| IDL Virtual Machine Woes [message #63744] |
Mon, 17 November 2008 12:15  |
David Fanning
Messages: 11724
Registered: August 2001
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Senior Member |
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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
--
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 #63807 is a reply to message #63744] |
Wed, 19 November 2008 09:36  |
David Fanning
Messages: 11724
Registered: August 2001
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Senior Member |
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Heinz Stege writes:
> In a very simple and basic way: They download and install the
> IDL-version from the ITTVIS website. Including the IDLDE, which will
> run in the demo-mode only. My save-files are small enough to be send
> by e-mail. The custumer copies the save-file into any directory of
> his choice and starts the program by double-clicking.
>
> This is working for Windows OS. Up to now nobody was asking for a
> Linux or Mac version.
Well, goodness, *everything* works in Windows. That's why
I like it.** :-)
We should have a contest. A case of Fort Collin's own Fat Tire
for anyone who can write clear directions for installing an
IDL Virtual Machine on three platforms: WINDOWS (I'll take
this), LINUX, and MACINTOSH, and make it run an arbitrary
IDL save file.
Here are the criteria. (1) My wife has to follow the
instructions. (2) My wife does NOT have administrator
privileges on her machine (for obvious reasons).
Have a go! If you send a picture with your entry, I'll
even arrange to make you famous for a week. ;-)
Cheers,
David
** I'm, of course, not talking about Vista here.
--
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 #63809 is a reply to message #63744] |
Wed, 19 November 2008 09:26 |
David Fanning
Messages: 11724
Registered: August 2001
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Senior Member |
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David Fanning writes:
> Heinz Stege writes:
>
>> 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.
>
> Yeah, but here is my question, Heinz: How do they do that? :-)
>
> I get the feeling people think I am messing with their heads
> here, but I am trying to write clear instructions for someone
> who knows absolutely nothing about IDL that will enable
> them to install an IDL Virtual Machine and run a program.
> Can anyone point (or write) to these clear instructions?
I note, parenthetically, that I haven't heard back from ITTVIS
Technical Support about this topic yet, either. I assume the
delay means I haven't just overlooked something that is prominently
displayed on their web page.
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 #63861 is a reply to message #63744] |
Thu, 20 November 2008 06:49 |
David Fanning
Messages: 11724
Registered: August 2001
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Senior Member |
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greg.addr@googlemail.com writes:
> I think your condition (2) is unfair - a lack of administrator
> privileges is *supposed* to prevent you from installing stuff, isn't
> it? But the VM only has to be installed once. That's not such a great
> price, I find.
Apparently, you are not working for a government agency with
a home directory allocation that would have thrilled you
in 1978, but seems paltry indeed in 2008. :-)
Look, I have, obviously, been explaining myself poorly lately.
I *know* how to create the ~50MB VM installations for the platforms
I am interested in. I can even package them up and stage them on
my anonymous FTP site for people to download. You do NOT have to
have administer privileges to install them. Nor do you have to register
to receive more e-mail.
But I have two MAJOR gripes about this:
(1) Why do *I* have to allocate storage space, arrange for
downloads, and create a web page to allow people to install
an ITTVIS Virtual Machine!? Good thing my son decided to
buy a Macintosh when he went to college or I would *still*
be looking for a way to create a Macintosh VM. If I was
still working from home, I would have had no way to build
the LINUX VM that a large percentage of my potential customers
want to use.
(2) In live tests, with real target audiences, I have discovered
that no matter how much time you spend writing clear instructions
for starting the darn thing up, people cannot do it a depressingly
large percentage of the time. (Yes, I know MAKE_RT can build the
scripts necessary to run a *particular* save file, but surely
I don't want to have to ship another VM each time I want my
customer to run another save file from me. I want a way of starting
the VM to run *any* save file. And I want to do it with having to
instruct the user to go down into the bowels of this directory
I just gave you and double click this particular file whose name
is similar to dozens of similar files in the directory. You think
I may be joking about how hard this is for some people, but I
assure you I am not.)
I am just saying that if ITTVIS wanted us to use the Virtual Machine
to distribute IDL save files to customers (and I am pretty sure they
do not), then they would have provided a way for *my* customers to do a
non-administrative install of a Virtual Machine of a type appropriate
for whatever computer *my customer* had (and not *me*) and an easy
way for my customer to run the darn thing.
Enough said. I've moving on. Three weeks is too long to fool
around with this. And I'm not sure anyone is really using the
Virtual Machine anyway.
Cheers,
David
P.S. My original idea what the *my* customer would become *their*
customer by seeing what neat software they could run. But I am
re-thinking this entire plan. Maybe I'll write an iTool and distribute
that instead. :-)
--
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 #63920 is a reply to message #63861] |
Fri, 21 November 2008 00:06 |
greg.addr
Messages: 160
Registered: May 2007
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Senior Member |
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I agree with your gripes. A VM is not a VM if it only supports
one .sav file - it's just part of an executable. If they wanted to do
it that way, it would have been preferable to package the whole lot
into a single executable (or one for each platform). Since this is not
a current possibility, I think the only way to keep both yourself and
your users sane is to have them install the full VM. Otherwise, I just
can't imagine how to cope with explaining what to do with an update,
or yet worse - how to revert to a previous version. Do that to someone
just once, and from then on you'll hear curses about anything that
whiffs of IDL. The VM ought to be more easily accessible - perhaps
they don't realise how much of a disincentive the registration process
is. Although I believe, for those fortunate to live beyond the thrills
of 1978, there's no reason you shouldn't distribute it yourself.
cheers,
Greg
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