| graphics window [message #16178] |
Thu, 08 July 1999 00:00  |
Yang Zhiqiang
Messages: 1
Registered: July 1999
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Junior Member |
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I have one ignoring problem with IDL graphic window on UNIX. Whenever I
point the mouse to the IDL graphic window, all other windows just
dispears. How to go around this problem?
thanks,
yang
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| Re: graphics window [message #16270 is a reply to message #16178] |
Fri, 09 July 1999 00:00  |
Liam Gumley
Messages: 473
Registered: November 1994
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Senior Member |
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David Fanning wrote:
> Kristine Hensel (hensel@ucar.edu) writes:
>> This happens to me when I start Netscape before I start IDL. I've
>> figured out that I have to start Xemacs first if I don't want my Xemacs
>> cursor to be invisible, then IDL if I don't want my graphics windows to
>> cause other windows to flash, then my Solaris manual pages if I don't
>> want them to crash ... now I just try to avoid logging off if things are
>> working properly.
>
> Yikes! Despite Liam's quixotic attempt's to make *everyone* use
> 8-bit display devices, I think the answer is 24-bit color. :-)
I don't believe I'm advocating that *everyone* should use 8 bit color.
The fact is there are Unix boxes out there which have 8 bit graphics
only, and in many cases there is no way to upgrade them to 24 bit color.
The color behavior described in this thread is typical of the 8 bit Unix
consoles we have around here.
The startup file I've posted has overcome this behavior on our in-house
8 bit Unix displays, as long as color-hungry applications like Netscape
are not running in the background. In fact I just ran a test on an
IBM/AIX box down the hall, and even with the startup file, the
fade-to-black occurs when you click on the IDL graphics window. The
culprit was that my colleague who uses the IBM box had both Netscape and
an in-house application (McIDAS) running in the background. Once I
killed Netscape and McIDAS, there were enough colors for IDL to work
with (around 140), and using the startup file brought up IDL in a mode
where there was no color flashing.
I agree that 24 bit color is the way to go if your graphics hardware
supports it. It's just that these old 8-bit Unix boxes take forever to
die.
Cheers,
Liam.
PS You can try starting Netscape with the flag 'ncols' to reduce the
number of colors used, e.g.
% netscape -ncols 32 &
--
Liam E. Gumley
Space Science and Engineering Center, UW-Madison
http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/~gumley
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| Re: graphics window [message #16274 is a reply to message #16178] |
Fri, 09 July 1999 00:00 |
Liam Gumley
Messages: 473
Registered: November 1994
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Senior Member |
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Yang Zhiqiang wrote:
> I have one ignoring problem with IDL graphic window on UNIX. Whenever I
> point the mouse to the IDL graphic window, all other windows just
> dispears. How to go around this problem?
Try using the startup file shown below (save it as idl_startup.pro):
;---cut here---
;- Set up 8 bit display and grab colors
if !version.os_family eq 'unix' then device, pseudo = 8
device, retain = 2, decomposed = 0
window, /free, /pixmap, colors = -5
plot, [ 0 ]
wdelete, !d.window
print, 'Color table size is ', !d.table_size
;- Set graphics and widget font sizes
device, set_character_size = [ 6, 9 ]
widget_control, default_font = '7x13'
;- ensure IDL 5.0 XMANAGER behavior is consistent with IDL 4.0
xmanager, catch = 0
;---cut here---
Then use the system variable IDL_STARTUP to point to the full path and
name of the startup file e.g.
setenv IDL_STARTUP $HOME/idl_startup.pro (C shell)
export IDL_STARTUP=$HOME/idl_startup.pro (Korn shell)
This code will be executed every time you start a new IDL session, and
it should give you a consistent well-behaved 8 bit IDL display on all
Unix platforms (as long as your Unix desktop is set to 8 bit or 24 bit
mode: if you use a 16 bit or 32 bit desktop, all bets are off).
Cheers,
Liam.
PS: Let me know if this does not work.
