Local IDL Routines

(This page was created by a MODIFICATION of the IDL library routine mk_html_help).

List Last updated: Mon Nov 3 11:18:32 2008.

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• - This function returns the string needed to draw the specified greek character using either the vector graphics font no. 4, or PostScript font 9. If (!d.name eq 'PS') and (!p.font eq 0), then the PostScript font will be used. Otherwise, the vector font will be used.
• ADDLABELNODES - Add LABEL sub-nodes to MDSplus signal nodes reading info from a file
• ADDMDSTAGS - Add tags to MDSplus nodes
• ADDSIGNODES - Add signal nodes and tags to a MDSplus tree for many shots
• ADDTREETOTAG - return tags with trees merged in
• ADD_TAG - Add a new tag to the structure. NOTE: if you want to add more than one tag at once, use ADD_TAGS
• AMEDIAN - Works the same as MEDIAN, but the effect tapers off at the edges.
• ANIM2CINE - Create an mpeg or avi movie from two .cin files from Phantom 7 Cameras. The data can be color or monochrome
• ANIMXYPLOT - Animate X-Y plot of a 2-D array
• ARRAY_EQ - Return TRUE if two arrays are equal, else false.
• BADPAR - (one line) Validate an input parameter against valid entries.
• BAD_PTDATA_ERROR - Return a logical true IF the PTDATA error is serious
• BANGPW - Widget to set interactively some !P values. Lists colors by name, if mk_color used; otherwise finds "closest" index to named colors. Allows selection of several custom plotting symbols (see PLOTSYM).
• BELL - Ring terminal bell.
• BETTERRAINBOW - Loads a rainbow color palette with 6 evenly-spaced (roughly) colors
• BETTERTICKLABELS - Tick labels are made a little cleaner. E.g., shorter exponentials, no unnecessary trailing zeroes, accurate numbers when tick values are small differences between large numbers, etc.
• BIN2D - Create a density image (2D histogram) from arrays of (x,y) points, or create an image of a function from arrays of ( x, y, f(x,y) ) data. In first case each pixel counts # of (x,y) points falling into a 2D bin (box), thus forming an image of counters. In optional case, each pixel is the average of all f(x,y) data falling into the box. Boxes are determined by dividing the (x,y) range into a uniform grid.
• BITMAPBUTTONS - Illustrate use of bitmapbuttons in IDL
• BITS - Given a byte or integer, return a vector of 8 or 16 values which are the binary representation of the value.
• BPWFEDIT - Read, Edit, & Plot Breakpoint Waveform files used in ppcc system on TFTR
• BREAKMDSNAME - break an MDS pathname near the middle, if too long
• BREAKSTRING - Break a string up and return a string array
• BREAKTEXT - break up (justify) text so lines not longer than a certain length.
• BREAK_PATH - Breaks up a path string into its component directories.
• BTEST - To test bit N in FIX(X)
• CACHECKMONITOR - This function returns a non-zero value if there is a new (unread) monitor for this process variable, otherwise it returns zero. This function is particularly useful when a caGet() operation is expensive in time, e.g. reading large arrays.
• CACLEARMONITOR - This procedure clears a monitor on the specified process variable. It cancels the effect of caSetMonitor().
• CADEBUG - This procedure turns the EZCA debugging flag on or off. Turning on the debugging flag prints lots of information, which is mainly useful to developers.
• CAENDGROUP - This function ends an "asynchronous group". See caStartGroup for more information on asynchronous groups. caEndGroup flushes the queue of caGet and caPut calls and waits for replies from the channel access servers.
• CAERROR - This procedure controls error printing and returns error strings.
• CAGET - This function reads the value of a Channel Access process variable.
• CAGETARRAY - This function reads values for a list of Channel Access process variable. It returns 0 if successful, returns -1 if failed.
• CAGETCONTROLLIMITS - This procedure reads the control limits for the specified channel access process variable.
• CAGETCOUNTANDTYPE - This function returns the number of elements and data type of a Channel Access process variable.
• CAGETENUMSTRINGS - This function returns all of the choice strings associated with a Channel Access "enum" process variable. It is particularly useful for building menus of options.
• CAGETERROR - This function get CA return codes for a list of process variable names. Return code can be 0 or -1, 0 for success, -1 for failure.
• CAGETGRAPHICLIMITS - This procedure reads the graphic limits for the specified channel access process variable.
• CAGETPRECISION - This procedure reads the precision for the specified channel access process variable.
• CAGETRETRYCOUNT - This function returns the value of the EZCA retry count parameter. In conjunction with the EZCA Timeout parameter it determines how long EZCA will try to connect to a process variable before giving up.
• CAGETSTATUS - This procedure reads the status parameters for a channel access process variable.
• CAGETTIMEOUT - This function returns the value of the EZCA Timeout parameter. This value determines the time parameter passed to ca_pend_io() in EZCA. In conjunction with the EZCA RetryCount parameter it determines how long EZCA will try to connect to a process variable before giving up.
• CAGETUNITS - This procedure reads the units string for the specified channel access process variable.
• CAINIT - This routine sets the channel access timeout used by list array functions defined in EzcaScan library. It also sets the values of two constants, MAX_STRING_SIZE and MAX_ENUM_STATES used in other functions. This routine MUST be called before any other routines in this file.
• CAMONITOR - This function provides Add/Get/Check/Clear monitor features on a single PV or a list of PV names.
• CAPENDEVENT - This function causes the Ezca to call channel access ca_pend_event function.
• CAPENDIO - This routine sets the timeout used by ca_pend_io in array get/ put used in EzcaScan library.
• CAPUT - This procedure writes a new value to a channel access process variable.
• CAPUTARRAY - This function writes an array of data to a list of Channel Access process variable. It returns 0 if successful, else retuns -1.
• CASCAN - This function provides add/get/zero/clear monitor features on a scan record and a set of PV names.
• CASEARCH - This function searches for a list of process variable names. It returns 0 if successful, returns -1 if failed.
• CASETMONITOR - This procedure sets a monitor on the specified process variable. This causes a channel access callback to execute whenever the value of that process variable changes. Subsequent calls to caGet() after calling caSetMonitor will read the values provided by the callbacks, rather than reading from the IOC.
• CASETRETRYCOUNT - This procedure sets the value of the EZCA RetryCount parameter. In conjunction with the EZCA Timeout parameter it determines how long EZCA will try to connect to a process variable before giving up.
• CASETTIMEOUT - This procedure sets the value of the EZCA Timeout parameter. This value determines the time parameter passed to ca_pend_io() in EZCA. In conjunction with the EZCA RetryCount parameter it determines how long EZCA will try to connect to a process variable before giving up.
• CAST - Generalized type casting. Converts variables whose type code is out of the range [LOW,HIGH] into this range.
• CASTARTGROUP - This procedure starts an "asynchronous group". Within an asynchronous group all calls to caGet and caPut are asynchronous, i.e. they queue a request and return immediately without waiting for a reply from the channel access servers. Calling caEndGroup causes the queue to be flushed and waits for the replies. The use of asynchronous groups can greatly improve the efficiency of channel access. The user must be aware of the restrictions on caGet outlined under the description of that routine.
• CATIMESTAMP - This function returns the time stamp of corresponding value for the specified record name.
• CATRACE - This procedure turns the EZCA trace flag on or off. Turning on the trace flag prints lots of information which is mainly useful to developers. Setting the trace flag results in less verbose output than setting the debug flag (see caDebug).
• CAVERSION - This function returns the string of current version information about ezcaIDL
• CHECKMDSTREE - Check MDS trees, say after a transfer. Produce a file with a list of nodes and checksum of contents of each numerical node or first element of non-numeric nodes.
• CH_EXAMPLE - a simple example using the GA Crosshair routines
• CH_REGISTER - register window for crosshair routines
• CINE2MPEG - Create an mpeg movie from a .cin files from Phantom 7 Cameras. The data can be color or monochrome
• CINE_LOAD - Read a frame from a .cin file from a Phantom 7 camera.
• CINE_TIME - Read a frame from a .cin file from a Phantom 7 camera.
• CLEANPLOT - Reset all system variables (!P,!X,!Y,!Z) to their default values
• CLEARPLT - This procedure will clear or zero all or a selection of the system plot variables
• CLICKON7 - Allow recording of click locations on .cin files from a Phantom 4 or 7 camera. Also displays files from the color Miro camera. Also, view animations and save frames at JPEG, GIF or TIFF files.
• CLICKONW - Allow recording of click locations on Tiff files. e.g., can be used for tracking dust particles from fast camera images of plasmas
• COLORBAR - The purpose of this routine is to add a color bar to the current graphics window.
• COLORSEARCH - Return color index (or closest available) from the color name.
• COLOR_RESOURCE_EXAMPLE - Example of color buttons on a widget.
• COLOR_STATUS_EXAMPLE - Example of color status fields on a widget.
• COMBINE_STRUCTS - takes two arrays of structures str1,str2 which have the same number of elements but possibly different tags and makes another structure which has the same number of elements but the tags of both str1,str2 and has their respective tags values copied into it
• COMPW - Plot two signals and the difference.
• CONVOLVE - Convolution of an image with a Point Spread Function (PSF)
• COPY_STRUCT - Copy all fields with matching tag names from one structure to another
• CW_BGROUP3_6 - CW_BGROUP3_6 is a compound widget that simplifies creating a base of buttons. It handles the details of creating the proper base (standard, exclusive, or non-exclusive) and filling in the desired buttons. Events for the individual buttons are handled transparently, and a CW_BGROUP3_6 event returned. This event can return any one of the following: - The Index of the button within the base. - The widget ID of the button. - The name of the button. - An arbitrary value taken from an array of User values.
• CW_FIELD - This widget cluster function manages a data entry field widget. The field consists of a label and a text widget. CW_FIELD's can be string fields, integer fields or floating-point fields. The default is an editable string field.
• CW_PDLIST - CW_PDList is a compound widget that simplifies creating pulldown menus. It has a simpler interface than the XPDMENU procedure, which it is intended to replace. Events for the individual buttons are handled transparently, and a CW_PDList event returned. This event can return any one of the following: - The Index of the button within the base. - The widget ID of the button. - The name of the button. - The fully qualified name of the button. This allows different sub-menus to contain buttons with the same name in an unambiguous way.
• CW_PDMENU - CW_PDMENU is a compound widget that simplifies creating pulldown menus. It has a simpler interface than the XPDMENU procedure, which it is intended to replace. Events for the individual buttons are handled transparently, and a CW_PDMENU event returned. This event can return any one of the following: - The Index of the button within the base. - The widget ID of the button. - The name of the button. - The fully qualified name of the button. This allows different sub-menus to contain buttons with the same name in an unambiguous way.
• DATATYPE - Datatype of variable as a string (3 char or spelled out).
• DATE2JD - Convert a date string to Julian Day number.
• DATE2YMD - Date text string to the numbers year, month, day.
• DB_COLUMNS - list database tables and columns in which the column name contains a string.
• DECODE_GRAY - Convert a gray-code value to an integer
• DELFROMLIST - delete ith element from a list
• DIALOG_INPUT - A modal (blocking) dialog widget to input a line of text. The dialog must be dismissed, by entering text and pressing the Return key, or by clicking on the 'Ok' or 'Cancel' button before execution of the calling program can continue.
• DISPLAYFCMDS - Animate Fast Camera images from MDSplus with the time overlayed
• DISPLAYFCTIFFS - Animate Fast Camera images with the time overlayed
• DOMAINNAME - Return TCP/IP domain name from Unix systems
• DRAWRECTANGLE - draw a rectangle in data coordinates
• DT_NICENUMBER - Makes nice delta time numbers, by rounding to 3 significant digits Can be used if you want to know if you have a constant timebase.
• EDITTABLE - Edit a structure with a table where the second item in the structure is on/off. You can set all items (but the first) on, off, or to a specific value. If there are more rows than will fit on your screen, it will make new columns.
• EFITMOVIES - Plot EFIT field lines, Thomson Scattering Density and Temperature and, optionally, Fast Camera images. Instead of Fast Camera, can plot H-alpha (or another) signal vs. time.
• EFITPLUSCAM - Plot Camera images along with EFIT field lines, and also plot Ip, Pnb, and H-alpha (or another) signal vs. time.
