IDL Preferences

Preferences for IDL are grouped in a set of IDL Preferences pages.

To access the Preferences dialog on Windows and UNIX platforms, select Window → Preferences.

To access the Preferences dialog on Macintosh platforms, select IDL Workbench → Preferences.

Settings shown on the preferences pages fall into two categories:

Preferences that apply to the IDL Workbench interface. Examples include editor settings, syntax coloring, and code templates. IDL Workbench preferences apply only when the IDL Workbench is running, and have no bearing on IDL programs.

Preferences that control how IDL executes code. Examples include paths and directory specifications, graphics settings, and error handling settings. These preferences correspond to IDL preferences that can be controlled using the IDL routine PREF_SET. Where applicable, these help topics show the name of the corresponding IDL preference. For a complete discussion of the IDL preference system, see IDL Preferences.

You can modify the values of the following preferences on the Preferences → IDL preferences page:


Option	Description	Default
IDL Prompt	Set this preference to define the value of the !PROMPT system variable, which contains the text string that IDL uses as the command line prompt. See the IDL_PROMPT preference for details.	IDL>
Startup file	Set this preference to the name of a file containing IDL commands that should be executed each time IDL starts. See the IDL_STARTUP preference for details.	None
Initial working directory	Set this preference to specify a directory that should be IDL's initial current working directory each time IDL starts.	None
Temporary directory	Set this preference to specify a directory IDL should use for temporary files. See the IDL_TMPDIR preference for details.	None
C library compile directory	Set this preference to specify a directory where the IDL_MAKE_DLL and CALL_EXTERNAL routines should place compiled files. See the IDL_MAKE_DLL_COMPILE_DIRECTORY preference for details.	None
Save command history between sessions	Set this preference to specify whether the contents of the IDL command history buffer should be saved between sessions. See the IDL_RBUF_PERSIST preference for details.	Checked (on)
History size	Set this preference to specify the number of commands to be saved in the IDL command history buffer. See the IDL_RBUF_SIZE preference for details.	500
Include user information in SAVE files	Set this preference to specify whether IDL should put comments that include user and host name information into generated data files, such as SAVE and JOURNAL files. See the IDL_DATAFILE_USER_COMMENTS preference for details.	Checked (on)
Visualize Images on Open	Set this preference to specify whether to open images in an iImage window when opened (the image variable is also available in IDL). When disabled, images open only as IDL variables, displayed in the Workbench Variables view.	Checked (on)