--
Liam E. Gumley
Space Science and Engineering Center, UW-Madison
http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/~gumley
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| Re: graphics window [message #16276 is a reply to message #16178] |
Fri, 09 July 1999 00:00 |
Grady Daub
Messages: 22
Registered: June 1999
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Junior Member |
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I've often found that to happen when running more than one IDL session at a
time. Something, maybe, to do with the way the colors work. It will also
happen when you screw with the amount of colors in the graphics window. If
you open a window with just
WINDOW
things are fine. But, if you do something ambitious :-) and use
WINDOW, COLORS= ###
(where ### is a number)
you can run into the disapearing everything else problem.
The other windows aren't really dissapearing, only changing colors in
response to the new palette. Either that, or your graphics window it
full-screen. In which case, click the middle mouse button on the border and
send it to the back.
This explanation isn't too indepth, only an account and a theory. :-/
-Grady Daub
(Remove MMER and ZOOKS to reply by e-mail.)
Yang Zhiqiang wrote:
> I have one ignoring problem with IDL graphic window on UNIX. Whenever I
> point the mouse to the IDL graphic window, all other windows just
> dispears. How to go around this problem?
>
> thanks,
>
> yang
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| Re: graphics window [message #16283 is a reply to message #16178] |
Fri, 16 July 1999 00:00 |
J.D. Smith
Messages: 214
Registered: August 1996
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Senior Member |
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David Fanning wrote:
>
> Liam Gumley (Liam.Gumley@ssec.wisc.edu) responds to
> some gentle fun I was poking at him with this:
>
>> I agree that 24 bit color is the way to go if your graphics hardware
>> supports it. It's just that these old 8-bit Unix boxes take forever to
>> die.
>
> And a good thing, too, or some of us wouldn't be able
> to get any work done answering all the "Device, Decomposed=0"
> questions we would be getting. :-)
>
>> PS You can try starting Netscape with the flag 'ncols' to reduce the
>> number of colors used, e.g.
>>
>> % netscape -ncols 32 &
>
> Thanks for this. I've updated my article on this subject to
> include this piece of advice. Netscape is probably the
> number one reason for color flashing, followed closely
> by running two IDL sessions on the same machine. But in
> any case, the problem can be easily handled by knowing
> more about how (and when) IDL selects its colors:
>
> http://www.dfanning.com/tips/choosing_colors.html
Another option which is use is:
netscape -install
which installs a private colormap for netscape with the full 256
colors. Web pages look good, and idl is happy to run a the same time.
The only drawback is colormap flashing when in netscape, but I just put
it on it's own virtual desktop and fill the screen with it, so it's not
too big of a nuisance.
JD
--
J.D. Smith |*| WORK: (607) 255-5842
Cornell University Dept. of Astronomy |*| (607) 255-6263
304 Space Sciences Bldg. |*| FAX: (607) 255-5875
Ithaca, NY 14853 |*|
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| Re: graphics window [message #76326 is a reply to message #16178] |
Wed, 25 May 2011 11:32 |
David Fanning
Messages: 11724
Registered: August 2001
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Senior Member |
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Matt writes:
> Wow, that's a lot of posts to try to follow up on. But how about
> this:
>
> idlwave.org
>
> You'll thank me later.
Not too long ago the boys were gone and the wife
and I decided to have a nice, romantic "date".
We got a DVD movie, I made some pop-corn, she poured
a couple of glasses of wine, etc.
We went downstairs to watch the movie and the boys
had everything so torn up for playing XBox or some
damn thing on the TV that we couldn't even figure
out how to play the movie!
You thing somebody like that is going to learn EMACS!?
Think again. :-)
Cheers,
David
P.S. I don't recommend placing a laptop on your lap for a
wild, romantic evening, either. :-(
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.idlcoyote.com/
Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
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| Re: graphics window [message #76333 is a reply to message #16178] |
Wed, 25 May 2011 10:05 |
Daniel Larson
Messages: 2
Registered: May 2011
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Junior Member |
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On May 25, 12:49 pm, David Fanning <n...@idlcoyote.com> wrote:
> David Fanning writes:
>>> That window also immediately appears on top of the Workbench.
>>> However, when I click in the editor to edit the file, the
>>> damn window won't go away! It stubbornly persists in staying
>>> directly in front of the area of the Workbench I want to type in!
>
> If I move my Workbench back to my right monitor, and set
> the "Graphics window stays on top" preference button, then
> whenever I type in the Workbench in my right monitor, the
> function graphics window pops forward on my left monitor.