• EFITPLUSCAMMDS - Plot Camera images along with EFIT field lines, and also plot Ip, Pnb, and H-alpha (or another) signal vs. time.
• EFITPLUSRF - Plot Camera images along with EFIT field lines, and also plot Ip, Pnb, and H-alpha (or another) signal vs. time.
• ERROR_MESSAGE -
• EVENTSPAWN - When a designated MDSplus event is detected, spawn an IDL procedure, first killing any versions that are running.
• EXECONEVENT - Widget to spawn an executable (with shot as argument) when an MDSplus event occurs.
• EZCASTRINGTOBYTE - This function converts an array of strings to a 2-D byte array
• FACTOR - Find prime factors of a given number.
• FANCY_TITLE - write a title at top of screen, with option to use Hershey fonts
• FCDCMOVIES - Plot Fast Camera and Divertor Camera images along with EFIT field lines, and, optionally, Thomson Scattering Density and Temperature. You may also plot H-alpha (or another) signal vs. time.
• FCMOVIES - Plot EFIT field lines, Thomson Scattering Density and Temperature and Fast Camera images. Can also plot H-alpha (or another) signal vs. time.
• FCTIFFSVCR - animate Fast Camera tiffs with VCR-like controls. from the resulting widget, you may write an Mpeg file
• FCVCR - Plot Fast Camera images with a VCR-like interface
• FDECOMP - Routine to decompose a file name for any operating system
• FILETIME2DBTIME - Return times in filetimes format in database format
• FILTER_IMAGE - Identical to MEDIAN or SMOOTH but handle edges and allow iterations.
• FINDALLCHAR - Find all appearances of a character in a scalar string
• FINDDISKS - return a list of disks shown in the df command on Linux
• FINDMDSNODES - Search for MDSplus nodes or tags with a name containing a string
• FINDMDSTIME - find a time within an MDSplus shot, correspoding to the time of Max Ip, time of Max W-tot, etc. signals come from the EFIT tree when possible.
• FINDPEAKS - Find peaks in a data array. To be a peak a local maximum must have a 25% higher range than the first and last quarter of the peak range.
• FINDVALIDSHOTS - Search MDS Plus Trees for valid shot numbers with data in a particular node
• FIND_COMMON() - : Find which elements are common to the input vectors.
• FIND_FONT - Select a Unix hardware font for IDL graphics.
• FIRSTSIGNAME - Return the first signal name in a TDI expression. Needed when you want the xaxis from a combination of signals.
• FITSRUN - Quickly tell which EFITs and LRDFITs exist for an MDSplus shot
• FLUXCOORDS - Return flux coordinates for input R values at a given Z
• FOUNDSUBTREE - determine if sub trees like efit05, lrdfit06, etc. exist
• FROMIDLTIME - Convert from IDL-syle time (output from SYSTIME(0), to form of '06/14/2004 11:04:52'
• FSC_COLOR - The purpose of this function is to obtain drawing colors by name and in a device/decomposition independent way. The color names and values may be read in as a file, or 104 color names and values are supplied with the program. These colors were obtained from the file rgb.txt, found on most X-Window distributions. Representative colors were chosen from across the color spectrum. To see a list of colors available, type: Print, FSC_Color(/Names), Format='(6A18)'.
• FULLMDSPATH - Return an MDSplus path for a tag
• GAMMA_RAISE - Apply gamma correction to an array, presumably an image.
• GAUSSIAN - Compute the 1-d Gaussian function and optionally the derivative
• GA_DATA - A GA_Data object defines a dataset Y as a function of X. It can be drawn on a Plot defined by a GA_Plot object.
• GA_DATA::ADD_TEXT - Add a text annotation defined by GA_AnnotateText object that will be drawn together with this data object onto the plot object.
• GA_DATA::DELETE_TEXT - Deletes a text member from the data object.
• GA_DATA::DRAW - Overplots this data set onto a Plot that has been established by a GA_Plot object.
• GA_DATA::GETCOLOR - Retrieves the color index associated with this data set.
• GA_DATA::GETFLAGAUTOLABEL - Retrieves value of FlagAutoLabel
• GA_DATA::GETLABEL - Retrieves the label of this dataset. If not set, use YName. Can be overridden by subclasses to supply automatically generated label. FlagAutoLabel is provided to facilitate this.
• GA_DATA::GETLINESTYLE -
• GA_DATA::GETLINESTYLENONE - Retrieves linestyle index for 'NONE' (no line).
• GA_DATA::GETPLOT - Retrieves the GA_Plot object that contains this data object.
• GA_DATA::GETSYMBOL -
• GA_DATA::GETSYMBOLSIZE -
• GA_DATA::GETXDATA - Retrieves abscissa vector X.
• GA_DATA::GETXNAME - Retrieves the name of X vector.
• GA_DATA::GETXRANGE - Retrieves the range of X data.
• GA_DATA::GETYDATA - Retrieves ordinate vector Y.
• GA_DATA::GETYNAME - Retrieves the name of Y vector.
• GA_DATA::GETYRANGE - Retrieves the range of Y data.
• GA_DATA::INIT - Initializes the GA_Data object.
• GA_DATA::SETPROPERTY - Sets the value of a property or group of properties for the GA_Data.
• GA_DATA::SET_TEXT_PROPERTY - Sets the parameters associated with a text annotation object.
• GA_PLOT - A GA_Plot object draws graphs of its data members. It is a container of GA_Data objects. If it has more than one data object member, the data members are overlayed. A plot object can be thought as a wrapper to IDL's PLOT command, keyword values to the PLOT command are preserved as plot object's or data objects' members. A plot object is plotted on a window created by a GA_Plot_Window object which may contain several plot objects.
• GA_PLOT::ADD_DATA - This method allows you to add another data object to the plot object. Properties of the data object may be set with the method's keywords. Extra carries any keywords acceptable by Ga_Data[3]::Init. A new data object will be created and the reference is returned. See also GA_Plot::Add_Data_Object
• GA_PLOT::ADD_DATA_OBJECT - This method allows you to add a GA_DATA or GA_DATA3 object to the plot object. The data object reference is returned. See also GA_Plot::Add_Data
• GA_PLOT::ADD_TEXT - This method adds a text annotation to a specified location on the plot.
• GA_PLOT::AUTO_RANGE - Set data ranges automatically according to data. This is needed for multiple data sets. Set both xrange and yrange by default.
• GA_PLOT::DELETE_DATA - This method allows you to delete a data set member from the Plot Object. The data set may be specified by indicating its NAME, by indicating its POSITION (index number), or by the data OBJECT itself. (See the Select_Data method for more details about a data set's NAME and POSITION.)
• GA_PLOT::DRAW - This method draws the Plot Object, including all of the data members included in the Plot Object.
• GA_PLOT::GETDATAOBJECTS - The method returns the array of data objects stored in this plot object.
• GA_PLOT::GETDATASELECTED - Retrieves the selected data object. A data object can be selected by clicking near to the data points with Left-Mouse-Button in 'Select' mode.
• GA_PLOT::GETWINDOW - This method returns the GA_Plot_Window object that the plot object belongs to, for EditCallBack purpose.
• GA_PLOT::GET_DATA_PROPERTY - This method allows you to retrieve the properties of a data member belonging to the plot. Data member is identified by passing its object reference (which can be obtained with the Select_Data method). If a data member is not specified, the first data memeber is used as a default.
• GA_PLOT::GET_PLOT_PROPERTY - This method allows you to obtain the standard Plot properties from the Plot Object. (See the Init Method for a more complete explanation of these Plot properties.)
• GA_PLOT::INIT - This method initializes a GA_Plot object. Standard properties are set with positional and keyword parameters. The routine makes GA_DATA objects from the data passed into the method. Use the Add_Data method to add additional data sets and the Delete_Data method to remove data sets from the Plot Object. Data inside the data objects can be modified with the Set_Data_Property method. Think of this initialization routine as a wrapper for the PLOT command. Use keywords appropriate for the PLOT command in making the call.
• GA_PLOT::SELECT_DATA - This method retrieves a particular data object associated with this plot object. A data can be selected by name or by index number.
• GA_PLOT::SETSLICEMODE - Set mode for data slicing. For a GA_Plot object, the plot can be used as a slicer to slice through other GA_Plot3 objects in the same window. The data in this plot will not be sliced because there is no third dimension. See also GA_Plot3::SetSliceMode
• GA_PLOT::SET_DATA_PROPERTY - This method allows you to change the parameters associated with a particular data object. You must specify a particular data set by passing the object reference to the data set. (This can be obtained with the GA_Plot::Select_Data method.) If a data set object is not specified as the data member, the first data set is used by default.
• GA_PLOT::SET_PLOT_PROPERTY - This method allows you to set the standard Plot properties. If the DRAW keyword is set, the plot will be drawn after the new properties are set. (See the Init Method for a more complete explanation of these Plot properties.)
• GA_PLOT::SET_TEXT_PROPERTY - This method allows you to change the parameters associated with a text annotaion object. The textMember is the index number of the text object. All text members are used by default if no textMember is specified.
• GA_PLOTW - Plot widget for "table" of data, or input X & Y arrays.
• GA_PLOT_WINDOW - A GA_Plot_Window is a compound widget with a draw window that contains one or several GA_Plot[3] objects. Plots can be added or deleted. The window object handles plot layout, coordinates, preference and properties configurations, mouse events and draws all the plots through their own draw methods.
• GA_PLOT_WINDOW::ADD_PLOT - This method adds a plot to the window. A new column of plots will be created if necessary to accomodate the new plot. A plot object is required. If NoDuplicate keyword is set, check if newPlot belongs to the window already. If so, return.
• GA_PLOT_WINDOW::CHECKPLOTNUMBERS - Goes through member plots and checks to ensure that they are sequentially numbered. Renumbers them if they are not. Plots having the same number are overlayed and can cause confusing display results. This routine is optional - to be used by the parent application if needed. It returns 0 if no plot has been renumbered, returns 1 otherwise.
• GA_PLOT_WINDOW::DELETE_PLOT - This method deletes a plot from the list of plots within the window. Plots are numbered from 1 to N and are in column order in the window. NO EDITCALLBACK is generated by this method! For an EDITCALLBACK use GA_Plot_Window::RemovePlot.
• GA_PLOT_WINDOW::DRAW - Draws all the plots in this window by calling the plot objects Draw method.
• GA_PLOT_WINDOW::DUMP - Prints out pointers to plot objects and their associated data objects. For debugging purposes.
• GA_PLOT_WINDOW::EDITCALLBACK - Perform an IDL procedure call upon certain editing action, CALL_PROCEDURE,ProName,Parent,oData,oPlot,Action ProName is the procedure name specified by keyword EDITCALLBACK when the window object is created (see GA_Plot_Window::Init). This procedure should expect four arguments. Parent The parent widget of the PARENT argument specified in GA_Plot_Window::Init. If the GA_Plot_Window is created through CW_GAWindow, Parent will be the PARENT argument passed to CW_GAWindow. oData A GA_Data object or a null object. oPlot A GA_Plot object or a null object. Action An action string such as 'ADD_DATA','DELETE_DATA', 'DELETE_PLOT','REFERENCE_POINT',etc.
• GA_PLOT_WINDOW::GETCURRENTTOOL - Retrieves the name of the current mouse mode. Possible modes are ['Select','Zoom','Edit','Cursor','Slice','Mark','Vector'] plus those defined by MOUSEMODES.
• GA_PLOT_WINDOW::GETPLOT - Retrieves a plot object specified by its index number.
• GA_PLOT_WINDOW::GETPLOTLIST - Retrieves the names of plots in this window object. A name is specified or a default is given when a plot object is created.
• GA_PLOT_WINDOW::INIT - Initializes a GA_Plot_Window object. The window is conceived as a compound widget via CW_GAWindow. When you get the "value" of the compound widget, you are returned the window object. Instead of "setting values" to the compound widget, you call window object methods.
• GA_PLOT_WINDOW::INSERT_PLOT - Inserts a new plot at a specified index number. The plot numbers are shifted by 1 (+1) from the inserted plot.
• GA_PLOT_WINDOW::REMOVE_PLOT - If the PLOT tag in EDITFLAGS structure is set, this method deletes the plot object specified by the index number. A GA_Plot_Window::EditCallBack is generated.
• GA_PLOT_WINDOW::REPLACE_PLOT - This method replaces a current plot in the window with another plot.
• GA_PLOT_WINDOW::RESTOREPREFERENCES - Restore user's preferences from file specified by PreferencesFile. This file is always in user's HOME directory.
• GA_PLOT_WINDOW::SAVEPREFERENCES - Save the current settings to user's preferences file specified by PreferencesFile. This file is always in user's HOME directory.
• GA_PLOT_WINDOW::SETAUTOGRID - Turn on or off the automatic grid layout calculation.
• GA_PLOT_WINDOW::SETCHARSIZE -
• GA_PLOT_WINDOW::SETCOLORFLAG - Resetting the color table.
• GA_PLOT_WINDOW::SETCURRENTTOOL - This method sets the current tool(mouse mode) to be used in the window. 'SELECT' - Seleting a data or a plot for manipulation, copying and deletion, etc. 'ZOOM' - Zoom and reset a plot, switch between multiple and single-plot displays. 'EDIT' - Add, delete or move data points. 'CURSOR' - Mark reference points, switch cursor readout from absolute to relative. 'SLICE' - Change the slices of the 3D data being plotted. 'MARK' - Mark a data point with a special symbol. 'VECTOR' - Change vector magnitute, data point resampling rate, etc.
