| Use IDL Workbench with other languages? [message #58024] |
Mon, 14 January 2008 10:21  |
jeffnettles4870
Messages: 111
Registered: October 2006
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Senior Member |
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Hi folks,
I don't have IDL 7 yet, so i haven't seen the new Workbench. I have,
however, been reading the myriad of posts about it here on the
newsgroup, and am both exciting and afraid of getting it :) I know
that the Workbench is based on Eclipse, which, I think, is a java
development platform that can be used for developing in many languages
(other than java). So, if I get IDL 7, am I going to be able to use
it for development in other languages (say, PERL)? Or will I have to
separately download, install, and (gulp) configure the "real"
Eclipse? I'd love to have one development environment for all the
languages i routinely use.
Jeff
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| Re: Use IDL Workbench with other languages? [message #58101 is a reply to message #58024] |
Tue, 15 January 2008 09:30  |
jeffnettles4870
Messages: 111
Registered: October 2006
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Senior Member |
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On Jan 15, 11:55 am, Chris Torrence <gorth...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Yes, you can do this. However, here are some caveats:
> 1. This is not officially supported by ITTVIS. No whining allowed.
> 2. We have only done limited testing. We have an excellent test group,
> but there was only so much time for testing IDL7.0.
>
> There are two ways you can do this:
>
> A. If you have just a few, small languages, like Python, Perl, etc,
> then you can *probably* (emphasis already added) just drop these
> plugins into your IDL70/idlde/plugins directory, and everything
> *should* (more emphasis) work fine. Stop reading here!
>
> B. For a much larger feature, like the Eclipse Java Development Tools
> (JDT), then you probably want to go the other route and drop IDL into
> your existing Eclipse install. To do this:
>
> 1. Find the three core IDL plugins in your IDL70/idlde/plugins
> directory:
> com.rsi.idldt_7.0.0.jar
> com.rsi.idldt.core_7.0.1.jar
> com.rsi.idldt.ui_7.0.0.jar
> 2. Copy these JAR files into your Eclipse/plugins directory.
> 3. If you want the IDL documentation, then you'll need to copy all of
> the com.rsi.idl.doc.*.jar plugins as well.
> 4. If you want the language packs, you'll need to copy the ones with
> "*.nl*.jar" as well.
> 5. Create a new shortcut to your "eclipse.exe", with the following
> command-line options:
>
> C:\Eclipse3.3\eclipse.exe -vmargs -DDMLDir="C:\Program Files\ITT
> \IDL70\idlde" -DJDMLDir="C:\Program Files\ITT\IDL70\idlde" -DBMLDir="C:
> \Program Files\ITT\IDL70\idlde" -DIDLDir="C:\Program Files\ITT
> \IDL70\bin\bin.x86" -DIDL_DIR="C:\Program Files\ITT\IDL70\"
>
> You will obviously need to change the above paths if you are on Unix,
> or have installed IDL in a different directory.
>
> 6. Start up Eclipse. The first time you start, you will not see the
> IDL perspective, and the IDL process won't be started.
> 7. Go under Window->Open Perspective->Other, and choose IDL. You will
> get a bunch of Java null exception errors, and IDL will attempt to
> start but fail.
> 8. Quit Eclipse and restart. At this point, you should be "good to
> go".
>
> Things I have noticed:
> * I always get a Java null pointer exception when I start the "IDL
> FrankenDE". This seems harmless.
> * To get the IDL process to start, you must have the IDL Command Line
> visible.
> * You cannot seamlessly debug a Java program and an IDL program - for
> example, if you are using the Java export bridge, this will fire up an
> IDL process that is not the same as the IDL process within your
> Workbench - so you can't step from your Java code into your IDL code.
>
> Good luck! If you try this, be sure to post to the newsgroup with any
> tips or feedback.