> This is great, except that I normally keep my e-mail and
> newsgroup reader on my left monitor. If I want to read the
> newsgroup, for example, and I pull that application forward,
> the graphics window stays on top of that!
>
> Basically, those function graphics windows are either
> constantly getting in the way, or completely gone when
> you need them. No wonder I find myself exasperated most
> of the day. They act exactly like my children!! :-(
>
> Cheers,
>
> David
>
> --
> David Fanning, Ph.D.
> Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
> Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming:http://www.idlcoyote.com/
> Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
Well, at least I know I'm not crazy. The take-away message: buy
another monitor.
What then, do you suppose, is the function of the preference selection
"graphic window stays on top"?
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| Re: graphics window [message #76334 is a reply to message #16178] |
Wed, 25 May 2011 09:49 |
David Fanning
Messages: 11724
Registered: August 2001
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Senior Member |
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David Fanning writes:
>> That window also immediately appears on top of the Workbench.
>> However, when I click in the editor to edit the file, the
>> damn window won't go away! It stubbornly persists in staying
>> directly in front of the area of the Workbench I want to type in!
If I move my Workbench back to my right monitor, and set
the "Graphics window stays on top" preference button, then
whenever I type in the Workbench in my right monitor, the
function graphics window pops forward on my left monitor.
This is great, except that I normally keep my e-mail and
newsgroup reader on my left monitor. If I want to read the
newsgroup, for example, and I pull that application forward,
the graphics window stays on top of that!
Basically, those function graphics windows are either
constantly getting in the way, or completely gone when
you need them. No wonder I find myself exasperated most
of the day. They act exactly like my children!! :-(
Cheers,
David
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.idlcoyote.com/
Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
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| Re: graphics window [message #76335 is a reply to message #16178] |
Wed, 25 May 2011 09:38 |
David Fanning
Messages: 11724
Registered: August 2001
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Senior Member |
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David Fanning writes:
> That window also immediately appears on top of the Workbench.
> However, when I click in the editor to edit the file, the
> damn window won't go away! It stubbornly persists in staying
> directly in front of the area of the Workbench I want to type in!
I found a button in the IDL graphics preferences that
was set. The button was "Graphics windows stay on top".
This button was set in my Workbench.
With the button not selected, the function graphics
window appears in front of the Workbench when it is
created, but then disappears seemingly forever when
I click in the Workbench to type something. Nothing
I can find to do in the Workbench brings it forward.
I can find it again by either clicking on my IDL
icon in the taskbar at the bottom of my page,
finding the window I want, and clicking on it. Or,
I can find it by cycling through the 10-20 open
windows I have on my computer at any one time with
Alt-Tab. It disappears again when I do anything
in the Workbench.
Cheers,
David
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.idlcoyote.com/
Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
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| Re: graphics window [message #76336 is a reply to message #16178] |
Wed, 25 May 2011 09:12 |
David Fanning
Messages: 11724
Registered: August 2001
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Senior Member |
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David Fanning writes:
>
> Daniel Larson writes:
>
>> OK, i'm a long time user of IDL (10+ years), so I can't believe I'm
>> going to ask this question. How do I get the darn graphics window to
>> stay on top in IDL 8.1 on Windows 7? The preferences are set
>> correctly, I tried changing the backing store, the window size... Has
>> anyone else had this problem?
>
> Are you kidding!? All I do anymore is complain about
> the damn WSHOW command and why it's broken. The usual
> response from technical support is "Huh, what's the
> WSHOW command?"
>
> If fact, I have discovered that this is a deep
> conspiracy at ITTVIS to completely eliminate
> direct graphics. No doubt due the the increasing
> popularity of Coyote Graphics. :-)
>
> I have IDL running on the right monitor and graphics
> windows appearing on the left monitor. I have discovered
> in IDL 8.1 that if I have a direct graphics window and
> a function graphics window that I can NEVER put a
> direct graphics window in front of a function graphics
> window!
>
> You talk about something that annoys the living
> hell out of me...
I just moved my IDL 8.1 installation over to my left
monitor, where the graphics windows appear, just to
see what would happen.