• GA_PLOT_WINDOW::SETMAXGRID - Set the maximum number of columns and rows for determining grid layout of plots automatically.
• GA_PLOT_WINDOW::SET_CROSSHAIRS - This method turns cursor crosshair tracking on or off.
• GA_PLOT_WINDOW::SET_STATUS_WINDOW - This method assigns a text or label widget ID to be the status window. Cursor tracking reports are sent to the status window.
• GA_PLOT_WINDOW::USERSETGRID - Allows manually setting the grid layout of the plots. If howeve, the total number of plots is greater than GRID[0]*GRID[1], the grid is recalculated automatically.
• GETFILETIME - return creation date and time of a file
• GETIMAGE - The purpose of this function is to allow the user to open either regular or XDR binary image files of two or three dimensions.
• GETMDSLABEL - return a label for an MDSplus signal. If there is a :LABEL sub-node, use that string, else if there is a :COMMENT sub-node, use that, else return the MDSplus signal name.
• GETNEXTFILE - get next file in a directory, defaulting to alphabetic search
• GETSCOPENAMES - return signal names from an MDSplus Scope input file
• GETTOK - Function to retrieve the first part of the string until the character char is encountered.
• GETWRD - Return the n'th word from a text string.
• GET_DELIM - returns file delimiter that is appropriate to VMS, UNIX or Windows
• GET_TEXT_INPUT - Prompt the user for input with a question and return the text string typed by user. For X-windows the input is through a text widget, in the middle of the screen, and the text widget waits until carriage return is entered. Otherwise input is in the terminal window, with a beep to alert user.
• GOOD_IP - Determine if plasma current (Ip) was good for a shot and, optionally declare an event.
• GRIDPLOT - Widget for plotting a grid of data from MDSplus or gadat This is an interactive version of ShotLoop. If at GA, assume that access will be through gadat only. When a plot on the grid is clicked on, it is expanded into a separate window.
• HIGHESTEFITRUN - find highest efit version run (in the MDSplus tree) Checks up to 5, and contigously after that
• IMAGEPROC - Demonstrate a few of IDL's image processing features: Fourier filtering, pixel scaling, pixel distribution (histogram), edge enhancement, dilate & erode, convolution, and zooming.
• INTERP2D - Perform bilinear 2d interpolation using the IDL intrinsic interpolate procedure
• INTERPWF - Interpolate MDS signal, or array, to 1 KHz Quickly.
• INT_DEFINED - see if a value is defined and is an integer
• ISARRAY - Tests if the argument is an array.
• ISNUM - Checks whether the input is a number.
• ISOTIME - Return time in ISO 8601 standard, assuming US East Coast. (handles Daylight Savings time)
• JD2DATE - Convert a Julian Day number to a date string.
• JD2YMD - Find year, month, day from julian day number.
• LABELEVERYOTHERTICK - Only label every other major tic mark. The format of the numbers is customized.
• LASTMDSSHOT - get the last (current) MDS shot
• LEAFNAME - Return leaf name from MDSplus pathname(s)
• LEGEND - Create an annotation legend for a plot.
• LINESOUT - Write lines out to an X window. Works like xyouts, but uses line #'s (from the top) and /right if you want to right justify text.
• LINTERP - Linearly interpolate tabulated 1-d data from one grid to a new one.
• LISTFROMPERL - Called from a Perl Script to list MDSplus data from a Web Page
• LISTSHOTS - List shot numbers with signal over/under a certain amount
• LIST_PRINTER_UNIX - LIST available printers from /etc/printcap, /etc/printcap.lprng or /etc/printers.conf
• LOGBOOK_LIST - List info from the NSTX logbook (to a screen or file)
• LOGBOOK_LIST_PLUS - List info from the NSTX logbook (to a screen or file)
• LONG64DATE2STR - Return date from a 64-bit longword, like 1112308040, as returned from file_info, in a more conventional format.
• LONGDATE2STR - Return date from a longword, like 20060218, in a more conventional format
• MAXSTRUCT - find the maximum of a structure (ignores structures within the input structure)
• MDSDAT - "replacement" for gadat.pro. Get MDSplus signal data without having to open a tree (much faster, if a tree is specified)
• MDSDATAVSSHOT - Print single values of MDSplus signals vs. shot number. The value can be the max or min, or at a specific time, including time of Max Ip, Max Neutrons, etc. The shot list may be reduced by certain qualifiers, such as to shots where the max of an arbitrary signal is > a given value. Output can be in a format suitable for importing into Kaleidograph, Excel, etc.
• MDSDECLAREEVENT - set an MDS event with shot number associated with the event
• MDSEVENTWAIT - Widget to Wait for an MDSplus event, or the user clicks the CANCEL button.
• MDSGETSIG - Get a signal, units and axes values easily from MDSplus
• MDSLIST - Print ASCII file containing data for MDSplus signal(s). The "dimension" of one of the signals (typically time) is in the first column, followed by data values at that time. Output may be in the format suitable for importing into Kaleidograph, Excel, etc.
• MDSLOADSCALAR - Load MDSplus scalar with one simple call (after opening shot)
• MDSLOADSIG - Load MDSplus signals with one simple call (after opening shot) Optionally add node and/or tag to a shot tree.
• MDSMKFILE - Write an ascii file containing time and data for MDSplus signal(s). Time is in the first column, followed by data values at that time. Output may be in the format suitable for importing into Kaleidograph, Excel, etc.
• MDSNODECHANGES - Print times when the last change was made to an MDSplus node.
• MDSSCALARS - Print ASCII file containing values of MDSplus scalars(s) for a list of shots.
• MDSSETEVENT - Generates an MDSplus event
• MDSSHOTDATE - Print time and date of an NSTX shot.
• MDSSIGINTERP - call TDI to interpolate signals, but handle expressions in which multiple signals are included. (assumes all same timebase within a given TDI expression)
• MDSTIME2DBTIME - Convert date & time from MDSplus to database format
• MDSTREECHANGES - Print times when the last change was made to an MDSplus tree, and who did it.
• MDSUNITS - return units of an MDS tag, or the time, or time units
• MDSW - Interactively plot MDS signals with Crosshairs and many options
• MDSWFEVENT - Wait for an MDSplus event
• MDSW_NOCH - Plot one MDS signal simply (without Crosshairs)
• MEDSMOOTH - Median smoothing of a vector, including point near it's ends.
• MINMAX - print the min and the max of an array
• MKDATEDIR - Make a directory of the form YYYYMMDD (if it doesnt't exist) and move files there if the files were last modified on that date.
• MK_BITARRAY - Create an array of 1's & 0's corresponding to input bits set (works for negative numbers, too, unlike similar routines)
• MK_COLOR - Create color tables with 12 fixed colors at the top. These colors can be referenced by name.
• MK_FILENAME - File names with system independent symbolic directories.
• MK_HTML_HELP - Given a list of IDL procedure files (.PRO), VMS text library files (.TLB), or directories that contain such files, this procedure generates a file in the HTML format that contains the documentation for those routines that contain a DOC_LIBRARY style documentation template. The output file is compatible with World Wide Web browsers.
• MK_JPEG - make a bit-map color jpeg file of an IDL window for (viewable) insertion into MS Word, or Powerpoint documents.
• MK_MPEG - Write a sequence of images from a 3-D array, or a series of tiff files, as an mpeg movie.
• MK_PDMENU - make a structure for a pull down menu for CW_PDMENU routine
• MK_SCOPE_GIF - make gif files from scope-like output, using a scope file as input
• MK_SHOTLIST - Parse an input string for shots into an array of shots
• MONEVENTS - Widget to monitor occurrence of MDSplus events & optional Shot #, if passed with the event declaration. The time of the event can also be displayed.
• MONEVENTS VERSION TO RUN IN BATCH MODE. - Widget to monitor occurrence of MDSplus events & optional Shot #, if passed with the event declaration. The time of the event can also be displayed.
• MONITORJOB - Monitor an IDL job, and restart it if not present
• MONTHNAMES - Returns a string array of month names.
• MONTHNUMBER - Returns a month number given a month name.
• MPCURVEFIT - Perform Levenberg-Marquardt least-squares fit (replaces CURVEFIT)
• MPEG_FROM_SCREEN - Example of creating a color Mpeg animation with text overlayed. Works on both 8-bit and 24-bit monitors. Can read from files, but those returning 24-bit data will not have the text overlaying option.
• MPFIT - Perform Levenberg-Marquardt least-squares minimization (MINPACK-1)
• MPFIT2DFUN - Perform Levenberg-Marquardt least-squares fit to a 2-D IDL function
• MPFIT2DPEAK - Fit a gaussian, lorentzian or Moffat model to data
• MPFITELLIPSE - Approximate fit to points forming an ellipse
• MPFITEXPR - Perform Levenberg-Marquardt least-squares fit to arbitrary expression
• MPFITFUN - Perform Levenberg-Marquardt least-squares fit to IDL function
• MPFITPEAK - Fit a gaussian, lorentzian or Moffat model to data
• MPLOTTITLE - write a plot title with NSTX label and a list of shots on left
• MPTSCAM - Animate several plots, including MPTS variables
• MSG_BELL - Print a message to the IDL session and ring a bell
• MULTIPLOT - Create multiple plots with shared axes.
• NEARESTI - Return index of input array closest to the value of "pt"
• NEARESTI_ARRAY - Return indices of big input array closest to the values in the little input array.
• NEXTGOODSHOT - find the next shot that has more than a certain Ip.
• NICENUMBER - Find a "nice" number close to the given number. Actually, this is for older digitizers, so "rounds" to numbers like 1, 2, 2.5, 5, etc.
• NNET.PRO - Neural network classifier. This is a standard 3-layer back-propagation net.
• NODENAME - Return nodename on Linux computer
• NODESEARCH - Search MDS Plus Trees for a node
• NONALPHANUM - find position of first character which are not alphanumeric (0-9, a-z, A-Z & _) if none found, returns strlen(input)
• NONNUMBER - find position of first character which is not a number (0-9). if none found, returns -1.
• NONVARPOS - find position of characters which are not valid for MDSplus names
• NSEARCH - Search MDS Plus Trees for a node
• NSTXCORNER - write NSTX in upper left-hand corner of a plot
• NSTXLOGO - draw NSTX logo in upper left-hand corner of a plot
• NUMBERPOS - find position of first character which is a number if none found, returns strlen(input)
• NUMLINES - Return the number of lines in a file
• NWORDS - Return the number of words in the given text string or string array.
• ONALPHA - Tests for running on an alpha computer. You can specify the the desired Alpha computer. Optionally beeps, and prints a message and returns an error if not on the desired Alpha computer.
• OPENMDSSHOT - Open MDSplus shot (recommend that just MDSopen.
• OS_FAMILY - Return the current operating system as in !VERSION.OS_FAMILY
• OVPLOT - Just like oplot, except it calls vcomp to "visually compress" an array for faster delivery of graphs at the expense of CPU time. All data spikes should be retained.
• PARCHECK - To check that a procedure has been called with the minimum of allowed number of parameters.
• PDSURFACE - This routine provides a graphical interface to the SURFACE and SHADE_SurfRangeACE commands. Different controls are provided to change the viewing angle and other plot parameters. The command used to generate the resulting surface plot is shown in a text window.
• PECOMP - Interactively compare PCS and EFIT signals for a shot
• PICKCOLORNAME - The purpose of this program is to provide a blocking or modal widget interface for selecting a color "name". The program uses colors familiar to the FSC_COLOR program, and is often used to select a color name for passing to FSC_COLOR.
• PINGPLOT - plot ping times to various computers (from sunfire13, probably).
• PLOT0CHECK - Plots blank axis if no data in !x.range or !y.range
• PLOT1SIG - plot 1 NSTX signal for many shots stacked vertically CATEGORY: NSTX, X-Y Plotting, MDSplus
• PLOT7 - plot 7 (or any number) NSTX signals on the same x-axis CATEGORY: NSTX, X-Y Plotting, MDSplus USE: IDL> plot7, shot [, t1, t2] to make 5 plots of same signal and different shots: IDL> shots = [ 111827, 111875, 111876, 112075, 112137 ] IDL> plot1sig,shots,signame='\wf::ip'
• PLOTCOLORFILL - Plots colorful bar charts
• PLOTHIST - Plot the histogram of an array with the corresponding abcissa.
• PLOTNORMAL - plot a normal curve on top of a histogram of data
• PLOTNSHOTS - make scope-like plots with overlays from multiple shots.
• PLOTNSIGS - make scope-like plots with overlays from multiple signals. this is the version of plotnshots that overlays different signals on the same axes
• PLOTSCOPE - make scope-like plots, optionally with overlays from multiple shots.
• PLOTSIG1VSSIG2 - plot 1 MDSplus signal vs. another
• PLOTSUMMARY - Plot vs. time a summary of a shot in a small frame
• PLOTSUMMARY4 - Plot vs. time a summary of a shot in a small frame
• PLOTSYM - Define useful plotting symbols not in the standard !PSYM definitions.
• PLOTTSFONT0 - This procedure will plot the fitted profiles of electron temperature,density, and presssure from the NSTX Multi-Pulse Thomson Scattering (MPTS) diagnostic.
