IDL provides a number of stand-alone "utilities" written in the IDL language. The utility routines are widget applications that perform relatively complex operations; they are designed to be used either independently or as part of a larger widget application. Names of utility routines are prefaced with the letter "X".
Utility routines can be called from any IDL application or from the IDL command line. Although utility routines cannot be inserted directly into a widget application (becoming part of the application's widget hierarchy), they can be linked to a widget application in such a way (via the GROUP keyword) that when the widget application is iconized or destroyed, the utility is iconized or destroyed as well. Utility routines can also be configured as modal applications, requiring that the user exit from the utility before returning to the widget application that called it. See Using Multiple Widget Hierarchies for further discussion of grouping and modal behaviors.
The following utility routines are included with IDL:
The XBM_EDIT utility is a graphical bitmap editor that allows you to create bitmap arrays for use as labels for button widgets. Array definitions can be saved either as array definition text files, for inclusion in IDL code, or as bitmap array data files, which can be reopened in the XBM_EDIT utility. See XBM_EDIT for details.
The XDISPLAYFILE utility allows you to display text files using a simple widget interface. In addition to allowing users to read and optionally edit text files, the utility allows you programmatically interact with the text widget. See XDISPLAYFILE for details.
The XDXF utility displays a DXF file in an XOBJVIEW viewer, and also displays a dialog that contains block and layer information for the DXF file, allowing the user to turn on and off the display of individual layers. See XOBJVIEW below and XDXF for details.
The XFONT utility is a UNIX-only widget application that allows you to select an X Windows font name, optionally resetting the current font to the selected font. See XFONT for details.
The XINTERANIMATE utility displays an animated sequence of images in a simple widget interface using off-screen pixmaps or memory buffers. The speed and direction of the display can be adjusted. See XINTERANIMATE for details.
The XLOADCT utility provides a simple widget interface to the LOADCT procedure. XLOADCT displays the current Direct Graphics colortable and shows a list of available predefined color tables; clicking on the name of a color table causes that color table to be loaded. See XLOADCT for details.
The XMTOOL utility displays a simple widget interface for viewing widgets currently being managed by the XMANAGER. See XMTOOL for details.
The XOBJVIEW utility is a complex widget interface that allows you to quickly and easily view and manipulate IDL Object Graphics on screen. It displays objects in an IDL widget with toolbar buttons and menus providing functionality for manipulating, printing, and exporting the resulting graphic. The mouse can be used to rotate, scale, or translate the overall model shown in a view, or to select graphic objects in the view. See XOBJVIEW for details.
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The XPALETTE utility displays a widget interface that allows interactive creation and modification of colortables using the RGB, CMY, HSV, or HLS color systems. See XPALETTE for details.
The XPCOLOR utility displays a simple widget interface that allows you to adjust the value of the current Direct Graphics plotting color (foreground) using sliders, and store the desired color in the global system variable,
The XPLOT3D utility displays a 3D plot in an XOBJVIEW viewer. See XOBJVIEW above and XPLOT3D for details.
The XROI utility allows you to interactively define regions of interest (ROIs) in a specified image file, and to obtain geometry and statistical data about these ROIs. See XROI for details.
The XSURFACE utility provides a simple graphical interface to the SURFACE and SHADE_SURF commands. Because XSURFACE relies on IDL direct graphics rather than object graphics, the image manipulation facilities are less sophisticated than those of XOBJVIEW. See XOBJVIEW above and XSURFACE for details.
The XVAREDIT utility provides a simple widget-based editor for the value of any IDL variable. See XVAREDIT for details.
The XVOLUME utility provides a complex widget interface for viewing and interactively manipulating volume and isosurface data. See XVOLUME for details.
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