC TRI |
This is probably a FAQ, but I couldn't check the FAQ to be sure, so
I'll answer it anyway.
The short, and slightly incorrect, answer is, put 1
procedure/function per file, give the file the same name as the
procedure/function with a .pro extension, e.g. if the function is
named 'my_funct' then name the file 'my_funct.pro' and make sure that
the IDL variable !path contains the directory(ies) wherein these files
reside. In UNIX, you do this last part by correctly defining the
environmental variable IDL_PATH. If you do these things, IDL will find
and compile the procedures automatically when it first sees them.
The long answer is:
Search in the IDL help file on the system variable '!path' and read
it. Look at the part in you paper documentation about defining this
variable and read it. In Unix land, this variable is controlled by the
environment variable IDL_PATH which you should set in, if you're using
csh or one of it's variants, either your .login or your .[t]cshrc, if
not, your .profile or whichever shell initialization files you need. I
don't know how it's done in Windows. (By the way, it would help if you
gave us info about the system you're using. Do a
IDL> print,!version
and report the output.)
!path is a list of directories the IDL interpreter searchs when trying
to resolve a procedure/function call that isn't internal to IDL. Upon
encountering a unresolved IDL procedure/function call, the interpretor
looks for a file in the path with the same name and a '.pro'
extension. This places some restrictions on the names of
procedures/functions if they are to be automatically compiled in this
manner. For instance, you can't name a file 'a-b.pro', although this
is a legitimate file name in Unix, since the interpreter would
interpret the attempt at calling 'a-b,arg' as... well.. a syntax
error. Also be aware that in Unix, the case of the file name is
significant, but the case of the function/procedure call isn't!
(e.g. you can call the function a=ThisIsAFunction() but IDL will look
for the file 'thisisafunction.pro') So, best practice is to give unix
files all lowercase names. When the interpreter finds the file, it
compiles it, then executes the named procedure/function (provided the
procedure/function is defined by that file. So, best practice is to
name the procedure/function the same as the filename.) By the way,
you can define more than one procedure/function in a file, but you
should always have the procedure/function with the same name as the
file as the last one in that file.
A piece of syntactic sugar. In unix, when you set the path in the
shell initialization files, you can tell IDL to search all the
directories below a certain one by prepending a '+' to the path.
Thus, setenv
IDL_PATH \+/some/directory/path:\+/some/other/path
means search *all* directories below the two directories
'/some/directory/path' and '/some/other/path'
This is probably true for windows/mac too, I don't know.
whd
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| Re: How to link IDL files [message #14775 is a reply to message #14679] |
Wed, 24 March 1999 00:00 |
davidf
Messages: 2866
Registered: September 1996
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Senior Member |
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Phil Aldis (philaldis@geocities.com) covers just about all
the ground here, but I want to make one or two niggling
points. He writes:
> .................and save it as HelloWorld.pro (somewhere in
> your search path), then when at the prompt you type
> IDL> HelloWorld
In fact, you should probably save this file as "helloworld.pro"
(all lowercase letters) and *ESPECIALLY* if you are on a UNIX
system, in which filenames are case sensitive. When IDL goes
looking for a file:
IDL> JunK_It
It doesn't care how you spelled the command on the command
line, but it does always look for *lowercase* file names.
I would also encourage you to NOT put spaces in file names,
although it is allowed on some operating systems. It will
make your code less portable and I find it causes problems
even on those operating systems that supposedly support it.
And to just make this absolutely crystal clear, the program
module that has the same name as the file should be the
LAST program module in the file. If it is not, you will
NEVER get automatic compilation (which has got to be one
of the best features of IDL) to work correctly. There
should really never be any reason at all to hand compile
programs before they are used if your files are structured
and named correctly.
Cheers,
David
P.S. If Vu Khac Tri is a student, I still have several
cheap copies of my book hanging about. :-)
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting
Phone: 970-221-0438 E-Mail: davidf@dfanning.com
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com/
Toll-Free IDL Book Orders: 1-888-461-0155
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| Re: How to link IDL files [message #14776 is a reply to message #14679] |
Wed, 24 March 1999 00:00 |
philaldis
Messages: 32
Registered: March 1999
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Member |
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VU KHAC Tri <tvk@info.fundp.ac.be> wrote:
> Hi,
> I'm am IDL newbie.