• POLY_SMOOTH - Reduce noise in 1-D data (e.g. time-series, spectrum) but retain dynamic range of variations in the data by applying a least squares smoothing polynomial filter, also called the Savitzky-Golay smoothing filter. The low-pass filter coefficients are computed by effectively least-squares fitting a polynomial in moving window, centered on each data point, so the new value will be the zero-th coefficient of the polynomial. Approximate first derivates of the data can be computed by using first degree coefficient of each polynomial, and so on. The filter coefficients for a specified polynomial degree and window width are computed independent of any data, and stored in a common block. The filter is then convolved with the data array to result in smoothed data with reduced noise, but retaining higher order variations (better than averaging).
• PPPL_PRINTERS - return an array of strings of printer descriptions at PPPL
• PRIME - Return an array with the specified number of prime numbers.
• PRINTSCOPE - print scope-like output, using a scope file as input
• PRINT_PATH - prints component directories of an IDL path string.
• PROGRESSW - show progress bar until done, or the user clicks the STOP button.
• PRONAME - This function retrieves the name of the currently active procedure.
• PSF_GAUSSIAN - Create a 1-d, 2-d, or 3-d Gaussian with specified FWHM, center
• PSWINDOW - This function is used to calculate the size of a PostScript window that has the same aspect ratio (ratio of height to width) as the current display graphics window. It creates the largest possible PostScript output window with the desired aspect ratio. This assures that graphics output looks similar, if not identical, to PostScript output.
• PS_FORM - This function displays a form the user can interactively manipulate to configure the PostScript device driver (PS) setup. The function returns a structure of keywords that can be sent directly to the DEVICE command via its _EXTRA keyword
• PTR_FREE_RECURSIVELY - This routine when passed a pointer will free up any memory associated with that pointer. This includes structures, which could contain pointers, or other structures which could in turn contain more pointers. It also destroys objects it comes across. It can also cope with null pointers that are found on its travels.
• PWD - print the current working directory
• READCOL - Read a free-format ASCII data file with columns of data into IDL variables. Lines of data not meeting the specified format (e.g. comments) are ignored. Columns may be separated by commas or spaces. Use READFMT to read a fixed-format ASCII file. Use RDFLOAT for much faster I/O (but less flexibility).
• READ_ARRAY - Read a numeric array (1-D) from a text file
• READ_FLOATS - Read a list from a text file and return a floating-point array
• READ_GENERIC - read an image from a variety of types of files
• READ_LIST - Read a list from a text file and return a string array
• READ_NUMBERS - Read a numeric array (1-D) from a text file
• READ_QUOTED - Reads a file and returns anything between first two quotes.
• RELEASE NOTES -
• REMCHAR - Remove all appearances of character (char) from string (st)
• REMOVE - Contract a vector or up to 7 vectors by removing specified elements
• REM_ELEM - return subscripts of input array remaining after elements in a second array are removed
• REPCHR - Replace all occurrences of one character with another in a text string.
• REPSTR - Replace all occurences of one substring by another.
• RESAMPLE - Resample a vector with triangular smoothing.
• RESETPLT - This procedure will reset all or a selection of the system plot variables to their initial values
• RIGHTYAXISLIMITS - Widget to set some Y Axis values for the right-hand axis in mdsw
• RIGHT_ASPECT - Allow contour (or x-y) plots to have the aspect ratio of the data
• RMFILESBYDATE - Remove files not modified since a certain date
• ROUNDEDAXISLIMITS - Find "nice" axis values, like IDL plot routine does.
• RUNTOT - compute a running total of an array by calling an external routine (this is inefficient in normal IDL)
• SAMETYPE - make two variables the same numerical type
• SCREENDUMP - Postscript file from an IDL window, whether 8- or 24-bit graphics
• SCREEN_TITLE - write a plot title with shot date and time and NSTX label
• SDEV - Returns standard deviation of an array.
• SEARCHMDSNODES - Search MDSplus nodes for string contents
• SEARCHTEXTNODES - Search MDS Plus Trees for Textual Data
• SELECT_FONT - Select a Unix hardware font for IDL graphics.
• SETMDSSHOTEVENT - set an MDS event with shot number associated with the event
• SETPMULTI - partition the screen into different graphs if 7 or less plot boxes, then 1 column of plots if more than 7 plot boxes, then 2 columns of plots
• SETUP_PS - open postscript file and set system variables for postscript device
• SETUP_TEK - Set system variables for tektronix device. Use to direct plots to the Tek window in Versaterm, or to XTC.
• SHADE_SURFRANGE - make SHADE_SURF plots with x & y ranges (correctly)
• SHOCKVSTIME - Stack plots of a line from the center of .cin file image at various times See http://nstx.pppl.gov/nstx/Software/Help/shockwaves.html for sample images. After plotting, ou will be prompted for times for which calculate the speed of the leading edge of the shockwave.
• SHOTDURATION - Return the Shot Duration in seconds
• SHOW3M - Show a 2D array three ways in a display that combines SURFACE, CONTOUR, and an image (color/gray scale pixels).
• SHOWBITS - Given a byte or integer, return a vector of 8 or 16 values which are the binary representation of the value.
• SIGN - Gives the sign of X, i.e. 1 for positive, -1 for negative, 0 for 0.
• SIZE_STRUCT - Obtain the size in bytes of an IDL structure definition.
• SMOOTH2 - Do multiple smoothing. Gives near Gaussian smoothing.
• SPAWNPRINT - Spawn command on VMS or Unix to print a Postscript file
• SPEC_DIR - Provide a complete file specification by appending a default disk or directory if necessary.
• SQLFIXSPECIALCHARS - Encapsulate special characters so they can work in SQL text insertions The special characters are '%', '^', '$', '*', '@', '#', '(', '!', ')', '?'
• STACKPLOT - An example of X-window widgets for plotting some GA data
• STRARRAYSAME - Returns TRUE if two strings, or string arrays, are identical, else FALSE
• STRCONCAT - Concatenate a string array into single string, or a matrix of strings into a string array.
• STREP - Edit a string by position. Precede, Follow, Replace, Delete.
• STRESS - String edit by sub-string. Precede, Follow, Delete, Replace.
• STRETCHSTEPS - stretch parts of the color tables into steps.
• STRMATCH - check for string match to a wild card specification
• STRNUMBER - Function to determine if a string is a valid numeric value.
• STRPARSE - Parses the string LINE using the characters in DELIM as delimiters. Puts individual pieces into consecutive locations in LIST.
• STRUCEDIT - Widget to edit a structure of scalars from an IDL save file. The names of the input fields are the names of the structure elements.
• STRWHERE - a "where" operator for strings matching a set of string wild cards
• SURFRANGE - make SURF plots with x & y ranges (correctly)
• SYB_ENTRY - : Display/modify/create entries in the NSTX logbook database.
• TABINV - To find the effective index of a function value in an ordered vector.
• TAGRANKOF - Return a list of MDSplus signals with a certain rank (that contain data)
• TAGSEARCH - Search MDS Plus Trees for a tag
• TAG_EXIST - To test whether a tag name exists in a structure.
• TDIS - Search MDS Plus Trees for TDI DATA
• TEMPLATE - Provide a template for IDL routines to be used by others
• TESTCMD - test batch execution
• TEXTLINES - Form lines of text for outputing (say, in a table form). If formats are not input, then guess about good formatting for variables of different types.
• TH_IMAGE_CONT - Plot contours of Images with both contour lines and colors
• TOIDLTIME - Convert a date string to IDL time (output from SYSTIME(1), i.e., seconds since 1/1/1970
• TOTSTRUCT - find the total of numerical values in a structure (ignores structures within the input structure)
• TREE_EXISTS - Return a true if an MDSplus tree exists for a given shot number
• TRIMTAGNAMES - Trim tree info from an MDSplus tag name
• TRISMOOTH - Triangular smoothing of a vector, including points near the ends.
• TRUNS_GET - List info (in a database) on NSTX TRANSP runs (to a screen or file)
• TVIMAGE - This purpose of TVIMAGE is to enable the TV command in IDL to be a completely device-independent and color-decomposition- state independent command. On 24-bit displays color decomposition is always turned off for 8-bit images and on for 24-bit images. The color decomposition state is restored for those versions of IDL that support it (> 5.2). Moreover, TVIMAGE adds features that TV lacks. For example, images can be positioned in windows using the POSITION keyword like other IDL graphics commands. TVIMAGE also supports the !P.MULTI system variable, unlike the TV command. TVIMAGE was written to work especially well in resizeable graphics windows. Note that if you wish to preserve the aspect ratio of images in resizeable windows, you should set the KEEP_ASPECT_RATIO keyword, described below. TVIMAGE works equally well on the display, in the PostScript device, and in the Printer and Z-Graphics Buffer devices. The TRUE keyword is set automatically to the correct value for 24-bit images, so you don't need to specify it when using TVIMAGE.
• TWOSCOMPLEMENT - Taking the Two's Complement of an integer
• TYPE - Finds the type class of a variable.
• UNSETUP_PS - close a postscript file (opened by setup_ps) and re-set system variables for previous device.
• UNSETUP_TEK - undo system variables from setup_tek call.
• USESIGMATH - parse an MDSplus TDI string, substituting Brian Nelson's Signal Math TDI routines for +,-,* and /, so timebases get adjusted, if necessary.
• USINGXWINDOWS - Prompt user for switching Plot device to X.
• VAXIS - shell around AXIS procedure that sees if number of minor y tick marks need to be reduced, and if the number of y tick labels need to be cut in half.
• VCOMP - "visually compress" (resample) an array for faster plotting of lines. All data spikes should be retained. Will return y points for each x -- the min & max values. IF nFinal GE N_ELEMENTS(inData)*2 will just return inputs
• VECTORSURF - Shows a fancy way to plot irregulary spaced data from x,y & z vectors.
• VGDS_TITLE - write a plot title with shot date and time and NSTX label
• VIEWTEXT - View a string, or string array, of text in a scrollable text widget.
• VPLOT - Just like plot, except it calls vcomp to "visually compress" an array for faster delivery of graphs at the expense of CPU time. All data spikes should be retained.
• VT100 - Define the TEK and VT100 commands for use in IDL. Especially useful for MAC users who use Versaterm or users who otherwise want to do Tektronix plots while connected to their UNIX platform of choice.
• WATCHEVENTS - Widget to monitor occurrence of MDSplus events. If all events do not happen before next occurance of first event, send e-mail.
• WEBDISPLAY - Display web pages from IDL for Help, or other purposes.
• WEBPLOTSUM - Plot vs. time a summary of a shot in a small frame
• WEEKDAY - Compute weekday given year, month, day.
• WFMDSSHOTEVENT - Wait for an MDSplus event, with shot number coming in
• WHERE_ARR - Return the subscripts where a given set of values equal the values in the input array. It is basically an expansion of IDL where in which the condition to match can be an array.
• WHICH - Like Unix which, prints the path of an IDL routine.
• WHITEOUT - white-out a portion of the color table -- defaults to the 5 lowest locs.
• WIDGET_BOTTOM - Move a widget to the bottom of the screen or base widget.
• WITHRANKOF - Return a list of MDSplus signals with a certain rank (that contain data)
• WMHDWATCH - Widget to monitor occurrence of MDSplus events. If all events do not happen before next occurance of first event, send e-mail.
• WORDARRAY - Convert text string or string array to a 1-d array of words.
• WRITELOG - Provide a writeLog for IDL routines to be used by others
• WRITE_GENERIC - write an image to the appropriate type of file, based on file extension
• WRITE_IN_BOX - Writes a text message within a box in a graphics window.
• WRITE_MPEG - Write a sequence of images as an mpeg movie
• WRITE_TEXT - Write data to a text file
• XAXISW - Widget to set some X Axis values via the system variable !X
• XCDEDIT - A table editor modified from XVAREDIT for ppcc c.d file.
• XEASYANIM - animate 3-D array and optionally make MPEG Movie
• XFONT_4 - XFONT_4 is a modal widget for selecting and viewing an X Windows font.
• XIA - Display an animated sequence of images using X-windows Pixmaps. The speed and direction of the display can be adjusted using the widget interface.
• XSECTIONW - Widget to display an image and x-y plots of cross-sections. Color palettes may be loaded, adjusted and saved. Images can be saved as 'jpg','tif','tif','bmp','jpeg,'png', 'ppm', 'pgm', or 'gif'
• XVAREDIT - This routine provides an editor for any IDL variable.
• XYANIM - Animate a series of X-Y plots. Makes an animation in a XINTERANIMATE window. An MPEG file can then be saved, or the movie can be played with VCR-like controls
• YAXISW - Widget to set some Y Axis values via the system variable !Y
• YMD2DATE - Convert from year, month, day numbers to date string.
• YMD2JD - From Year, Month, and Day compute Julian Day number.
• YRMONTHDAY - Return a string of YYYYMMDD from a date string.
• ZAXISW - Widget to set some Z Axis values via the system variable !Y