>
> -Chris
> ITTVIS
Sweet! Thanks Chris! I'm glad to hear i have a shot at having one
development environment for the languages i use. I'm even more glad I
get to stop reading at Item A in your post above :)
Jeff
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| Re: Use IDL Workbench with other languages? [message #58103 is a reply to message #58024] |
Tue, 15 January 2008 08:55 |
chris_torrence@NOSPAM
Messages: 528
Registered: March 2007
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Senior Member |
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Hi all,
Yes, you can do this. However, here are some caveats:
1. This is not officially supported by ITTVIS. No whining allowed.
2. We have only done limited testing. We have an excellent test group,
but there was only so much time for testing IDL7.0.
There are two ways you can do this:
A. If you have just a few, small languages, like Python, Perl, etc,
then you can *probably* (emphasis already added) just drop these
plugins into your IDL70/idlde/plugins directory, and everything
*should* (more emphasis) work fine. Stop reading here!
B. For a much larger feature, like the Eclipse Java Development Tools
(JDT), then you probably want to go the other route and drop IDL into
your existing Eclipse install. To do this:
1. Find the three core IDL plugins in your IDL70/idlde/plugins
directory:
com.rsi.idldt_7.0.0.jar
com.rsi.idldt.core_7.0.1.jar
com.rsi.idldt.ui_7.0.0.jar
2. Copy these JAR files into your Eclipse/plugins directory.
3. If you want the IDL documentation, then you'll need to copy all of
the com.rsi.idl.doc.*.jar plugins as well.
4. If you want the language packs, you'll need to copy the ones with
"*.nl*.jar" as well.
5. Create a new shortcut to your "eclipse.exe", with the following
command-line options:
C:\Eclipse3.3\eclipse.exe -vmargs -DDMLDir="C:\Program Files\ITT
\IDL70\idlde" -DJDMLDir="C:\Program Files\ITT\IDL70\idlde" -DBMLDir="C:
\Program Files\ITT\IDL70\idlde" -DIDLDir="C:\Program Files\ITT
\IDL70\bin\bin.x86" -DIDL_DIR="C:\Program Files\ITT\IDL70\"
You will obviously need to change the above paths if you are on Unix,
or have installed IDL in a different directory.
6. Start up Eclipse. The first time you start, you will not see the
IDL perspective, and the IDL process won't be started.
7. Go under Window->Open Perspective->Other, and choose IDL. You will
get a bunch of Java null exception errors, and IDL will attempt to
start but fail.
8. Quit Eclipse and restart. At this point, you should be "good to
go".
Things I have noticed:
* I always get a Java null pointer exception when I start the "IDL
FrankenDE". This seems harmless.
* To get the IDL process to start, you must have the IDL Command Line
visible.
* You cannot seamlessly debug a Java program and an IDL program - for
example, if you are using the Java export bridge, this will fire up an
IDL process that is not the same as the IDL process within your
Workbench - so you can't step from your Java code into your IDL code.
Good luck! If you try this, be sure to post to the newsgroup with any
tips or feedback.
-Chris
ITTVIS
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| Re: Use IDL Workbench with other languages? [message #58111 is a reply to message #58024] |
Tue, 15 January 2008 05:54 |
Paul Van Delst[1]
Messages: 1157
Registered: April 2002
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Senior Member |
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David Fanning wrote:
> jeffnettles4870@gmail.com writes:
>
>> I don't have IDL 7 yet, so i haven't seen the new Workbench. I have,
>> however, been reading the myriad of posts about it here on the
>> newsgroup, and am both exciting and afraid of getting it :) I know
>> that the Workbench is based on Eclipse, which, I think, is a java
>> development platform that can be used for developing in many languages
>> (other than java). So, if I get IDL 7, am I going to be able to use
>> it for development in other languages (say, PERL)? Or will I have to
>> separately download, install, and (gulp) configure the "real"
>> Eclipse? I'd love to have one development environment for all the
>> languages i routinely use.
>
> Jeff, did you get an answer to this question? I've been
> asked this several times myself, and I don't know. I expect
> it is something people will WANT to know.
A different question: Let's say you already have Eclipse installed on your system and you
use it with a bunch of different plugins, e.g. Fortran95(Photran), ruby(RDT), some
Python(Pydev) and Javascript(JSEClipse).
So, since the IDL Workbench is based on Eclipse, can you install the IDL Workbench DE as a
plugin to your existing install?
