How to start an IDL Command Line session from an already open terminal window on Mac OS X?

QUESTION:

How to start an IDL Command Line session from an already open terminal window (as opposed to double clicking on the "IDLCommandLine" icon provided with the IDL installation) on Mac OS X?

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ANSWER:

A) Instructions to manually set up a (Apple or XQuartz/X11) terminal window session to run an IDL Command Line session.

  1) From a Bash shell, issue the following commands:

    source /Applications/exelis/idl84/bin/idl_setup.bash
    idl

  2) From a C-shell:

    source /Applications/exelis/idl84/bin/idl_setup
    idl

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B) Instructions to configure your terminal session to simply accept the command "idl" without first having to explicitly run the IDL setup script like above.

The following instructions will add a new line to an existing file, ".bash_profile", ".cshrc", etc., or create a new file of that name in your home directory if it doesn't already exist.

After issuing the appropriate command for correct terminal type and shell type from below, you should be able to launch an IDL Command Line session with the following command from a new terminal window:

    idl

  1) For Apple Terminal:

    a) For a Bash shell, issue the following command:

    Issue the following command at the terminal window prompt:

      echo "source /Applications/exelis/idl84/bin/idl_setup.bash" >> ~/.bash_profile

    b) For a C shell (csh):

    Issue the following command at the terminal window prompt:

      echo "source /Applications/exelis/idl84/bin/idl_setup" >> ~/.cshrc

  2) For XQuartz/X11 Terminal:

    a) For a Bash shell, issue the following command:

    Issue the following command at the terminal window prompt:

      echo "source /Applications/exelis/idl84/bin/idl_setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc

    b) For a C shell (csh):

    Issue the following command at the terminal window prompt:

      echo "source /Applications/exelis/idl84/bin/idl_setup" >> ~/.cshrc

 

Created JU 19-may-2015; kk reviewed