I made a Coyote Graphics window:
IDL> cgHistoplot, cgDemoData(7), /Window
This window appears on top of my Workbench and disappears
when I click in the Workbench to edit a file. I can put it
back on top with cgShow:
IDL> cgShow
While that window is on the display, I made a function
graphics window:
IDL> p = Plot( cgDemoData(1) )
That window also immediately appears on top of the Workbench.
However, when I click in the editor to edit the file, the
damn window won't go away! It stubbornly persists in staying
directly in front of the area of the Workbench I want to type in!
To get rid of it, I click the "Minify" button.
Now, if I type WShow I get a Window Out Of Range error. If
I type cgShow, by Histogram plot comes to the front. If I
go to the taskbar and Maximize by function graphics window,
it pops up in front of my Histogram window.
Now if I type cgShow, my Histogram window pops forward of
the Workbench, but behind the persistently annoying
function graphics window. I can bring the Histogram window
forward of the function graphics window if I click on it,
but I have to reach for the mouse, obviously, to do that.
Sigh....
Cheers,
David
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.idlcoyote.com/
Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
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| Re: graphics window [message #76337 is a reply to message #16178] |
Wed, 25 May 2011 08:08 |
David Fanning
Messages: 11724
Registered: August 2001
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Senior Member |
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Daniel Larson writes:
> OK, i'm a long time user of IDL (10+ years), so I can't believe I'm
> going to ask this question. How do I get the darn graphics window to
> stay on top in IDL 8.1 on Windows 7? The preferences are set
> correctly, I tried changing the backing store, the window size... Has
> anyone else had this problem?
Are you kidding!? All I do anymore is complain about
the damn WSHOW command and why it's broken. The usual
response from technical support is "Huh, what's the
WSHOW command?"
If fact, I have discovered that this is a deep
conspiracy at ITTVIS to completely eliminate
direct graphics. No doubt due the the increasing
popularity of Coyote Graphics. :-)
I have IDL running on the right monitor and graphics
windows appearing on the left monitor. I have discovered
in IDL 8.1 that if I have a direct graphics window and
a function graphics window that I can NEVER put a
direct graphics window in front of a function graphics
window!
You talk about something that annoys the living
hell out of me...
Cheers,
David
P.S. Have I mentioned lately how much I love IDL 8.1? :-)
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.idlcoyote.com/
Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
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| Re: graphics window [message #85787 is a reply to message #76335] |
Sun, 08 September 2013 09:26 |
peterkamatej
Messages: 2
Registered: September 2013
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Junior Member |
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Dne středa, 25. května 2011 18:38:40 UTC+2 David Fanning napsal(a):
> David Fanning writes:
>
>> That window also immediately appears on top of the Workbench.
>> However, when I click in the editor to edit the file, the
>> damn window won't go away! It stubbornly persists in staying
>> directly in front of the area of the Workbench I want to type in!
>
> I found a button in the IDL graphics preferences that
> was set. The button was "Graphics windows stay on top".
> This button was set in my Workbench.
>
> With the button not selected, the function graphics
> window appears in front of the Workbench when it is
> created, but then disappears seemingly forever when
> I click in the Workbench to type something. Nothing
> I can find to do in the Workbench brings it forward.
>
> I can find it again by either clicking on my IDL
> icon in the taskbar at the bottom of my page,
> finding the window I want, and clicking on it. Or,
> I can find it by cycling through the 10-20 open
> windows I have on my computer at any one time with
> Alt-Tab. It disappears again when I do anything
> in the Workbench.
>
> Cheers,
>
> David
>
>
>
> --
> David Fanning, Ph.D.
> Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
> Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.idlcoyote.com/
> Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
Dear David,
I see this is quite an old discussion but just for the case this question is still unanswered..
You can get the Object Graphics window back to front very simply, there is a method "Show" of the Window object. Try this:
IDL> MyWindow = window(window_title='Hello World!')
When you click on the workbench, the window disappears into background.
IDL> MyWindow.show
You have the window back.
Slightly more complicated it is with the Plot object, which does not have a "show" method. However, it has a "window" property, which retrieves a reference to the parent Window object. Therefore, you can get a Plot into foreground by this
IDL> MyGraphics = plot(hanning(100))
IDL> MyGraphics.window.show
Cheers,
Matej
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