Going in the other direction (i.e. installing Workbench and then other Eclipse plugins)
seems possible:
http://www.ittvis.com/idl/IDL7_FAQ.asp#wp999301
But, some words are:
"Because the IDL Workbench *includes* [emphasis mine] the Eclipse platform, ..."
I think it should be the other way around, that is, you have Eclipse and you include the
IDL plugin. Given that the major feature of IDL 7 is the Workbench itself, it doesn't
seems like ITTVIS planned to go the plugin route.
And continuing:
"... any other Eclipse-based feature that requires the platform *should* [emphasis
mine] be able to work within the IDL Workbench environment."
The use of the word "should" in the above is a bit disconcerting. I do enough testing of
my own software that I would rather not see "it should work" in literature for an
expensive software product. Does ITTVIS have a Testing/QA divison that /isn't/ its user
base? (just kidding :o)
cheers,
paulv
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| Re: Use IDL Workbench with other languages? [message #58114 is a reply to message #58024] |
Tue, 15 January 2008 02:57 |
Nigel Wade
Messages: 286
Registered: March 1998
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Senior Member |
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David Fanning wrote:
> jeffnettles4870@gmail.com writes:
>
>> I don't have IDL 7 yet, so i haven't seen the new Workbench. I have,
>> however, been reading the myriad of posts about it here on the
>> newsgroup, and am both exciting and afraid of getting it :) I know
>> that the Workbench is based on Eclipse, which, I think, is a java
>> development platform that can be used for developing in many languages
>> (other than java). So, if I get IDL 7, am I going to be able to use
>> it for development in other languages (say, PERL)? Or will I have to
>> separately download, install, and (gulp) configure the "real"
>> Eclipse? I'd love to have one development environment for all the
>> languages i routinely use.
>
> Jeff, did you get an answer to this question? I've been
> asked this several times myself, and I don't know. I expect
> it is something people will WANT to know.
>
> Cheers,
>
> David
Also the reverse situation.
I already have Eclipse installed, and it is used extensively for other language
development. Would installing the IDL 7 workbench interfere, or merge with, the
Eclipse which is already installed and configured?
Installing Eclipse is trivial. Getting the necessary plugins to make it work
with non-native languages (Python, PHP, etc.) is mildly taxing. As you have
already discovered, making it talk to an SVN server is quite entertaining...
But as I've already done this it would be a nuisance to have to do it all again
for the IDL workbench, and even more annoying to have to maintain two separate
(possibly conflicting) Eclipse installations.
--
Nigel Wade, System Administrator, Space Plasma Physics Group,
University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
E-mail : nmw@ion.le.ac.uk
Phone : +44 (0)116 2523548, Fax : +44 (0)116 2523555
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| Re: Use IDL Workbench with other languages? [message #58118 is a reply to message #58024] |
Mon, 14 January 2008 19:53 |
David Fanning
Messages: 11724
Registered: August 2001
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Senior Member |
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jeffnettles4870@gmail.com writes:
> I don't have IDL 7 yet, so i haven't seen the new Workbench. I have,
> however, been reading the myriad of posts about it here on the
> newsgroup, and am both exciting and afraid of getting it :) I know
> that the Workbench is based on Eclipse, which, I think, is a java
> development platform that can be used for developing in many languages
> (other than java). So, if I get IDL 7, am I going to be able to use
> it for development in other languages (say, PERL)? Or will I have to
> separately download, install, and (gulp) configure the "real"
> Eclipse? I'd love to have one development environment for all the
> languages i routinely use.
Jeff, did you get an answer to this question? I've been
asked this several times myself, and I don't know. I expect
it is something people will WANT to know.
Cheers,
David
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com/
Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
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| Re: Use IDL Workbench with other languages? [message #58194 is a reply to message #58024] |
Fri, 18 January 2008 09:09 |
Nigel Wade
Messages: 286
Registered: March 1998
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Senior Member |
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Bill Gallery wrote:
>
> A question about licensing. I run IDL using a shared network
> license. If I include the IDL plugin in a separate Eclipse
> installation, then run Eclipse and work on a Fortran project, will an
> IDL license be checked out?