Routine Descriptions

 NAME:
 
	GREEK

 PURPOSE:
 
       This function returns the string needed to draw the specified
       greek character using either the vector graphics font no. 4,
       or PostScript font 9.

       If (!d.name eq 'PS') and (!p.font eq 0), then the PostScript
       font will be used.  Otherwise, the vector font will be used.

 CALLING SEQUENCE:
 
	Result = GREEK(Name)

 INPUTS:
 
       Name - String specifying the greek character name. Valid
              inputs are:

              alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, zeta, eta, theta
              iota, kappa, lambda, mu, nu, xi, omicron, pi, rho,
              sigma, tau, upsilon, phi, chi, psi, omega

              Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta
              Iota, Kappa, Lambda, Mu, Nu, Xi, Omicron, Pi, Rho,
              Sigma, Tau, Upsilon, Phi, Chi, Psi, Omega

              Although not greek, the following characters are also
              valid (but will only work with the 'default' font !3):

              angstrom, Angstrom, degrees, plus_minus

 KEYWORDS:

       FORCE_PS - Set to use PostScript font, regardless of the value
                  of !d.name and !p.font.

       PLAIN - Set to just return Name in plain text.

       APPEND_FONT - Set to append the characters specifying a
                     'default' font: !3. That is, if this keyword is
                     set, then the command

                     Result=GREEK(theta,/APPEND_FONT)

                     will return the string

                     '!9q!3' for PostScript and '!4h!3' for vector
                     fonts.
 

 OUTPUTS:
 
       Result - The string containing the specified greek character.

 EXAMPLE:

	Result=GREEK(theta)
	
       In this case, Result='!9q' if !d.name is 'PS' and !p.font is
       0; otherwise, Result='!4h'

 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
 
 	David L. Windt, Bell Labs, September 1998.
       windt@bell-labs.com
                    

(See src/idl_cvs/greek.pro)

 NAME:
       addLabelNodes
 PURPOSE:
       Add LABEL sub-nodes to MDSplus signal nodes reading info from a file
 CATEGORY:
       MDSplus, TCL 
 CALLING SEQUENCE:
       addLabelNodes, shot1, shot2, filename=filename
 INPUTS:
	shot1 = starting shot number to process (defaults to last shot)
	shot2 = last shot number to process (optional)
 KEYWORDS:
	filename - name of file with info - REQUIRED, 
		   see, e.g., BDAVIS$:[CVS.MISC.WF]tauslabel.dat
	   the file must contain 4 columns, separated by white space.  
	   the first column is the tagname (without \), the last column is 
	   the Label text enclosed in double quotes. The middle columns
	   can be any single word or character (file format from another
	   application).
	tree - name of tree -- defaults to 'WF'
 COMMON BLOCKS:
       NONE
 NOTES:
       YOU NEED PRIVILEGES to write to the MDSplus tree.
 LIMITATIONS:
 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
	25-Jan-01 Written by Bill Davis.

(See src/idl_cvs/addlabelnodes.pro)

 NAME:
       addmdstags
 PURPOSE:
       Add tags to MDSplus nodes
 PROCEDURE:
 CATEGORY:
       MDSplus, Summary 
 CALLING SEQUENCE:
       addmdstags, shot=shot, nodes=nodes, tags=tags
 INPUTS:
 KEYWORDS:
	shot - shot number to process
	nodes - MDSplus node names to which tag will added (all in same tree)
	tags - to add
	VERBOSE  - if set, more info is printed
	test  - doesn't write to MDSplus
 EXAMPLE:
       nodes = ['\PASSIVESPEC::TOP.IR.IMG0.RAWDATA.IR_408:TIMES', $
		 '\PASSIVESPEC::TOP.IR.IMG1.RAWDATA.IR_408:TIMES', $
		 '\PASSIVESPEC::TOP.IR.IMG2.RAWDATA.IR_408:TIMES' ]
	tags = ['img0_408_times', 'img1_408_times', 'img2_408_times' ]
	addmdstags, shot=128000, nodes=nodes, tags=tags, /verb, /test
   for i=shot1,shot1+499 do addmdstags, shot=i, nodes=nodes, tags=tags, /verb
 NOTES:
       YOU NEED PRIVILEGES to write to the MDSplus tree.
 LIMITATIONS:
	Divide by zeroes, etc. will cause a message like:
	    % Program caused arithmetic error: Floating illegal operand
 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
	27-Mar-2008 Written by Bill Davis.

(See src/idl_cvs/addmdstags.pro)

 NAME:
       addsignodes
 PURPOSE:
       Add signal nodes and tags to a MDSplus tree for many shots
 PROCEDURE:
 CATEGORY:
       MDSplus
 CALLING SEQUENCE:
       addsignodes, shot1, shot2, tags=[tag1,tag2,tag3,...]
 INPUTS:
	shot1 = starting shot number to process
	shot2 = last shot number to process
 KEYWORDS:
	tags - tags to add (if defined in the model tree, you
	       will not need to specify the corresponding nodes).
	nodes = if tags are not defined in the model tree, these are necessary
	tree - MDSplus tree
	usage - for MDSTCL node creation. Default='signal'
	VERBOSE  - if set, more info is printed
	test  - doesn't write to MDSplus
 NOTES:
       YOU NEED PRIVILEGES to write to the MDSplus tree.
 LOGIC:
	finds node names for tags. Then, if node names are not different
	than the "tag" names, does not add tags.
 LIMITATIONS:
	all signals must be in the same tree
 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
	11-Apr-07 changed for Linux (add output= to mdstcl)
	13-Jun-02 Written by Bill Davis.

