Launching IDL

You can run IDL either in command-line or graphical mode. In command-line mode, IDL uses a text-only interface and sends output to your terminal screen or shell window. Graphics are displayed in IDL graphics windows. In graphical mode, IDL displays the IDL Workbench, which is an Eclipse-based graphical user interface.

IDL is available in both 32- and 64-bit versions. You can execute the 64-bit version only if your system supports 64-bit operations, but you can run the 32-bit version on a 64-bit system. On 64-bit systems, you can explicitly specify the 32-bit version by adding the -32 flag or selecting a 32-bit IDL icon when launching IDL. See Command Line Options for IDL Startup for details.

To launch the IDL program, do one of the following:

Windows Systems

To start IDL in command-line mode, select IDL Command Line from the Start menu, double-click the idl.exe icon in the appropriate IDL installation bin directory, or enter idl at the Windows command prompt.

To start IDL in graphical mode, select IDL Workbench from the Start menu or double-click the idlde.exe icon in the installation IDLDE directory.

Macintosh Systems

To start IDL in command-line mode, click on the idl icon in your IDL installation folder or enter idl at the X11 Terminal window shell prompt.

To start IDL in graphical mode, double-click on the IDL Workbench icon in your IDL installation folder or enter idlde at the X11 Terminal window shell prompt.

Note
To launch IDL from the shell prompt, you must first explicitly open an X11 terminal window and set up each IDL user's environment. See "Defining Environment Variables and Aliases" (Installation and Licensing Guide).

Solaris and Linux Systems

To start IDL in command-line mode, enter idl at the shell prompt.

To start IDL in graphical mode, enter idlde at the shell prompt.

Startup Options

You can add options to the command that starts IDL. If you are starting IDL from the command or shell prompt, append the option flag after the idl or idlde command. (If you are starting IDL on a Windows platform by clicking an icon, modify the Target field of the properties dialog for the IDL icon to include the option flag.)

See Command Line Options for IDL Startup for a listing of the available startup options.

What Happens When IDL Starts

When IDL starts up, the following things happen:

IDL determines the value of the !PATH system variable.

IDL executes the Startup File, if one is specified.

If you are using the IDL Workbench, IDL scans all of the .pro code in !PATH and in any open projects. (You will notice the words "Analyzing Code" in the status area of the IDL Workbench while this is happening.) This analysis allows the IDL Workbench to provide Hover Help, Content Assist, and chromacoding for your .pro code. Note that you can begin working with IDL before the analysis is complete.

Troubleshooting

When IDL is ready to accept a command, it displays the IDL> prompt. If IDL does not start, take the following action depending upon the operating system you are running:

Windows: When starting IDL by clicking an icon, be sure that the path listed in the Properties dialog for the IDL icon accurately reflects the location of the IDL executable file.

When starting IDL from the command prompt, be sure that the intended executable file is in the DOS path, or that you are in the proper bin directory.

UNIX: Be sure that your PATH environment variable includes the directory that contains IDL. See "Defining Environment Variables and Aliases" (Installation and Licensing Guide).