It looks as though if the IDL perspective is opened it starts IDL, which
presumably requires a license. I don't currently have an IDL 7 license so all I
get is a message about that feature not being supported, so it is attempting to
get one.
Closing the IDL perspective doesn't appear to stop IDL, there is still the IDL
process idl_opserver running in the background. The only way I've found to stop
this is to shutdown Eclipse and restart it, then the IDL process isn't started
(until you open an IDL perspective). I'm still learning...
--
Nigel Wade, System Administrator, Space Plasma Physics Group,
University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
E-mail : nmw@ion.le.ac.uk
Phone : +44 (0)116 2523548, Fax : +44 (0)116 2523555
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| Re: Use IDL Workbench with other languages? [message #58196 is a reply to message #58024] |
Fri, 18 January 2008 07:41 |
wgallery
Messages: 32
Registered: December 1998
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Member |
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On Jan 17, 12:09 pm, Chris Torrence <gorth...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Nigel,
>
> After looking over my post, I left out some details for running IDL
> within Eclipse on Linux.
>
> First, this will *only* work with Eclipse 3.3 or greater. There were
> too many changes between Eclipse 3.2 and 3.3.
>
> You need to set the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable to point to
> both the idlde/bin.linux.x86 and the idl70/bin/bin.linux.x86
> directories. Also, the JDMLDir, BMLDir, and DMLDir need to point to
> the idlde/bin.linux.x86 directory. On Windows there is no platform-
> specific subdirectory...
>
> I created a little shell script called "idl_eclipse" to start up
> Eclipse with IDL:
>
> #!/bin/sh
> IDL_DIR=/software/rsi/idl70
> export IDL_DIR
> LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/software/rsi/idl70/idlde/bin.linux.x86:/sof tware/rsi/
> idl70/bin/bin.linux.x86
> export LD_LIBRARY_PATH
> eclipse -vmargs -DJDMLDir=/software/rsi/idl70/idlde/bin.linux.x86 \
> -DBMLDir=/software/rsi/idl70/idlde/bin.linux.x86 \
> -DDMLDir=/software/rsi/idl70/idlde/bin.linux.x86 \
> -DIDLDir=/software/rsi/idl70/bin/bin.linux.x86 \
> -DIDL_DIR=/software/rsi/idl70 &
>
> Note the earlier caveats: the first time you try this, and you start
> the IDL perspective, it will fail. After that, as long as the IDL
> command line is visible, it should work. You may also receive Java
> null exceptions on startup - these can be ignored.
>
> Hope this helps!
>
> -Chris
> ITTVIS
A question about licensing. I run IDL using a shared network
license. If I include the IDL plugin in a separate Eclipse
installation, then run Eclipse and work on a Fortran project, will an
IDL license be checked out?
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| Re: Use IDL Workbench with other languages? [message #58198 is a reply to message #58024] |
Fri, 18 January 2008 07:11 |
Nigel Wade
Messages: 286
Registered: March 1998
|
Senior Member |
|
|
Chris Torrence wrote:
> Hi Nigel,
>
> After looking over my post, I left out some details for running IDL
> within Eclipse on Linux.
>
> First, this will *only* work with Eclipse 3.3 or greater. There were
> too many changes between Eclipse 3.2 and 3.3.
>
> You need to set the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable to point to
> both the idlde/bin.linux.x86 and the idl70/bin/bin.linux.x86
> directories. Also, the JDMLDir, BMLDir, and DMLDir need to point to
> the idlde/bin.linux.x86 directory. On Windows there is no platform-
> specific subdirectory...