(See src/idl_cvs/addsignodes.pro)

 NAME:
       addTreeToTag
 PURPOSE:
       return tags with trees merged in
 CATEGORY:
       MDSplus, SCOPE
 CALLING SEQUENCE:
	names = addTreeToTag( tags, trees )
 INPUTS:
   tags - array of tags, e.g., '\ip1' (if tree already there, will not change)
   trees - array of trees (same dimension as tags)
 RETURNED:
	names - tag names with tree in them, e.g., '\engineering::ip1'
 KEYWORDS:
 COMMON BLOCKS:
       none
 EXAMPLE:
 	IDL> print, addTreeToTag( ['\ip1+\ip2'], ['engineering'] )
	\engineering::ip1+\engineering::ip2
 	IDL> print, addTreeToTag( ['\engineering::ip1.blah+\ip2'], ['engineering'] )      
	\engineering::ip1.blah+\engineering::ip2

 LIMITATIONS:
 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
	30-Apr-01 Written by Bill Davis

(See src/idl_cvs/addtreetotag.pro)

 NAME:
    ADD_TAG
       
 PURPOSE:
    Add a new tag to the structure. NOTE: if you want to add more
    than one tag at once, use ADD_TAGS

 CATEGORY:
    Programming
 
 CALLING SEQUENCE:
    add_tag, oldstruct, tagname, tagValue, newstruct, structyp=structyp

 INPUTS: 
    oldstruct: The original structure (or array of structures)
    tagname: string containing the new tag name
    tagValue: the initial value of the new tag, e.g. fltarr(5)
           or [3,5,6], or 0L, etc.

 KEYWORD PARAMETERS:
   structyp: a string with the name of the new structure.
     if already defined an error is printed.

 OUTPUTS: 
    newstruct: The structure with the new tag it it.

 OPTIONAL OUTPUT
    NONE

 CALLED ROUTINES:
    COMBINE_STRUCTS
 

 REVISION HISTORY:
    25-OCT-2000, Judith Racusin.
       
                                      

(See src/idl_cvs/add_tag.pro)

 NAME:
       AMEDIAN
 PURPOSE:
       Works the same as MEDIAN, but the effect tapers off at the edges.
 CATEGORY:
       Smoothing, Math
 CALLING SEQUENCE:
       Result = AMEDIAN( ARRAY, WIDTH )
 INPUT PARAMETERS:
       ARRAY   = One or two-dimensional array to be median filtered.
       WIDTH   = Width of the median filter box.
 OPTIONAL KEYWORD PARAMETERS:
       None.
 COMMON BLOCKS:
       None.
 SIDE EFFECTS:
       None.
 RESTRICTIONS:
       ARRAY must be one or two-dimensional.
 PROCEDURE:
       A larger array is constructed with the border filled with the reflected
       edges of the original array.  Then MEDIAN is applied to this larger
       array, and the area corresponding to the original array is returned as
       the result of the function.
 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
	15-Jul-2008 for True Color images (dimensioned [3,xsize,ysize]), smooth over each
		    color.
   	12-Jun-01 Made work for 1 dimension of 2 being small. [BD]
   	21-Feb-01 Just return array if width < or = 1. [BD]
       WRITTEN by William Thompson, February 1993.

(See src/idl_cvs/amedian.pro)

 NAME:
    anim2cine

 PURPOSE:
    Create an mpeg or avi movie from two .cin files from Phantom 7 Cameras.
    The data can be color or monochrome

 CATEGORY:
    animation

 CALLING SEQUENCE:
    anim2cine, CineFile1, CineFile2, outFile=outfile, t1=t1, t2=t2
   or

 INPUTS:
	CineFile1 - cine file
	CineFile2 - 
	 - 
 OPTIONAL KEYWORD PARAMETERS:
	outFile - name of output MPEG file (will default to a nice name), or 
	prefix - what would precede _shot_t1_t2 (in msec) in the output filename
	t1 - start time of animation in seconds
	t2 - end time of animation in seconds
	VIEW - if set, just displays images, and does not make an mpeg
   	ndups - if given means repeat every image 'ndups' times
   	despeckle - if set call despeckle routine (slow, but less "intrusive" 
		    than median)
	nSmooth - number input to median smoothing routine
	topPixels -
	botPixels - 
	charsize - character size for plots. Default=2
	ctb - color table for non-color image 
	label1 - label on plot for CineFile1 (default='Monochrome')
	label2 -  label on plot for CineFile2 (default='Color')
	verbose - if set will print out info as it works
 OUTPUTS: 
	an MPEG file named by outFile keyword

 PROCEDURE:
   will assume Phantom 7 camera is the fastest
 EXAMPLE:

    anim2cine, '/p/nstxusr2/nstxphantom7/NSTX_130389.cin', $
		'/p/nstxusr2/miro/MIRO_130389.cin', $
		t1=0.02, t2=0.0300, /verbose                        , /debug

    anim2cine, shot=130370, t1=0.05, t2=0.58, /verbose, /view    , /debug

    anim2cine, '/p/nstxusr2/nstxphantom7/NSTX_130388.cin', $
		'/p/nstxusr2/phantom4/NSTX_130388.cin', $
		t1=0, t2=2, ctb=0, /verbose                    , /debug

    anim2cine, shot=130375, /nonGlobal, $
		t1=0, t2=2, ctb=0, /verbose                    , /debug

   mv files to /w/nstx.pppl.gov/htdocs/nstx/Software/Diagnostics/Miro for web viewing at
   http://nstx.pppl.gov/nstx/Software/Diagnostics/Miro/

 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
	16-Jul-2008 Use Z-buffer, even when viewing, for smoother displays
   15-Jul-2008 Written by Bill Davis

(See src/idl_cvs/anim2cine.pro)

 NAME:
       animxyplot
 PURPOSE:
       Animate X-Y plot of a 2-D array
 CATEGORY:
       Animation
 CALLING SEQUENCE:
       IDL> animxyplot, data2d, x, time [, ....]
 INPUTS:
       data2d - 2 d array (1st dimension like x, 2nd like time)
	x - array for x-axis of x-yplot
	time
 KEYWORD PARAMETERS:
	(can have any keywords used in PLOT command -- will be passed on)
 	mpeg - if set, will create an mpeg of animation
	filename - name of mpeg file (default =  'plotanimation.mpg')
	rep - # number of times to repeat frames (to slow down mpeg) default=0
	t1 - time to start animation (indexes into time array) (default=start)
	t2 - time to end animation (default=end)
	xtitle -    
	ytitle -    
	xsize - xsize of window in pixels
	ysize - ysize of window in pixels 
	flip - if set, will flip mpeg image    
	timeTitle - appended to indication of time on plot (def='Sec.')
	pause - # of seconds to pause between plotted frames when creating
	verbose - if set, will print many informational messages
	debug - if set, debug output will be printed
 OUTPUTS:
       NONE; just the mpeg file, if specified
 EXAMPLE:
	nframes = 20
	nPts = 1000
	data2d = fltarr(npts, nframes)
	time = findgen(nFrames)/1000 +0.2
	x =findgen(npts)/npts*150 + 50
	for i=0,nframes-1 do data2d[0,i]=sin(x*5/max(x)+i/10.)*exp(1.-x/100-i/10.)
	animxyplot, data2d, x, time, xtitle='Radii', ytitle='Value', /mpeg
 NOTES:
 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
       18-Jan-2008 Written by Bill Davis, PPPL

(See src/idl_cvs/animxyplot.pro)

 NAME:
	ARRAY_EQ
 PURPOSE:
  	Return TRUE if two arrays are equal, else false.
 CATEGORY:
       Programming
 CALLING SEQUENCE: 
	logical=ARRAY_EQ(array1,array2)

 INPUTS:   
	bigArray - an array of numbers to look in
  	littleArray - an array to look for matches in bigArray
 OUTPUTS:
	logical - 0/1

 COMMON BLOCKS:
 NOTES:
 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
 	17-May-99 WMD Written

(See src/idl_cvs/array_eq.pro)

 NAME:
     badpar
 PURPOSE: (one line)
     Validate an input parameter against valid entries.
 DESCRIPTION:

     This is a general parameter checking function for validating input
     quantities in other procedures and functions.  This routine will
     generate an error message indicating what is wrong with the item.

     Example of use:

     pro foo,array
     if badpar(array,[4,5],2,CALLER='foo') then return
        .
        . code for foo .
        .
     end


     This would cause an immediate return to the routine that called foo
     with an error message if the input was not either floating or double
     and 2 dimensional.

     As of IDL v3.0, these are the recognized type codes (see 1-218 in
        reference guide).

        Type
        Code     Data Type
        ----    -----------------------------
          0      Undefined
          1      Byte
          2      Integer
          3      Longword integer
          4      Floating point
          5      Double-precision floating
          6      Complex floating
          7      String
          8      Structure

 CATEGORY:
  Utility
 CALLING SEQUENCE:
     val = badpar(param,goodtype,goodrank)
 INPUTS:
     param    - IDL variable to validate.
     goodtype - Scalar or vector of type codes that are valid.
     goodrank - Scalar or vector of valid ranks.
 OPTIONAL INPUT PARAMETERS:
 KEYWORD PARAMETERS:
     CALLER   - String identifying the calling routine.
     DEFAULT  - Value to return in param if undefined and undefined allowed.
     DIMEN    - Dimensions of variable.
     NPTS     - Total number of elements in variable.
     RANK     - Rank of variable.
     TYPE     - Type of variable.
 OUTPUTS:
     Return value is true if the parameter is bad.  False if good.
 COMMON BLOCKS:
 SIDE EFFECTS:
	using the font keywords makes resizing very slow and inaccurate
 RESTRICTIONS:
 PROCEDURE:
 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
	03-Feb-03 Added FIT, FILE, and WID keywords. Made font work [BD]
     3/24/93 - Written by Marc W. Buie, Lowell Observatory.
     4/27/93 - MWB, added TYPE and DEFAULT keywords.

