The ENVI application programming interface (API) lets you customize ENVI functionality for your specific needs. An ENVI+IDL license is required to work with the API. These topics will help you get started writing simple IDL scripts to:

• Automate common image-processing tasks such as classification and principal components analysis (PCA)
• Process several data files at once in batch mode
• Work with multiple layers of data
• Interactively control multiple views in the user interface
• Manage metadata such as add custom fields, edit or remove existing fields

The core foundation of the API was first introduced in ENVI 5.0 to provide control over the new user interface design, to take advantage of faster image and vector processing, and to support the use of multiple data layers. We are continually adding more functionality and image-processing routines to the API with each version of ENVI.

See the following sections:

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Getting Started with Writing ENVI API Scripts
  • Objects
  • Writing Your First Script
  • Where to Find Help
• Display Control
  • Views and Layers
  • Portals
• Working with Rasters
  • Access Data Files
  • Open Rasters in ENVI
  • View Raster Properties
  • Define Spatial Subsets
  • Export Rasters to Disk
  • View Raster Pixel State
• Raster Metadata
  • Standard Metadata
  • User-Defined Metadata
• Map Information
  • Types of Map Information
  • Georeference Imagery using RPCs
  • Image-to-Map Registration
  • Create a Georeferenced Layer Stack
  • Convert Rasters from Once Coordinate System to Another
  • Converting Between Different Coordinate Types
• Data Processing using ENVITasks
  • Discover What Tasks are Available
  • Define Input Properties
  • Validate Tasks
  • Run Tasks
  • Create Output
• Metatasks
• Custom Tasks
  • Custom Task Base Classes
  • Style Sheets for User Interface Elements
• Annotations
• Custom Plot Functions
• Workflows
• Processing Large Rasters Using Tile Iterators
  • Spatial and Spectral Modes
• Advanced Concepts
  • Error Handling
  • Event Handling
  • Messaging
  • Toolbox Extensions
• List of Routines by Function