>
> I created a little shell script called "idl_eclipse" to start up
> Eclipse with IDL:
>
> #!/bin/sh
> IDL_DIR=/software/rsi/idl70
> export IDL_DIR
> LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/software/rsi/idl70/idlde/bin.linux.x86:/sof tware/rsi/
> idl70/bin/bin.linux.x86
> export LD_LIBRARY_PATH
> eclipse -vmargs -DJDMLDir=/software/rsi/idl70/idlde/bin.linux.x86 \
> -DBMLDir=/software/rsi/idl70/idlde/bin.linux.x86 \
> -DDMLDir=/software/rsi/idl70/idlde/bin.linux.x86 \
> -DIDLDir=/software/rsi/idl70/bin/bin.linux.x86 \
> -DIDL_DIR=/software/rsi/idl70 &
>
> Note the earlier caveats: the first time you try this, and you start
> the IDL perspective, it will fail. After that, as long as the IDL
> command line is visible, it should work. You may also receive Java
> null exceptions on startup - these can be ignored.
>
> Hope this helps!
>
> -Chris
> ITTVIS
It does indeed! Thanks very much, I can now run IDL in Eclipse/Europa. All I
need do now is configure Europa so it's the same as my previous version of
Eclipse. Or I could configure the IDL workbench so it's the same as my previous
setup for Eclipse...
Oh, and I need to upgrade the IDL license as well.
--
Nigel Wade, System Administrator, Space Plasma Physics Group,
University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
E-mail : nmw@ion.le.ac.uk
Phone : +44 (0)116 2523548, Fax : +44 (0)116 2523555
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| Re: Use IDL Workbench with other languages? [message #58202 is a reply to message #58024] |
Thu, 17 January 2008 09:09 |
chris_torrence@NOSPAM
Messages: 528
Registered: March 2007
|
Senior Member |
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|
Hi Nigel,
After looking over my post, I left out some details for running IDL
within Eclipse on Linux.
First, this will *only* work with Eclipse 3.3 or greater. There were
too many changes between Eclipse 3.2 and 3.3.
You need to set the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable to point to
both the idlde/bin.linux.x86 and the idl70/bin/bin.linux.x86
directories. Also, the JDMLDir, BMLDir, and DMLDir need to point to
the idlde/bin.linux.x86 directory. On Windows there is no platform-
specific subdirectory...
I created a little shell script called "idl_eclipse" to start up
Eclipse with IDL:
#!/bin/sh
IDL_DIR=/software/rsi/idl70
export IDL_DIR
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/software/rsi/idl70/idlde/bin.linux.x86:/sof tware/rsi/
idl70/bin/bin.linux.x86
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH
eclipse -vmargs -DJDMLDir=/software/rsi/idl70/idlde/bin.linux.x86 \
-DBMLDir=/software/rsi/idl70/idlde/bin.linux.x86 \
-DDMLDir=/software/rsi/idl70/idlde/bin.linux.x86 \
-DIDLDir=/software/rsi/idl70/bin/bin.linux.x86 \
-DIDL_DIR=/software/rsi/idl70 &
Note the earlier caveats: the first time you try this, and you start
the IDL perspective, it will fail. After that, as long as the IDL
command line is visible, it should work. You may also receive Java
null exceptions on startup - these can be ignored.
Hope this helps!
-Chris
ITTVIS
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| Re: Use IDL Workbench with other languages? [message #58208 is a reply to message #58103] |
Thu, 17 January 2008 01:42 |
Nigel Wade
Messages: 286
Registered: March 1998
|
Senior Member |
|
|
Chris Torrence wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Yes, you can do this. However, here are some caveats:
> 1. This is not officially supported by ITTVIS. No whining allowed.
> 2. We have only done limited testing. We have an excellent test group,
> but there was only so much time for testing IDL7.0.
>
> There are two ways you can do this:
>
> A. If you have just a few, small languages, like Python, Perl, etc,
> then you can *probably* (emphasis already added) just drop these
> plugins into your IDL70/idlde/plugins directory, and everything
> *should* (more emphasis) work fine. Stop reading here!
I've just tested this on Linux and it does appear to work.
I downloaded the IDL 7 installer and performed a normal installation. I then ran
idlde so that it initialized the basic environment. After that I used the
Eclipse platform manager within the idlde to add additional plugins for C/C++
and Ruby. I've not looked for a Perl plugin as yet.
To add additional features to Eclipse you run the manager in Help->Software
Updates->Find and install... and in the Feature Updates panel you select
"Search for new features to install" and click on Next. This should then
display the standard location for updates and additional features. C/C++ and
Ruby/TCL are available here, plus a whole host of other plugins for things you
are almost certain never to need.
