IDL Reference Guide: IDL Preferences

Windows IDE Preferences

The preferences in this section are specific to the Microsoft Windows version of IDL, and control default settings for the IDL development environment (IDLDE). They do not exist in non-Microsoft Windows versions.

IDL_WDE_EDIT_BACKUP

If the IDL_WDE_EDIT_BACKUP preference is set to True (1), the IDLDE editor creates a backup of the original file before saving a file in an IDL editor window.

Committed changes take effect immediately. The default value is True (1).

IDL_WDE_EDIT_[B|F]COLOR_*

The IDLDE editor uses colors to display various categories of text. Each category has a background color, specified with an IDL_WDE_EDIT_BCOLOR preference, and foreground color, specified with an IDL_WDE_EDIT_FCOLOR preference. For example, the background color used to display comments is IDL_WDE_EDIT_BCOLOR_COMMENT while the foreground color is IDL_WDE_EDIT_FCOLOR_COMMENT.

The available editor text color preferences are summarized in the following table, along with the default background and foreground color for each category:

The following colors are available:

Committed changes take effect immediately.

IDL_WDE_EDIT_CHROMACODE

The IDL_WDE_EDIT_CHROMACODE preference determines whether color is used for syntax highlighting to highlight different aspects of IDL syntax.

Committed changes take effect immediately. The default value is True (1).

IDL_WDE_EDIT_COMPILE_OPTION

The IDL_WDE_EDIT_COMPILE_OPTION preference determines how the IDLDE editor handles requests to compile modified code contained within an editor window. It can handle such requests by asking whether you want to save your changes first, automatically save any changes before compiling, or compile from memory without saving the changes.

Committed changes take effect immediately. The default value is AskToSave (0).

IDL_WDE_EDIT_CWD

When you open a file in the IDLDE editor, the setting of the IDL_WDE_EDIT_CWD preference determines whether the current working directory for the IDL process is changed to the directory containing the opened file.

Committed changes take effect immediately. The default value is False (0).

IDL_WDE_EDIT_FONT

The IDL_WDE_EDIT_FONT preference sets the font used by the IDLDE editor. The font is specified as a string containing four comma-separated parts in the following form:

Name, PointSize, IsBold, IsItalic

Where:

Committed changes take effect immediately. The default value is
'Courier, 10, 0, 0'.

IDL_WDE_EDIT_OPEN_ON_DEBUG

If IDL execution halts because of an error and the IDL_WDE_EDIT_OPEN_ON_DEBUG preference is set to True (1), the IDLDE opens the file containing the error and positions it to display the line with the problem.

Committed changes take effect immediately. The default value is True (1).

IDL_WDE_EDIT_READONLY

If the IDL_WDE_EDIT_READONLY preference is set to True (1), files opened by the IDLDE editor are opened in read-only mode and cannot be modified.

Committed changes take effect immediately. The default value is False (0).

IDL_WDE_EDIT_TAB_ENABLE

The IDL_WDE_EDIT_TAB_ENABLE preference determines whether or not the IDLDE editor inserts a tab character (ASCII 9) when you press the Tab key. If it is set to True (1), the editor inserts tabs; otherwise, the editor inserts the number of space characters specified by the IDL_WDE_EDIT_TAB_WIDTH preference.

Committed changes take effect immediately. The default value is True (1).

IDL_WDE_EDIT_TAB_SP_ON_SAVE

The IDL_WDE_EDIT_TAB_SP_ON_SAVE preference controls how the IDLDE editor handles tab characters (ASCII 9) in a file when saving that file. If it is set to True (1), the editor replaces tabs with the number of spaces specified by the IDL_WDE_EDIT_TAB_WIDTH preference when the file is written.

Committed changes take effect immediately. The default value is False (0).

IDL_WDE_EDIT_TAB_WIDTH

The IDL_WDE_EDIT_TAB_WIDTH preference controls how tabs are displayed by the IDLDE editor:

This preference must be set to a value greater than or equal to 1.

Committed changes take effect immediately. The default value is 4.

IDL_WDE_EXIT_CONFIRM

If the IDL_WDE_EXIT_CONFIRM preference is set to True (1), the IDLDE displays a warning dialog when you exit IDL.

Committed changes take effect immediately. The default value is True (1).

IDL_WDE_INPUT_FONT

The IDL_WDE_INPUT_FONT preference sets the font used by the command line. The font is specified as a string containing four comma-separated parts in the following form:

Name, PointSize, IsBold, IsItalic

Where:

Committed changes take effect immediately. The default value is
'MS Sans Serif, 8, 1, 0'.

IDL_WDE_LOG_FONT

The IDL_WDE_LOG_FONT preference sets the font used by the output log window. The font is specified as a string containing four comma-separated parts in the following form:

Name, PointSize, IsBold, IsItalic

Where:

Committed changes take effect immediately. The default value is
'MS Sans Serif, 8, 0, 0'.

IDL_WDE_LOG_LINES

The IDL_WDE_LOG_LINES preference controls the maximum number of lines to display in the output log window. It must be set to a value greater than or equal to 1.

Committed changes take effect in future IDL sessions. The default value is 1000.

IDL_WDE_LOG_TRIM

The IDL_WDE_LOG_TRIM preference controls the number of lines that are deleted from the top of the output log when the maximum number of lines, specified by IDL_WDE_LOG_LINES, is reached. It must be set to a value greater than or equal to 1.

Committed changes take effect in future IDL sessions. The default value is 100.

IDL_WDE_SPLASHSCREEN

If the IDL_WDE_SPLASHSCREEN preference is set to True (1), the IDLDE displays the IDL splash screen on startup.

Committed changes take effect in future IDL sessions. The default value is True (1).

IDL_WDE_START_DIR

The IDL_WDE_START_DIR preference, if not set to a null string (''), specifies the initial working directory to be established when IDL starts. When you start IDL from the Windows Start menu or by clicking on a desktop icon, the initial working directory provided by the Windows operating system is usually a system location of no interest to IDL users. Setting IDL_WDE_START_DIR lets you to specify a more useful location.

Committed changes take effect immediately. The default value is the user's home directory.

  IDL Online Help (March 06, 2007)