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Re: "?" help-command in linux [message #43622] Wed, 20 April 2005 07:36
savoie is currently offline  savoie
Messages: 68
Registered: September 1996
Member
Sean Davis <seand@colorado.edu> writes:

> I'm actually straddling the fence between IDLDE and IDLWAVE. I should
> probably jump off and go completely into IDLWAVE territory.

JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP!





--
Matthew Savoie - Scientific Programmer
National Snow and Ice Data Center
(303) 735-0785 http://nsidc.org
Re: "?" help-command in linux [message #43635 is a reply to message #43622] Tue, 19 April 2005 17:13 Go to previous message
Sean Davis is currently offline  Sean Davis
Messages: 19
Registered: August 1999
Junior Member
Good point.

I'm actually straddling the fence between IDLDE and IDLWAVE. I should
probably jump off and go completely into IDLWAVE territory. There are
still a few things I haven't gotten used to or figured out how to do yet.
The html help is nice though.

Thanks for the help!

JD Smith wrote:

> On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 15:53:49 -0600, Sean Davis wrote:
>
>> Hello
>>
>> Does anyone know how to control what happens when you use the "?" command
>> in idl on a linux machine. ...As in...
>>
>> IDL> ? OPLOT
>>
>> the default for idl 6.1 is to open up adobe acrobat, which, of course,
>> sucks
>> for reading the online help. I have the html help installed (for
>> idlwave),
>> and also xchm (http://xchm.sf.net). I would ideally like xchm to open
>> with the correct entry whenever I use the ? command.
>
> I presume you're not using IDLWAVE? If you are, you could:
>
> IDL> OPLOT [C-c ?]
>
> and the HTML help would popup for OPLOT. In fact, you could try:
>
> IDL> OPLOT, [Tab]
>
> get a list of keywords, and right click on any of them to have the
> HTML help queued up to the correct section documenting that keyword.
>
> What else can IDLWAVE give you help on, either in the HTML help pages,
> or directly in the source code of a relevant routine? Here's the
> list:
>
> Routine name The name of a routine (function, procedure, method).
> Keyword Parameter A keyword parameter of a routine.
> System Variable System variables like !DPI.
> System Variable Tags System variables tags like !D.X_SIZE.
> IDL Statement Statements like PRO, REPEAT, COMPILE_OPT, etc.
> Class name A class name in an OBJ_NEW call.
> Class Init Beyond the class name in an OBJ_NEW call.
> Executive Command An executive command like .RUN. Mostly useful in
> the shell.
> Structure Tags Structure tags like state.xsize
> Class Tags Class tags like self.value.
> Default The routine that would be selected for routine
> info display.
>
> JD
Re: "?" help-command in linux [message #43650 is a reply to message #43635] Tue, 19 April 2005 13:11 Go to previous message
Ken Mankoff is currently offline  Ken Mankoff
Messages: 158
Registered: February 2000
Senior Member
On Mon, 18 Apr 2005, Sean Davis wrote:
> Does anyone know how to control what happens when you use the "?"
> command in idl on a linux machine. ...As in...
>
> IDL> ? OPLOT
>
> the default for idl 6.1 is to open up adobe acrobat, which, of
> course, sucks for reading the online help. I have the html help
> installed (for idlwave), and also xchm (http://xchm.sf.net). I
> would ideally like xchm to open with the correct entry whenever I
> use the ? command.
>
> thanks,
> sean

Well I just tried to make a procedure called "?.pro" and that didn't
work...

Are you using IDLWAVE? If yes, there is a simple approach: Write
some LISP code to change the behavior. I could help with this but my
LISP is rusty. I'm sure there are some people here who could do this
in their sleep. But anyway, if you are using IDLWAVE there are
better ways to get help than through ? (see previous post by JD).

Unfortunately, I think the end result will be you either a) deal
with the current situation, or b) learn some new habits.

Those new habits don't have to be IDLWAVE. It could just be the
habit of writing "IDL> h, 'foo'" rather than "? foo". Now, write
'h.pro' to do whatever it is you want.

-k.

--
http://spacebit.dyndns.org/
Re: "?" help-command in linux [message #43653 is a reply to message #43650] Tue, 19 April 2005 11:49 Go to previous message
JD Smith is currently offline  JD Smith
Messages: 850
Registered: December 1999
Senior Member
On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 15:53:49 -0600, Sean Davis wrote:

> Hello
>
> Does anyone know how to control what happens when you use the "?" command in
> idl on a linux machine. ...As in...
>
> IDL> ? OPLOT
>
> the default for idl 6.1 is to open up adobe acrobat, which, of course, sucks
> for reading the online help. I have the html help installed (for idlwave),
> and also xchm (http://xchm.sf.net). I would ideally like xchm to open with
> the correct entry whenever I use the ? command.

I presume you're not using IDLWAVE? If you are, you could:

IDL> OPLOT [C-c ?]

and the HTML help would popup for OPLOT. In fact, you could try:

IDL> OPLOT, [Tab]

get a list of keywords, and right click on any of them to have the
HTML help queued up to the correct section documenting that keyword.

What else can IDLWAVE give you help on, either in the HTML help pages,
or directly in the source code of a relevant routine? Here's the
list:

Routine name The name of a routine (function, procedure, method).
Keyword Parameter A keyword parameter of a routine.
System Variable System variables like !DPI.
System Variable Tags System variables tags like !D.X_SIZE.
IDL Statement Statements like PRO, REPEAT, COMPILE_OPT, etc.
Class name A class name in an OBJ_NEW call.
Class Init Beyond the class name in an OBJ_NEW call.
Executive Command An executive command like .RUN. Mostly useful in
the shell.
Structure Tags Structure tags like state.xsize
Class Tags Class tags like self.value.
Default The routine that would be selected for routine
info display.

JD
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