(See src/idl_cvs/viewtext.pro)

 
 NAME:
       BAD_PTDATA_ERROR
 PURPOSE:
       Return a logical true IF  the PTDATA error is serious
 CATEGORY:
       GA, error processing
 CALLING SEQUENCE:
       logical = Bad_PTDATA_Error(ptdata_ierr)
 INPUTS:
       ptdata_ierr - error return from PTDATA calls
 KEYWORD PARAMETERS:
 OUTPUTS:
 RETURNED:	logical indication of a serious error 
		(per IDL definition, e.g., 0 IF  false)
 COMMON BLOCKS:
 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
               1-Apr-97 WMD Written

(See src/idl_cvs/bad_ptdata_error.pro)

 NAME:
       bangPW
 PURPOSE:
       Widget to set interactively some !P values. Lists colors by name, 
	if mk_color used; otherwise finds "closest" index to named colors. 
	Allows selection of several custom plotting symbols (see PLOTSYM).
 CATEGORY:
       Graphics, Widgets
 CALLING SEQUENCE:
       IDL> bangPW
 INPUTS:
 KEYWORD PARAMETERS:
     Optional Keywords:
	  UPDATECALLBACK - a routine to call after struct system variable is set
	  GROUP_LEADER - This widget is destroyed if it's GL is destroyed
 OUTPUTS:
       The system variable !P is changed               	
 COMMON BLOCKS:
       NONE
 EXAMPLE:
	IDL> bangPW, UPDATECALLBACK='myReplotter'
 NOTES:
	If an application overrides !P.* parameters, or specifies them on
	the plot command, changing settings with this widget will not override.
	!P.SYMSIZE not controlled, because it seems to have no effect.
 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
	29-Apr-08 check for routine being compiled (vs. needing to be found)
		  added a "Refresh" button which, if a proper plotting routine
		  is provided, will replot with any changed settings.
	17-Aug-01 Allow lines with symbols [BD]
	30-Oct-00 Written by Bill Davis, PPPL

(See src/idl_cvs/bangpw.pro)

 NAME:
       BELL
 PURPOSE:
       Ring terminal bell.
 CATEGORY:
	Programming, Sound, Errors
 CALLING SEQUENCE:
       bell, [n]
 INPUTS:
       n = number of rings (def=1).  in
 KEYWORD PARAMETERS:
 OUTPUTS:
 COMMON BLOCKS:
 NOTES:
 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
       R. Sterner, 20 Oct, 1989.

 Copyright (C) 1989, Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Laboratory
 This software may be used, copied, or redistributed as long as it is not
 sold and this copyright notice is reproduced on each copy made.  This
 routine is provided as is without any express or implied warranties
 whatsoever.  Other limitations apply as described in the file disclaimer.txt.

(See src/idl_cvs/bell.pro)

 NAME:
       betterrainbow
 PURPOSE:
       Loads a rainbow color palette with 6 evenly-spaced (roughly) colors
 CATEGORY:
      Colors,  Graphics
 CALLING SEQUENCE:
       IDL> betterrainbow
 INPUTS:
       NONE  
 KEYWORD PARAMETERS:
    Optional Keywords:
	BAR - if set, will draw a color bar on plot
	nColors - # of colors to load (Defaults to !D.TABLE_SIZE)
	lessRed - if set, rainbow will have a smaller red region
	WhiteBottom - if set, there will be a white region at the bottom
	topColor - can be an index or 'white' or 'black'
	botColor - can be an index or 'white' or 'black'
	linePlots - if set, top color will be black and bottom color will be white
	noYellow - if set, don't have yellow (because doesn't show up well on white)
 OUTPUTS:
       NONE (color table changed)
 LIMITATIONS:
	always starts at the bottom of color palette.
 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
	18-Jun-2008 added NoYellow keyword
	02-Aug-2007 fix bug for /lineplot and ncolors<256; 
		    if /linePlots keyword set, reset !p.color & !p.background
	30-Apr-2007 added linePlots keyword
	26-May-2006 added ncolors and whiteBottom keywords
	14-Feb-2005 add topColor and botColor keywords
       15-Jul-02 Written by Bill Davis, PPPL

(See src/idl_cvs/betterrainbow.pro)

  NAME:
 	betterticklabels

  PURPOSE:
 	Tick labels are made a little cleaner. E.g., shorter exponentials,
	no unnecessary trailing zeroes, accurate numbers when tick values
	are small differences between large numbers, etc.

 CATEGORY:
	Plotting, Graphics

  EXAMPLE:
	IDL> plot, y, ytickformat='betterticklabels'

  EXAMPLE A - Make a dummy plot call so can determine Tick Max:
	IDL> COMMON betterticklabels_common, yticklabels
	IDL> plot, y, ytick_get=yticklabels, ytickname=replicate('      ',30)
	IDL> AXIS, YAXIS=1, YRANGE=!y.crange, ytickformat='betterticklabels'
	IDL> dum = TEMPORARY(yticklabels)	; so doesn't affect later calls

  HISTORY:
	03-Mar-2008 slight mod to handle floating point comparison
       03-Aug-2006 fixed for values less than 2.e-6
	15-Apr-04 be able to return xtick values and x tic labels (NOT DEBUGGED)
	15-Oct-01 shift y axis labels if !p.font=0 (helps with some 3-D plots)
	11-Jan-01 shift y-axis labels if on TEK and !p.font=0 
	09-Oct-00 Written by Bill Davis

(See src/idl_cvs/betterticklabels.pro)

 NAME:
       Bin2D
 PURPOSE:
       Create a density image (2D histogram) from arrays of (x,y) points,
       or create an image of a function from arrays of ( x, y, f(x,y) ) data.
       In first case each pixel counts # of (x,y) points falling into
       a 2D bin (box), thus forming an image of counters. In optional case,
       each pixel is the average of all f(x,y) data falling into the box.
       Boxes are determined by dividing the (x,y) range into a uniform grid.
 CATEGORY:
	Image Processing
 CALLING EXAMPLES:
       imh = Bin2D( x, y, NPIX=64, XRAN=[0,20], YRAN=[-5,5] )
       imz = Bin2D( x, y, FXY=z, NPIX=[200,100] )
 INPUTS:
       X = array (any dimension) of x values.
       Y = array of y values, should correspond to x array.
               optionally, x can be of the form [[x],[y]]
               containing both x and y coordinates as rows of matrix,
               and then argument y should not be specified.
 KEYWORDS:
       XRAN and YRAN : specify the x,y range to be mapped into the image.
                       Common Bin2D, xminc,xmaxc, yminc,ymaxc
                       can also specify the x,y range if keywords are not used,
                       otherwise the defaults = min-max ranges of x and y.
       NPIXELS = 1 or 2 element integer array specifying size of result,
                       (single value means square image), default = [64,64].
      /NOCLIP means do not bother checking if (x,y) are within range (faster).
       TYPE_VAR = type code specifying the IDL variable type of result,
               (1=byte, 2=short, 3=Long, 4=float,... default=2, short integer).
 KEYWORDS (optional):
       IMAGE_DENSITY = an existing image of counters (2D histogram)
                       to which the result is added (overrides NPIX=).
       FXY = array giving z = f(x,y) for the purpose of binning into an image
               however, bins with no (x,y) data points are left = zero.
               (NOTE: must specify XRAN and YRAN, or set /NOCLIP).
   if /BOTH is set and FXY=z is given, then the binned image of z=f(x,y) is
               returned by function, and an image of (x,y) density is
               returned via the keyword IMAGE_DENSITY.
 OUTPUTS:
       Result of function is an image of the density of (x,y) points, or an
       image of scalar field function if z values are given at (x,y) points.
 PROCEDURE:
       Binning is performed by finding number of (x,y) duplicates
       at each pixel,  using the IDL sort and where functions.
 HISTORY:
       written Frank Varosi, U.of MD., 1988.
               F.V. 1990, modif. for IDL-V2.

(See src/idl_cvs/bin2d.pro)

 NAME:
       bitmapbuttons
 PURPOSE:
       Illustrate use of bitmapbuttons in IDL
 CATEGORY:
       GUI, buttons
 CALLING SEQUENCE:
       IDL> bitmapbuttons
    Then click on buttons and watch them change.
 COMMON BLOCKS:
       none
 NOTES:
	Requires IDL 5.2 or later.
 LIMITATIONS:
	This may not be the easiest way to manage button states
 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
	27-Jan-00 [BD]

(See src/idl_cvs/bitmapbuttons.pro)

 NAME:
       bits
 PURPOSE:
       Given a byte or integer, return a vector of 8 or 16 values
       which are the binary representation of the value.
 CATEGORY:
       bits, hardware
 INPUT:
       invalue - The byte or integer value to check
 OUTPUT:
       bitarr  - The 8-element array with values set
                 if the bit is set
 EXAMPLE:
	IDL> BITS, invalue, BITARR
 HISTORY:
       Written 1988 by M.Morrison
       13-Nov-92 (MDM) - Modified to allow integer*2 values
                         and to allow an array of values.
        7-Apr-94 (MDM) - Allow integer*4 values
       15-Aug-94 (MDM) - Corrected error from 7-Apr-94 mod which
                         did not allow an array of inputs

(See src/idl_cvs/bits.pro)

 NAME:
	BPWFEDIT

 PURPOSE:
	Read, Edit, & Plot Breakpoint Waveform files used in ppcc system on TFTR
 CATEGORY:
       TFTR, Waveforms, GUI Editing

 REVISION HISTORY:
	21-Aug-98 Written by Bill Davis

(See src/idl_cvs/bpwfedit.pro)

 NAME:
       BreakMDSname

 PURPOSE:
       break an MDS pathname near the middle, if too long

 CATEGORY:
	MDSplus, Strings

 CALLING SEQUENCE:
        newLines = BreakMDSname( line )

 INPUTS:
       line - string containing an MDSplus tag or node name      in

 KEYWORD PARAMETERS:
	MAXLENGTH  - max line length (default 72)  OPTIONAL

 OUTPUTS:
	newlines - string array of MDSplus name broken near middle

 EXAMPLE:
    IDL> line = '\ENGINEERING::OPERATIONS.PC_OH_BR_1_CUR_1'
    IDL> newLines = BreakMDSname( line, MAXLENGTH=25 )

 COMMON BLOCKS:
 NOTES:

 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
	01-Apr-99 Written earlier by Bill Davis

(See src/idl_cvs/breakmdsname.pro)

 NAME:
       BreakString
 PURPOSE:
      Break a string up and return a string array
 CATEGORY:
       Strings
 CALLING SEQUENCE:
       IDL> str_array = BreakString(longString)
 INPUTS:
       longString = a string of words 
 KEYWORD PARAMETERS:
       Optional Keywords:
	  MAXLENGTH - Maximum length of array elements of output (else=72)
	  DELIMITER - delimiter, else ' ' 
		(see WORDARRAY for multispace delmiters')
	  COMPRESS    - if set, squeeze out extra imbedded blanks
 OUTPUTS:
       str_array = returned array of strings             	out
 COMMON BLOCKS:
       NONE
 EXAMPLE:
    IDL> line = '\ENGINEERING::OPERATIONS.PC_OH_BR_1_CUR_1'
    IDL> newLines = BreakString( BreakString, MAXLENGTH=25, DELIM=':' )
 NOTES:
	Can be used as a replacement for obsolete str_sep routine
 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
	31-Jan-02 bug fix and speed improvement 
       1-Apr-99 Written by Bill Davis, PPPL

(See src/idl_cvs/breakstring.pro)

 NAME:
       breaktext
 PURPOSE:
       break up (justify) text so lines not longer than a certain length.
 CATEGORY:
       strings
 CALLING SEQUENCE:
       IDL> newText = breakText( text )
 INPUTS:
	text - string array or scalar
 KEYWORD PARAMETERS:
	nper - number of characters per line (DEFAULT=72)
	break - if set, lines longer than nper characters will be broken at an earlier space
 OUTPUTS:
       string array returned
 EXAMPLE:
    text = ['This is the first line  this is the second', ' ',  $
	     '123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 ']
    wrapped = breaktext( text, delim='  ', maxlength=25 )

 NOTE:
  
 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
	14-Aug-2008  Written by Bill Davis, PPPL 

(See src/idl_cvs/breaktext.pro)

 NAME: 
    BREAK_PATH

 PURPOSE: 
     Breaks up a path string into its component directories.

