The easiest way to start IDL is by launching the IDL Workbench, which is an Eclipse-based graphical user interface.
You can also run IDL in command-line mode, which uses a text-only interface and sends output to your terminal screen or shell window.
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.
The following table lists the various ways to launch IDL:
|
|
|
Mode |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating System |
32-/64-bit Executable |
Workbench |
Command-line |
|
Windows |
32-bit |
On 32-bit platforms: Start > IDL x.x > IDL
On 64-bit platforms: Start > IDL x.x > Tools > IDL (32-bit) |
On 32-bit platforms: Start > IDL x.x > Tools > IDL Command Line
On 64-bit platforms: Start > IDL x.x > Tools > IDL Command Line (32-bit) |
|
|
64-bit |
Start > IDL x.x > IDL |
Start > IDL x.x > Tools > IDL Command Line |
|
Macintosh |
32-bit |
Double-click on the or Enter |
Enter |
|
|
64-bit |
Double-click on the or Enter |
Click on the or Enter |
|
|
|
Note: To launch IDL from the shell prompt, you must first explicitly open a terminal window and set up each IDL user's environment. |
|
|
Solaris and Linux |
32-bit |
Enter |
Enter |
|
|
64-bit |
Enter |
Enter |
|
|
|
Note: To launch IDL from the shell prompt, you must first explicitly open a terminal window and set up each IDL user's environment. |
|
To quit IDL, enter EXIT at the IDL command prompt.