I didn't get any further than this as I don't have an IDL 7 license yet. The
timed demo ran out and shutdown IDL and idlde, including Eclipse.
>
> B. For a much larger feature, like the Eclipse Java Development Tools
> (JDT), then you probably want to go the other route and drop IDL into
> your existing Eclipse install. To do this:
>
> 1. Find the three core IDL plugins in your IDL70/idlde/plugins
> directory:
> com.rsi.idldt_7.0.0.jar
> com.rsi.idldt.core_7.0.1.jar
> com.rsi.idldt.ui_7.0.0.jar
> 2. Copy these JAR files into your Eclipse/plugins directory.
> 3. If you want the IDL documentation, then you'll need to copy all of
> the com.rsi.idl.doc.*.jar plugins as well.
> 4. If you want the language packs, you'll need to copy the ones with
> "*.nl*.jar" as well.
> 5. Create a new shortcut to your "eclipse.exe", with the following
> command-line options:
>
> C:\Eclipse3.3\eclipse.exe -vmargs -DDMLDir="C:\Program Files\ITT
> \IDL70\idlde" -DJDMLDir="C:\Program Files\ITT\IDL70\idlde" -DBMLDir="C:
> \Program Files\ITT\IDL70\idlde" -DIDLDir="C:\Program Files\ITT
> \IDL70\bin\bin.x86" -DIDL_DIR="C:\Program Files\ITT\IDL70\"
>
> You will obviously need to change the above paths if you are on Unix,
> or have installed IDL in a different directory.
>
> 6. Start up Eclipse. The first time you start, you will not see the
> IDL perspective, and the IDL process won't be started.
> 7. Go under Window->Open Perspective->Other, and choose IDL. You will
> get a bunch of Java null exception errors, and IDL will attempt to
> start but fail.
Unfortunately this didn't work on Linux. When I start Eclipse and open the
perspectives dialog IDL is not there. If I look at the Plugins info I can see
that there is the IDLDT Core (com.rsi.idldt.core). Under system properties I
can see the properties set on the command line:
*** System properties:
BMLDir=/software/rsi/idl70/idlde/
DMLDir=/software/rsi/idl70/idlde/
IDLDir=/software/rsi/idl70/bin/bin.linux.x86
IDL_DIR=/software/rsi/idl70
JDMLDir=/software/rsi/idl70/idlde/
and the plugin registry shows the 3 plugins as being installed:
com.rsi.idldt (7.0.0) "IDL Workbench" [Installed]
com.rsi.idldt.core (7.0.0) "IDLDT Core" [Resolved]
com.rsi.idldt.ui (7.0.0) "IDLDT UI" [Installed]
but in the Configured features or Configured plug-ins section there is no
mention of any of the com.rsi plugins.
The above is when using my already installed Eclipse 3.2. If I try to use the
latest Eclipse Eurpoa (3.3.1) it's even worse. The plugins don't even show in
the registry.
So it looks like integrating the IDL workbench into an already installed Eclipse
environment on Linux is a non-starter for the moment.
--
Nigel Wade, System Administrator, Space Plasma Physics Group,
University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
E-mail : nmw@ion.le.ac.uk
Phone : +44 (0)116 2523548, Fax : +44 (0)116 2523555
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| Re: Use IDL Workbench with other languages? [message #58781 is a reply to message #58751] |
Wed, 20 February 2008 15:11 |
chris_torrence@NOSPAM
Messages: 528
Registered: March 2007
|
Senior Member |
|
|
Hi Doug,
Unfortunately, Eclipse 3.3 was not available on all of our 64-bit
platforms when we shipped IDL 7.0. So, our IDL Workbench always runs
as a 32-bit application, and then hooks up to either a 64-bit core IDL
process (on a 64-bit system) or 32-bit core IDL (if you use the -32
flag or you are on a 32-bit system).
So, you will need to run 32-bit Eclipse if you want to experiment with
the IDL "FrankenDE".
Cheers,
Chris
ITTVIS
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