| can't change PATH preference under Windows? [message #49501] |
Tue, 01 August 2006 15:34  |
Jeff N.
Messages: 120
Registered: April 2005
|
Senior Member |
|
|
Hi folks,
I'm using IDL 6.2 with WinXP. I've somehow managed to make it so that
IDL won't let me change my path preferences using the preferences
dialog box - my path folders are desensitized. According to the help
file, this desensitization occurs when "higher priority" items set
preferences, and these higher priority items are command line arguments
or environment variables (so if, for ex., an environment variable sets
the preference, the preference can't be changed during the session).
The problem is that I'm currently using neither of these....but I have
used command line arguments before. So my guess is that IDL still
somehow thinks a command line argument is being used when it isn't.
I've tried a simple computer restart as well as starting IDL with
different means (a desktop shortcut, clicking on the executable itself,
and using the windows command line). Nothing seemed to work. Does
anyone have any suggestions as to how I could get myself out of this? I
*really* need to customize my path very soon! :)
Jeff
|
|
|
|
| Re: can't change PATH preference under Windows? [message #49572 is a reply to message #49501] |
Wed, 02 August 2006 19:06  |
Jeff N.
Messages: 120
Registered: April 2005
|
Senior Member |
|
|
Hi everyone,
Just wanted to let everyone know that I found the problem. Turns out
that some damned fool (and by "some" damned fool I mean me) edited the
idl.pref file found in the resource\pref folder, which I presume is a
file that can contain customizations for all users, as opposed to the
idl.pref file in my .idl directory. Everything works great now, and
thank you all for your help!
Jeff
Jeff N. wrote:
> Doug:
>
> Help, /preferences gives me:
> IDL_PATH DISTFILE = '+h:\progs\idl;<IDL_DEFAULT>'
> IDL_PATH_CACHE_DISABLE USERFILE = True(1)
>
> The user file being referred to by IDL_PATH_CACHE_DISABLE is my
> idl.pref file in the .idl variable (which, actually, I don't remember
> setting). I have, on the other hand, previously set IDL_PATH to the
> value it has now, but I did that with the GUI (File, Preferences,Path).
> I'm not sure what DISTFILE is referring to, but it's clearly referring
> to a start up file of some sort.
>
> Here's the contents of idl.pref:
>
> IDL_PATH_CACHE_DISABLE : True
> IDL_WDE_START_DIR : C:\Documents and Settings\jeffn\Desktop
>
>
> and here's what I get when I try pref_set:
> IDL> PREF_SET, "IDL_PATH", "junk"
> PREF_SET: Preference value is read only because it has a current
> effective source (distribution file) with a higher priority than the
> user preference file: IDL_PATH.
> Execution halted at: $MAIN$
>
> This error message from PREF_SET is actually how I found out about this
> problem, I encountered it the first time I tried to run a startup batch
> file that sets my path based on whether or not an external hard drive
> is present.
>
> See anything that might help? Thanks for helping all of you!
> Jeff
>
>
> Doug Edmundson wrote:
>> Jeff N. wrote:
>>> Hi folks,
>>>
>>> I'm using IDL 6.2 with WinXP. I've somehow managed to make it so that
>>> IDL won't let me change my path preferences using the preferences
>>> dialog box - my path folders are desensitized. According to the help
>>> file, this desensitization occurs when "higher priority" items set
>>> preferences, and these higher priority items are command line arguments
>>> or environment variables (so if, for ex., an environment variable sets
>>> the preference, the preference can't be changed during the session).
>>> The problem is that I'm currently using neither of these....but I have
>>> used command line arguments before. So my guess is that IDL still
>>> somehow thinks a command line argument is being used when it isn't.
>>> I've tried a simple computer restart as well as starting IDL with
>>> different means (a desktop shortcut, clicking on the executable itself,
>>> and using the windows command line). Nothing seemed to work. Does
>>> anyone have any suggestions as to how I could get myself out of this? I
>>> *really* need to customize my path very soon! :)
>>>
>>> Jeff
>>>
>>
>> Jeff,
>>
>> What happens if you try...
>>
>> (1) HELP, /PREFERENCES, [/FULL]
>> (2) PREF_SET, "IDL_PATH", "junk" (don't do /COMMIT)
>>
>> They'll give clues as to what IDL is thinking. You can also look in the
>> .idl directory and poke around the preference files, comparing them with
>> the machines that work.
>>
>> Hope this helps,
>> Doug
|
|
|
|
| Re: can't change PATH preference under Windows? [message #49573 is a reply to message #49501] |
Wed, 02 August 2006 16:10 |
Jeff N.
Messages: 120
Registered: April 2005
|
Senior Member |
|
|
Doug:
Help, /preferences gives me:
IDL_PATH DISTFILE = '+h:\progs\idl;<IDL_DEFAULT>'
IDL_PATH_CACHE_DISABLE USERFILE = True(1)
The user file being referred to by IDL_PATH_CACHE_DISABLE is my
idl.pref file in the .idl variable (which, actually, I don't remember
setting). I have, on the other hand, previously set IDL_PATH to the
value it has now, but I did that with the GUI (File, Preferences,Path).
