Directory: cmdline_tools/

The cmdline_tools package is a library of routines to make using the IDL command line more convenient.

There are several routines that are convenient in normal interactive use of IDL. For example, pwd is similar to the UNIX command of the same name for printing the name of the current working directory:

  IDL> pwd
  /Users/mgalloy/projects/cmdline_tools

The ls command is also useful in normal interactive use for printing a listing of files:

  IDL> ls
  COPYING                             mg_build_cmdline_tools_docs.pro
  INSTALL                             mg_build_cmdline_tools_userdocs.pro
  Makefile                            overview.txt
  api-docs/                           src/
  api-userdocs/                       unittests/
  docs/

The more command pages though the contents of a file:

  IDL> more, 'COPYING'
  cmdline_tools is released under a BSD-type license.

  Copyright (c) 2009, Michael Galloy <mgalloy@idldev.com>

  All rights reserved.
  ...

The man command shows the syntax for calling and header docs for a routine:

  IDL> man, 'ls'
  Filename: /Users/mgalloy/projects/cmdline_tools/src/ls.pro
  ls, pattern, ALL=all, LONG=long

  Substitute for UNIX `ls` command. Automatically uses `-hF` options.
  ...

There are also routines that handle command line issues like setting/querying preferences. The MG_SET_PATH routine sets the !path, or !dlm_path if the DLM keyword is set, using PREF_SET. MG_SET_PATH handles expanding path specifications using EXPAND_PATH and also allows particular elements of the directory specification array to be commented out using a ;.

The MG_FILE_WHICH routine is a wrapper for FILE_WHICH, but adds an ALL boolean keyword that reports all files found instead of just the first one:

  IDL> print, mg_file_which('mgcoarraylist__define.pro', /all)
  /Users/mgalloy/projects/dist_tools/src/collection/mgcoarraylist__define.pro
  /Users/mgalloy/projects/idllib/src/collection/mgcoarraylist__define.pro
  /Users/mgalloy/projects/idldoc/src/collection/mgcoarraylist__define.pro
  /Users/mgalloy/projects/idldoc/src/dist_tools/collection/mgcoarraylist__define.pro
  /Users/mgalloy/projects/idldoc/src/collection/mgcoarraylist__define.pro
  /Users/mgalloy/projects/idldoc/src/dist_tools/collection/mgcoarraylist__define.pro
  /Users/mgalloy/projects/mgunit/src/dist_tools/collection/mgcoarraylist__define.pro

The MG_PRINT_PATH routine prints a path, defaulting to !path, formatted for the output log:

  IDL> mg_print_path, !dlm_path
  /Users/mgalloy/projects/gpulib/IDL
  /usr/local/lib
  /Users/mgalloy/projects/vis/src/flow
  /Users/mgalloy/projects/vis/src/lineplots
  /Users/mgalloy/projects/idllib/src/analysis
  /Users/mgalloy/projects/idllib/src/cula
  /Users/mgalloy/projects/idllib/src/gsl
  /Users/mgalloy/projects/idllib/src/introspection
  /Users/mgalloy/projects/idllib/src/net
  /Users/mgalloy/projects/cmdline_tools/src
  /Users/mgalloy/projects/dist_tools/src
  /Applications/itt/idl/idl80/bin/bin.darwin.x86_64

Using the command line for debugging can be tedious, but the MG_BREAKPOINT routine helps by finding routines in your !path instead of having to manually specify a path to the routine:

  IDL> mg_breakpoint, 'man', 487

This will find the file containing the MAN routine and set a breakpoint on line 487.

Querying the terminal for its properties and printing to the terminal is another category of routines in this library. MG_TERMLINES, MG_TERMCOLUMNS, and MG_TERMISTTY provide characteristics of the current terminal window. For example, when I use IDL from a command line terminal, the output looks like:

  IDL> print, mg_termistty()
             1
  IDL> print, mg_termcolumns(), mg_termlines()
           101          39

From the IDL Workbench, it is something like:

  IDL> print, mg_termistty()
             0
  IDL> print, mg_termcolumns(), mg_termlines()
           102          12

If MG_TERMISTTY() is true, then MG_ANSICODE can produce output in bold and a few different colors by placing some special characters understood by terminals before and after the text:

  IDL> print, byte('Red')
    82 101 100
  IDL> print, byte(mg_ansicode('Red', /red))
    27  91  51  49 109  82 101 100  27  91  48 109

The MG_PRINT routine is a handy wrapper to make printing to the output log using C style format codes:

  IDL> mg_print, 37., 'Boulder', format='It is %0.1f degrees in %s.'
  It is 37.0 degrees in Boulder.

Author information

Author

Michael Galloy

Copyright

BSD licensed

.pro files

ls.pro: Equivalent to UNIX ls command.
man.pro: Prints basic information about a routine.
mg_ansicode.pro: Set ANSI escape codes for the given text.
mg_backspace.pro: Backspaces a nchars characters.
mg_breakpoint.pro: Convenience wrapper for BREAKPOINT that finds files in !path without having to use a full path specification.
mg_file_which.pro: Wrapper for FILE_WHICH, but has an ALL keyword to find all matches.
mg_print_path.pro: Print a search path nicely in the output log.
mg_profiler_report.pro: Produce a report for the PROFILER.
mg_set_path.pro: Set the IDL path (!path) or DLM path (!dlm_path) given an array of directories.
mg_statusline.pro: Maintain a one-line status line on a VT100-compatible terminal (Unix only).
mg_sysreport.pro: Prints system information.
mg_varput.pro: Copies a variable or expression to another stack level, e.g., the main-level.
more.pro: Page the contents of the filename to the screen.
pwd.pro: Prints the IDL's current directory to the output log like the UNIX command of the same name.

Personal library of Michael Galloy
Contact me if you have enhancement requests or bug fixes.

mglib

Personal IDL library for M. Galloy

Directory: cmdline_tools/

Author information

Contents

.pro files