IDL 7.0 is officially released today. This introduces the IDL Workbench, a cross platform, Eclipse-based development environment. My favorite features so far:
- it works the same on Unix platforms!
- in the debug perspective, you can click on any level in the call stack and examine all the variables defined at that level
- the outline view (I just like seeing all the routines instead of selecting a routine from a droplist)
- content assist i.e. hitting a keyboard shortcut and the Workbench pops the possible choices for finishing your current command
- navigating to the definition of a routine by clicking on a call of the routine in the editor window
- having a lot of preferences
There are a few negatives as well:
- no GUI builder (okay, that’s really a positive too)
- no Workbench interface for conditional breakpoints (you have to use the
BREAKPOINTroutine) - I don’t like the way the online help system works, but I’m willing to admit that could be personal preference
I’m going to try to write some short articles on how to use the Workbench since it is a completely new environment for IDL.
January 2nd, 2008 at 1:29 pm
[…] Workbench in IDL 7.0: While the new Workbench helped me immensely from the start, I think the most important aspect of the Workbench is that it provides a platform for future features. Now that there is a common code base for all the platforms, I have much greater expectations for the future. Plus, with the ability to install plugins, features can be added without ITT VIS having to do anything. […]
March 18th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
The eclipse platform is very popular in java world. I like it very much, happy to see IDL use it.