I'm not sure what DISTFILE is referring to, but it's clearly referring
to a start up file of some sort.
Here's the contents of idl.pref:
IDL_PATH_CACHE_DISABLE : True
IDL_WDE_START_DIR : C:\Documents and Settings\jeffn\Desktop
and here's what I get when I try pref_set:
IDL> PREF_SET, "IDL_PATH", "junk"
PREF_SET: Preference value is read only because it has a current
effective source (distribution file) with a higher priority than the
user preference file: IDL_PATH.
Execution halted at: $MAIN$
This error message from PREF_SET is actually how I found out about this
problem, I encountered it the first time I tried to run a startup batch
file that sets my path based on whether or not an external hard drive
is present.
See anything that might help? Thanks for helping all of you!
Jeff
Doug Edmundson wrote:
> Jeff N. wrote:
>> Hi folks,
>>
>> I'm using IDL 6.2 with WinXP. I've somehow managed to make it so that
>> IDL won't let me change my path preferences using the preferences
>> dialog box - my path folders are desensitized. According to the help
>> file, this desensitization occurs when "higher priority" items set
>> preferences, and these higher priority items are command line arguments
>> or environment variables (so if, for ex., an environment variable sets
>> the preference, the preference can't be changed during the session).
>> The problem is that I'm currently using neither of these....but I have
>> used command line arguments before. So my guess is that IDL still
>> somehow thinks a command line argument is being used when it isn't.
>> I've tried a simple computer restart as well as starting IDL with
>> different means (a desktop shortcut, clicking on the executable itself,
>> and using the windows command line). Nothing seemed to work. Does
>> anyone have any suggestions as to how I could get myself out of this? I
>> *really* need to customize my path very soon! :)
>>
>> Jeff
>>
>
> Jeff,
>
> What happens if you try...
>
> (1) HELP, /PREFERENCES, [/FULL]
> (2) PREF_SET, "IDL_PATH", "junk" (don't do /COMMIT)
>
> They'll give clues as to what IDL is thinking. You can also look in the
> .idl directory and poke around the preference files, comparing them with
> the machines that work.
>
> Hope this helps,
> Doug
|
|
|
|
| Re: can't change PATH preference under Windows? [message #49575 is a reply to message #49501] |
Wed, 02 August 2006 12:01 |
Doug Edmundson
Messages: 58
Registered: November 2005
|
Member |
|
|
Jeff N. wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> I'm using IDL 6.2 with WinXP. I've somehow managed to make it so that
> IDL won't let me change my path preferences using the preferences
> dialog box - my path folders are desensitized. According to the help
> file, this desensitization occurs when "higher priority" items set
> preferences, and these higher priority items are command line arguments
> or environment variables (so if, for ex., an environment variable sets
> the preference, the preference can't be changed during the session).
> The problem is that I'm currently using neither of these....but I have
> used command line arguments before. So my guess is that IDL still
> somehow thinks a command line argument is being used when it isn't.
> I've tried a simple computer restart as well as starting IDL with
> different means (a desktop shortcut, clicking on the executable itself,
> and using the windows command line). Nothing seemed to work. Does
> anyone have any suggestions as to how I could get myself out of this? I
> *really* need to customize my path very soon! :)
>
> Jeff
>
Jeff,
What happens if you try...
(1) HELP, /PREFERENCES, [/FULL]
(2) PREF_SET, "IDL_PATH", "junk" (don't do /COMMIT)
They'll give clues as to what IDL is thinking. You can also look in the
.idl directory and poke around the preference files, comparing them with
the machines that work.
Hope this helps,
Doug
|
|
|
|
| Re: can't change PATH preference under Windows? [message #49582 is a reply to message #49501] |
Wed, 02 August 2006 09:53 |
Jeff N.
Messages: 120
Registered: April 2005
|
Senior Member |
|
|
Hi Karl,
That wasn't it either. I thought of this after my reply to Benjamin's
post, and found nothing. Thanks for the suggestion though...I guess
I'll either reinstall IDL, or, if I decide I can live with this
potential problem and take the risk that nothing else is wrong, just
use the workaround that Benjamin suggested.
Jeff
Karl Schultz wrote:
> On Tue, 01 Aug 2006 19:22:21 -0700, Jeff N. wrote:
>
>> Thanks Benjamin,
>>
>> I knew I could change !path, and I suppose i'll probably resort to
>> that, but I'm actually concerned about why this behavior is happening.
>> I'm working on a startup file that sets the path preference with
>> pref_set based on a set of conditions, and I'd like 3 computers to have
>> the same startup file...it's worked flawlessly on the 1st two, and now
>> on this third machine i'm getting this weird behavior.
>>
>> Thanks for your quick reply though!
>> Jeff
>
> On the third machine, you probably have the IDL_PATH environment variable
> set.
>
> Right-click My Computer
> Properties
> Advanced tab
> Environment Variables
>
> Look for IDL_PATH.
>
> When I set IDL_PATH in my environment, I get exactly the behavior you
> describe.
>
> Karl
|
|
|
|
comp.lang.idl-pvwave archive
Members
Search
Help
Login
Home
