Frequently Asked questions about SAXO

Sébastien Masson

Françoise Pinsard

svn Id of xml source file : $Id: faqsaxo.xml 230 2007-03-19 10:17:59Z pinsard $

Revision History
Revision 0.0 August 2006
First draft
Revision 0.1 September 2006
+ onlinehelp
1. Introduction
2. General
2.1. What is SAXO ?
2.2. How can I get help ?
2.3. How do I get SAXO ?
2.4. What is the current version of SAXO ?
2.5. On what systems does SAXO run ?
2.6. Does SAXO works with GDL instead of IDL ?
2.7. When is the next version of SAXO due out ?
2.8. How can I find if a routine to do what I want already exists ?
2.9. How should SAXO be cited or acknowledged in publication ?
3. Technical questions
3.1. Is there on-line help for SAXO ?
4. Contributors
4.1. Is there an SAXO Style Guide available ?
4.2. Is there any trouble with IDLdoc ?
4.3. How can I check spelling of xml files ?
4.4. How can I see online help update ?

1. Introduction

This is a list of Frequently Asked Questions about SAXO.

This list is roughly divided into categories: general questions, technical questions, contributors questions.

Suggestions for corrections or additional sections are welcome -- please email them to .

2. General
2.1. What is SAXO ?
2.2. How can I get help ?
2.3. How do I get SAXO ?
2.4. What is the current version of SAXO ?
2.5. On what systems does SAXO run ?
2.6. Does SAXO works with GDL instead of IDL ?
2.7. When is the next version of SAXO due out ?
2.8. How can I find if a routine to do what I want already exists ?
2.9. How should SAXO be cited or acknowledged in publication ?
2.1.

What is SAXO ?

see document What is SAXO.
2.2.

How can I get help ?

see Support in document Main page of SAXO.
2.3.

How do I get SAXO ?

see document Get SAXO.
2.4.

What is the current version of SAXO ?
2.5.

On what systems does SAXO run ?
2.6.

Does SAXO works with GDL instead of IDL ?

Not yet.
2.7.

When is the next version of SAXO due out ?
2.8.

How can I find if a routine to do what I want already exists ?
2.9.

How should SAXO be cited or acknowledged in publication ?

3. Technical questions
3.1. Is there on-line help for SAXO ?
3.1.

Is there on-line help for SAXO ?

Yes, if you use at least IDL 6.2. It is produced by IDLdoc. SAXO and IDL online_help have been merged, you can simply get the help by typing:

       idl> ?

4. Contributors
4.1. Is there an SAXO Style Guide available ?
4.2. Is there any trouble with IDLdoc ?
4.3. How can I check spelling of xml files ?
4.4. How can I see online help update ?
4.1.

Is there an SAXO Style Guide available ?

There is a template for header new_header.txt which can be parsed by IDLdoc.

This file can be added in Emacs configuration IDLWAVE → Templates → Doc Header (C-c-C-h). in your ${HOME}/.emacs like this :

(add-hook 'idlwave-mode-hook
  (function
    (lambda ()
     (setq idlwave-file-header '("SAXO_basedirectory/SAXO_DIR/SRC/Documentation/new_header.txt")
    ))))
4.2.

Is there any trouble with IDLdoc ?

Yes, there are some :

  • \ in *.pro are not written in *.html. They must be escaped by an other \ or you can choose an other character.

  • Search doesn't handle characters like - and |.

  • Paragraphs of *.pro headers are shown with a proportional font in the HTML release.

    If you need to draw some small figure like grid cell, you can encapsulate between the block to be shown in constant font between ; <fixe> and ; </fixe>

Unfortunately, these troubles may not be fixed because the author does not have anymore the opportunity to work on his own work.

Bugs can be submitted to IDL but we do not expect answers !
4.3.

How can I check spelling of xml files ?

There is one way with command line :

       $ aspell --mode=sgml -c xmlfile
4.4.

How can I see online help update ?

You won't see online help update if you are working with the official distribution because of !HELP_PATH. To override this problem, when you are in SAXO_basedirectory/SAXO_DIR/SRC/Documentation/xmldoc/, you can call online help like this :

       idl> ONLINE_HELP,book="../idldoc_assistant_output/idldoc-lib.adp"