| Re: IDL Virtual Machine Woes [message #63711 is a reply to message #63691] |
Tue, 18 November 2008 07:13   |
David Fanning
Messages: 11724
Registered: August 2001
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Senior Member |
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M. Katz writes:
> I think there's still a misconception out there that when you write an
> IDL application for other people to run on VM, that they need to
> download and install the IDL distribution. That is simply not
> necessary.
>
> I have now installed my VM application on several different Windows
> and Mac machines that are not licensed for IDL and do not have IDL
> installed. In no cases was it necessary to download the 260 MB IDL
> installation from ITT. As David correctly mentioned in this thread
> from Oct 28 ( http://tinyurl.com/66lwmk ), the make_rt output is about
> ~50 MB. It seems to include much more than is actually necessary, so
> you can probably go into the subfolders and probably remove hundreds
> of unused routines and files, if you're picky. (Note that the distro
> can be much larger if you use the 64bit keyword because it seems to
> create 2 distributions at once.) IDL support told me that installing
> the full IDL on Windows may be necessary only if the OS is way out of
> date.
>
> While I have not yet created the perfect 3-platform distribution CD,
> having a 50 MB program-distribution size that zips down to about 28 MB
> on Windows, means that you can distribute all three versions from
> three different links online, if you want.
>
> **The most important thing I have learned is that the Windows distro
> cannot be created on a Mac. You have to MAKE_RT from a Windows-
> licensed IDL session. IDL Help does not tell you this. I do not yet
> know if you can successfully create the Mac distro form Windows, and
> I'll wait to hear from the Linux folks about their experience. When
> you create the Windows distro from the Mac, the VM quits with an
> 'error 53' or some such thing.
>
> That said, the .sav file created from Mac or Windows can be run on Mac
> or Windows, once it is married to the larger portion of the
> distribution that was created by MAKE_RT. You can exploit this fact to
> create program updates that are just a few MB and include only
> your .sav file (if only your programs have changed.)
OK, I have been told by the folks at ITTVIS that they have no
problem with me creating my own VM distributions and making them
available on a public place for download. I'm ready to do this because
I'm on the verge of losing my job after spending a GREAT deal of time
trying to get a CD to work.
Here is my question. Suppose I make a LINUX VM distribution. I suppose
I have to make this in a general way so that it can run *any* save file,
not just the one I wish to distribute. So, because I do not use the
SAVEFILE keyword to MAKE_RT, it does not make the startup script. How
does one install this VM and get it to work? Do I need to include
instructions for creating a shortcut in my directions? What does a user
do, exactly, to get my program to run?
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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