| Re: IDL Virtual Machine Woes [message #63677] |
Wed, 19 November 2008 07:16  |
David Fanning
Messages: 11724
Registered: August 2001
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Senior Member |
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David Fanning writes:
> P.S. I still have the question, though, of how to package
> up the IDL Virtual Machine so someone can download it from
> a web page and set it up properly to run a program. And by
> "someone" I mean someone with no particular knowledge of their
> computer, just a scientist or IDL expert, someone like
> that. :-(
Alright, you so-called IDL "experts" are not very helpful.
I've sent a note to IDL technical support this morning.
We'll see if they know anything about this. :-)
Cheers,
David
P.S. Is it possible that the IDL VM is just one of those
great ideas that isn't used very much? Sort of like
PSCONFIG, I guess.
--
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: IDL Virtual Machine Woes [message #63697 is a reply to message #63691] |
Tue, 18 November 2008 13:19  |
R.Bauer
Messages: 1424
Registered: November 1998
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Senior Member |
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Hi
usually I do create all my sav files by compile
http://tinyurl.com/6cchbh
it does create inside of the sav file also a temporary function which
tells you something about the version of the routines used in the sav file.
IDL> compile, 'example'
IDL> help, example_info(),/str
** Structure <842fea4>, 2 tags, length=12284, data length=12284, refs=1:
TIME DOUBLE 2.8035811e+08
ROUTINES STRING Array[3, 341]
Th sav files do run on windows and on linux. I think they also run on
Mac, but I can't try.
cheers
Reima
M. Katz schrieb:
> 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.)
>
> M.
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| Re: IDL Virtual Machine Woes [message #63701 is a reply to message #63691] |
Tue, 18 November 2008 11:21 |
David Fanning
Messages: 11724
Registered: August 2001
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Senior Member |
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David Fanning writes:
> 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.
OK, I have in my grubby little hands, just this moment,
a CD that runs my application on MAC, WINDOWS, and LINUX
machines. Hooray!
The problem, if you can believe this, is that I was using
KDE's graphical file tools to move files around, extract
them, etc. Apparently, this is NOT recommended if you want
things to work correctly. When I started moving the files
around and untarring them with the command line tar command,
everything worked pretty much as I expected it to work.
Whew! What a long, frustrating couple of weeks! :-(
Cheers,
David
P.S. I still have the question, though, of how to package
up the IDL Virtual Machine so someone can download it from
a web page and set it up properly to run a program. And by
"someone" I mean someone with no particular knowledge of their
computer, just a scientist or IDL expert, someone like
that. :-(
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming (www.dfanning.com)
Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
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| 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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| Re: IDL Virtual Machine Woes [message #63713 is a reply to message #63711] |
Tue, 18 November 2008 07:03 |
M. Katz
Messages: 69
Registered: May 2005
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Member |
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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.)
M.
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| Re: IDL Virtual Machine Woes [message #63741 is a reply to message #63740] |
Mon, 17 November 2008 13:06 |
Rick Towler
Messages: 821
Registered: August 1998
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Senior Member |
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I can't give you *explicit* directions but maybe I can nudge you in the
correct direction.
I think you're best bet is to create a hybrid Mac/Windows (HFS+/ISO
9660) CD and on the windows side place all of your unix stuff too.
You'll still be able to have the cd autorun in windows if you want and
*nix users can mount a cd and browse to the appropriate directory.
How are you creating the CD that runs on Mac and Windows? What happens
when you stick it in a unix box?
-Rick
David Fanning wrote:
> Folks,
>
> I hate to bother you again with this unending saga,
> but I've been working three weeks now to create a CD
> that will run my IDL application on a Windows, UNIX,
> and Macintosh machine and I am still without joy.
>
> Yes, I *can* follow directions, but unlike the set-up
> in the IDL documentation, my binaries are not all on
> the same network. In fact, I have three separate
> machines, at three corners of a triangle with
> sides that can be measured in miles (45 miles for
> one leg of the triangle). That seems to be complicating
> things for me.
>
> I have been able to produce a CD that can run on
> Windows and UNIX machines, and another than can
> run on Windows and Macintosh machines, but so far
> not a single CD (and God knows when I bought 100
> I thought I had enough!) that can run on all three.
>
> Can someone provide *explicit* directions on how to
> do this?
>
> I *presume* the problem comes when I try to transfer
> the files to/from the Mac and Linux machines. (No
> problem with Windows, as always. :-)
>
> I wish to burn these CDs on a Linux machine, so I have
> been trying to get the entire CD distribution on the
> Linux machine. When I transfer the Mac bits and pieces
> to Linux (with a memory stick), the resulting CD does
> not run on Macs (a window opens and closes too fast for
> me to figure out what the error is).
>
> If I tar up the Mac distribution and transfer that to the
> Linux box, I get complaints from my Linux machine to the
> effect that when it encountered the apple script stuff,
> it expected a file and ran into a folder, do I want to
> SKIP this. My choices are abort the transfer or skip,
> so I skip.
>
> So, .... any ideas?
>
> I'm about to go with the idea of just putting my save file on
> the CD and directions that say, in effect, go get your own
> damn IDL Virtual Machine! And good luck doing it!
>
> But I still have the tiniest bit of hope I can somehow
> get this to work.
>
> Cheers,
>
> David
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| Re: IDL Virtual Machine Woes [message #63816 is a reply to message #63677] |
Wed, 19 November 2008 08:42 |
Heinz Stege
Messages: 189
Registered: January 2003
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Senior Member |
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Hi David.
On Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:16:44 -0700, David Fanning wrote:
> P.S. Is it possible that the IDL VM is just one of those
> great ideas that isn't used very much? Sort of like
> PSCONFIG, I guess.
From my sight of view the VM is a great plus of IDL. It allows me to
give my algorithms to the customers. They can run my programs
themself. With *their* parameters, on *their* machines and without
paying for an extra license. I would not like to miss this option.
Heinz
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