> I want to write some IDL procedures split in different files. How can I
> call a pro in a file from another pro in another file.
> Best regards,
>
The first thing is to make sure that all your files are named
properly. If you write a procedure like this:
PRO test
print, 'Hello World'
END
....................then save it in a file called test.pro. The reason
for this is as follows. When you type the name of a procedure or a
function that is not yet compiled IDL goes out and searches for a file
named (What you typed).pro . This means that you could start up a
new session of IDL and before you had even compiled our test program
you could type
IDL>test
.............. and it would find test.pro, compile it and then
call a now compiled procedure called test.
A word of warning. Wherever you store all your programs, you must make
sure it is in the list of paths that IDL searches in. Go to the file
menu and select preferences (or is it options - one of the two). In
the path tab, you will find a box where you can add paths using a file
selector and it will look there for your programs.
Okay, so that's all very well you're thinking, but how the hell does
all of this help me (and you may have known the filenaming stuff
already anyway). Well, once you have renamed all your files to the
right names, it is extremely easy to call other procedures from within
procedures. If we create a new procedure:
PRO HelloWorld
test
END
.................and save it as HelloWorld.pro (somewhere in
your search path), then when at the prompt you type
IDL> HelloWorld
%Compiled function helloworld.pro
%Compiled function test.pro
Hello World
..........you will get a response like this. (or there abouts,
I'm not at my own PC so I can't remember exactly all the prompts and
stuff look like!!) Calling functions is pretty similar but the syntax
is slightly different. If test had been like this:
FUNCTION test
RETURN, "Hello World"
END
................................. then hello world would have
been like this:
PRO HelloWorld
temp = test()
print, temp
END
The temp variable receives the variable passed back by the function.
Finally, maybe you have some files in which you have several
different procedures/functions. One is the main procedure/function
which you call and then it calls others which are never called by the
user only by this particular procedure/function. You might not be
quite sure what exactly you should call the file when you save it, to
make it work like before, (or what the hell I'm talking about).
Well, if we take the current situation. If we change the situation
slightly. When we call HelloWorld, if we set a keyword then it calls
test2, if not it calls test1. These two are both functions which are
never used by any other programs, only by HelloWorld. There's no point
in creating separate files for each of test1 and test2. Instead you
can write the file like this:
FUNCTION test1
RETURN, "This is test1 - Hello World"
END
FUNCTION test2
RETURN, "This is test2 - Hello World"
END
PRO HelloWorld, WHICHTEST=WhichTest
IF Keyword_Set(WhichTest) THEN temp = test1() ELSE temp = test2()
print, temp
END
........................you then save it in a file called
"HelloWorld.pro". Open a new IDL session and type
IDL> HelloWorld, WHICHTEST=1
%Compiled function test1
%Compiled function test2
%Compiled function HelloWorld
This is test1 - Hello World
You may have worked out from the behaviour what it's doing. It
compiles any functions or procedures it finds until it reaches one
which is called the same name as the filename, i.e. HelloWorld.
So make sure that the procedure/function you are calling is placed
right at the bottom of the file.
I hope this explains it all. Perhaps you know a lot of it already a
simply wanted to know the syntax of temp=test1() and test1, but it's
better to have too much help than not enough.
Anyway,
Cheers,
Phil Aldis
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| Re: How to link IDL files [message #14777 is a reply to message #14679] |
Wed, 24 March 1999 00:00 |
Ivan Zimine
Messages: 40
Registered: February 1999
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Member |
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VU KHAC Tri wrote:
>
> Hi,
> I'm am IDL newbie.
> I want to write some IDL procedures split in different files. How can I
> call a pro in a file from another pro in another file.
You make a call to your procedures and functions the same way as you
call any IDL routine. The routines must be compiled before the first
call. If they are not, then IDL will try to find a routine_name.pro file
in the directories specified in !path variable. To make sure all your
routines are compiled you can add .compile command to your IDL_STARTUP
file or write a batch file which will compile specific files with
routines needed to your particular application.
I advise you to visit
IDL FAQ at http://www.ivsoftware.com/pub/idl_faq.html
and
Coyote's Guide at http://www.dfanning.com/
best regards
Ivan
--
Dpt. of Radiology (MRI), Geneva University Hospitals
email: ivan.zimine@physics.unige.ch
tel. : (+41 22) 372 70 70
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