Configuring ENVI+IDL to Initialize with the Workbench Displayed

Topic

By default, when a user starts the ENVI+IDL 5.0, it displays just the ENVI menu bar on the desktop. The IDL Workbench development environment is opened, so to speak, in "minimized" mode, hidden in the user's task bar or dock or in a miniature icon.

Many ENVI+IDL developers might prefer that the IDL Workbench be immediately visible when they start ENVI+IDL. This Help Article describes the steps that can execute this preference.

Discussion

In the 'bin.x86' subdirectory of your IDL82 installation's directory tree (e.g. C:\Program Files\Exelis\IDL82\bin\bin.x86 
) there are a few configuration files that are designed to set various undocumented behaviors for the IDL Workbench. These files all have the extension '.ini' and contain pure ASCII text settings instructions.

The file that most directly affects the default Workbench behavior in ENVI+IDL is titled 'envi_idl.ini'. Here is an example of its default contents in ENVI+IDL for 32-bit Windows:

-vm
C:\Program Files\Exelis\IDL82\bin\bin.x86\jre\bin
-minimized
-nodemowarn
-noconfirmexit
-batch
"C:\Program Files\Exelis\ENVI50\bin/envi.run"
-startup
plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.0.201.R35x_v20090715.jar
--launcher.library
plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.win32.win32.x86_1.0.200.v20090519
-vmargs
-Dosgi.instance.area.default=@user.home/IDLWorkspace82
-Dosgi.configuration.area=@user.home/.idl/idlworkbench-config-idl8.2.0
-Dosgi.configuration.cascaded=true
-Dosgi.sharedConfiguration.area.readOnly=true
-Dorg.eclipse.update.reconcile=false
-Declipse.p2.data.area=@config.dir/p2
-Dosgi.splashLocation=C:\Program Files\Exelis\ENVI50\resource/bitmaps/envizoom_splash.bmp
-Dosgi.sharedConfiguration.area=C:\Program Files\Exelis\IDL82\bin\bin.x86/configuration
-Xms128m
-Xmx384m

If you open this file in any text editor and delete the line - "-minimized" - then save the file, ENVI+IDL will stop opening the Workbench in minimized mode.

Note that your login must have "write permissions" in that 'idlde' directory in order for this solution to work.