 CATEGORY:
       MDSplus, Strings
 CALLING SEQUENCE: 
     Result = BREAK_PATH( PATHS [ /NoCurrent])

 INPUTS: 
     PATHS   = A string containing one or more directory paths.  The
               individual paths are separated by commas, although in UNIX, 
               colons can also be used.  In other words, PATHS has the same 
               format as !PATH, except that commas can be used as a separator 
               regardless of operating system.

               A leading $ can be used in any path to signal that what follows 
               is an environmental variable, but the $ is not necessary.  (In 
               VMS the $ can either be part of the path, or can signal logical
               names for compatibility with Unix.)  Environmental variables
               can themselves contain multiple paths.

 OUTPUT: 
      The result of the function is a string array of directories.
      Unless the NOCURRENT keyword is set, the first element of the array is 
      always the null string, representing the current directory.  All the 
      other directories will end in the correct separator character for the 
      current operating system.

 OPTIONAL INPUT KEYWORD:
      /NOCURRENT = If set, then the current directory (represented by
               the null string) will not automatically be prepended to the
               output.

 PROCEDURE CALLS:
      Functions:  DATATYPE(), breakstring()

 REVISION HISTORY:
       Version 1, William Thompson, GSFC, 6 May 1993.
               Added IDL for Windows compatibility.
       Version 2, William Thompson, GSFC, 16 May 1995
               Added keyword NOCURRENT
       Version 3, William Thompson, GSFC, 29 August 1995
               Modified to use OS_FAMILY
       Version 4, Zarro, GSFC, 4 August 1997
               Added trim to input
       Converted to IDL V5.0   W. Landsman 25-Nov-1997

(See src/idl_cvs/break_path.pro)

 NAME:
    BTEST       

 PURPOSE:
    To test bit N in FIX(X)

 CATEGORY:
    Bits, Hardware

 CALLING SEQUENCE:
    YesNo = btest( X, N )

 PARAMETERS:  
    Inputs:
    	X      (REQ) (I) (0 1) (I  F)
           	X is the variable to be tested
   
    	N      (REQ) (I) (0) (I)
           	The bit of X to be tested
     Returned:
    	YESNO  (REQ) (O) (0 1) (I)
           	The result of the test. 1(true) if bit N is set, 0(false)
           	otherwise.

 EXAMPLES:

        YESNO = btest( !X.STYLE, 4 )
        IF YESNO THEN PRINT,'X-axis suppressed' $
                 ELSE PRINT,'Draw X-axis'

        To find points in NEWSIPS which are outside calibrated region:
        YESNO = btest( ABS(NU),1 )             ; look for nu flag = -2
        IND = WHERE (YESNO EQ 0)            ; keep points where yesno = 0
        PLOT,W(IND),F(IND)                  ; plot calibrated points
        
 NOTES:

     Note that negative integers are stored in twos complement form.
     Therefore, the left-most bits are ON rather than OFF as they are for 
     positive numbers. Input the absolute value of X is negative numbers 
     to avoid this problem. 

     This procedure can be used to check the values of complex
     IDL system variables such as ![XYZ].STYLE.

 PROCEDURE:

     Checks whether (FIX(X) OR (NOT 2^N)) = -1 to set the output
     flag YESNO.

 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
	26-Oct-99 Convert from btest to make a function (like FORTRAN)
     Mar  6 1983 RJP GSFC initial program
     Aug 24 1987 RWT GSFC add PARCHECK
     Mar  7 1988 CAG GSFC all VAX RDAF-style prolog
     Jul 13 1990 RWT GSFC Sun mods: use examples pertinent to SUN IDL
                 and add listing of procedure call statement
     Jun 19 1991 PJL GSFC cleaned up; tested on SUN and VAX; updated prolog
     Mar  8 1993 RWT GSFC modify to allow X & YESNO to be vectors and 
                 add documentation about negative numbers.

(See src/idl_cvs/btest.pro)

 NAME:
       caCheckMonitor

 PURPOSE:
       This function returns a non-zero value if there is a new (unread)
       monitor for this process variable, otherwise it returns zero.
       This function is particularly useful when a caGet() operation is
       expensive in time, e.g. reading large arrays.

 CATEGORY:
       EPICS Channel Access Interface

 CALLING SEQUENCE:
       state = caCheckMonitor(pvname)

 INPUTS:
       pvname: The name of the process variable on which to check the monitor.

 OUTPUTS:
       The function return value is zero if no new monitor value is available,
       and non-zero if a new monitor value is available.

 PROCEDURE:
       This routine uses ezcaNewMonitorValue(). The "type" parameter required
       by ezcaNewMonitorValue() is the native EZCA data type as determined
       by caGetCountAndType().

 EXAMPLES:
       IDL> state = caCheckMonitor('test_ao1',event)

 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
       Written by:     Mark Rivers
       June 28, 1995

(See src/idl_cvs/ezcaIDL.pro)

 NAME:
       caClearMonitor

 PURPOSE:
       This procedure clears a monitor on the specified process variable.
       It cancels the effect of caSetMonitor().

 CATEGORY:
       EPICS Channel Access Interface

 CALLING SEQUENCE:
       status = caClearMonitor(pvname)

 INPUTS:
       pvname: The name of the process variable on which to clear the monitor.

 OUTPUTS:
       The function return value of caClearMonitor is a status value.  The
       status is 0 if the routine was successful (i.e. the process variable
       exists) and non-zero if the routine failed.

 PROCEDURE:
       This routine uses ezcaClearMonitor(). The "type" parameter required
       by ezcaClearMonitor is the native EZCA data type as determined
       by caGetCountAndType().

 EXAMPLES:
       IDL> status = caClearMonitor('test_ao1')

 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
       Written by:     Mark Rivers
       June 28, 1995

(See src/idl_cvs/ezcaIDL.pro)

 NAME:
       caDebug

 PURPOSE:
       This procedure turns the EZCA debugging flag on or off. Turning on
       the debugging flag prints lots of information, which is mainly
       useful to developers.

 CATEGORY:
       EPICS Channel Access Interface

 CALLING SEQUENCE:
       caDebug, state

 INPUTS:
       state:  state=1 turns debugging on, state=0 turns debugging off.

 OUTPUTS:
       None

 PROCEDURE:
       This routine uses ezcaDebugOn() and ezcaDebugOff().

 EXAMPLES:
       IDL> caDebug, 1     ; Turn on debugging
       setting Debug
       IDL> status = caGet('test_ao1', value)
       ca_pend_event(0.000010)
       --start end-of-prologue() report
       ****** Start State:
       AutoErrorMessage T InGroup F Debug T Trace F ErrorLocation LastOnly ListPrint
       LastOnly TimeoutSeconds 0.050000
       Workp : 9cf970 trashme F (nxt 0)
       Channel_avail_hdr 0 :
       ...
       ...
       IDL> caDebug, 0 ; Turn off debugging

 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
       Written by:     Mark Rivers
       June 28, 1995

(See src/idl_cvs/ezcaIDL.pro)

 NAME:
       caEndGroup

 PURPOSE:
       This function ends an "asynchronous group". See caStartGroup for more
       information on asynchronous groups.
       caEndGroup flushes the queue of caGet and caPut calls and waits for
       replies from the channel access servers.

 CATEGORY:
       EPICS Channel Access Interface

 CALLING SEQUENCE:
       stat = caEndGroup(status)

 INPUTS:
       None.

 OUTPUTS:
       The function return value is 0 if the operation was successful,
       otherwise it is the first encountered non-successful return code.
       The optional status parameter can be used to return the status code
       of each operation in the group.

 OPTIONAL OUTPUT PARAMETERS:
       status: If this optional parameter is present then it returns a
               array of status information, one for each channel access
               call in the group.

 COMMON BLOCKS:
       EZCA_COMMON contains a flag (ingroup) which indicates if we
       are currently in an asynchronous group. This routine clears that flag.

 PROCEDURE:
       If the status parameter is present then this routine uses
       ezcaEndGroupWithReport().  If the parameter is not present then
       the routine calls ezcaEndGroup().

 RESTRICTIONS:
       When the status parameter is present, and ezcaEndGroupWithReport() is
       called, there is no way to know in advance how many status values
       will be returned.  This routine passes a status array with 1024
       elements, and then truncates it to the actual length.  The maximum
       number of status values which can be retrieved is thus 1024. No errors
       will occur if an asynchronous group has more than 1024 calls, but
       only the first 1024 status values can be obtained.
       This is probably sufficient for most applications!

 EXAMPLES:
       IDL> caStartGroup
       IDL> status = caget('test_ao1.SCAN', scan)
       IDL> status = caget('test_mca1.ERTM', ertm)
       IDL> ; Print out values - they will be zero.
       IDL> help, scan, ertm
       IDL> status = caEndGroup()
       IDL> ; Print out values after executing caEndGroup, they are non-zero
       IDL> help, scan, ertm
       Output:
           SCAN            INT       =        0
           ERTM            FLOAT     =      0.000000
           SCAN            INT       =        6
           ERTM            FLOAT     =       7.10000

 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
       Written by:     Mark Rivers
       June 28, 1995

(See src/idl_cvs/ezcaIDL.pro)

 NAME:
       caError

 PURPOSE:
       This procedure controls error printing and returns error strings.

 CATEGORY:
       EPICS Channel Access Interface

 CALLING SEQUENCE:
       caError, err_string, /ON, /OFF, /PRINT, prefix=prefix

 INPUTS:
       None

 KEYWORD PARAMETERS:
       /ON
           Setting this switch turns on automatic error message printing
           on stdout.  Automatic printing is initially enabled.

       /OFF
           Setting this switch turns off automatic error message printing
           on stdout.

       /PRINT
           Setting this switch prints the last error message on stdout.

       prefix=prefix
           The prefix keyword can be used to pass a string which is prefixed
           to error messages printed with /PRINT or fetched via the optional
           output parameter.

 OPTIONAL OUTPUT PARAMETERS:
       err_string:
           If this parameter is present then it will contain the text of the
           last error message.

 COMMON BLOCKS:
       EZCA_COMMON contains a flag (ingroup) which indicates if we
       are currently in an asynchronous group. This routine tests that flag.

 PROCEDURE:
       This routine uses ezcaPerror(), ezcaAutoErrorMessageOn(),
       ezcaAutoErrorMessageOff(), and ezcaGetErrorString()

 EXAMPLE:
       IDL> ; Define a prefix and turn on error messages
       IDL> caError, prefix='My program', /ON
       IDL> ; Fetch the last error message
       IDL> caError, err_string

 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
       Written by:     Mark Rivers
       June 28, 1995

(See src/idl_cvs/ezcaIDL.pro)

 NAME:
       caGet

 PURPOSE:
       This function reads the value of a Channel Access process variable.

 CATEGORY:
       EPICS Channel Access Interface

 CALLING SEQUENCE:
       Status = caGet(pvname, value, /string, max=n)

 INPUTS:
       pvname: The name of the process variable for which the value is to
               be returned.

 KEYWORD PARAMETERS:
       STRING: Set this flag to force caGet to return a string, rather than
               a number.  This flag is particularly useful when the native
               channel access data type is ENUM (3), since the string is
               more descriptive than the number.

       MAX_ELEMENTS: This keyword parameter is used to limit the number of
               values returned by caGet. caGet normally returns the native
               element count for a process variable. Setting MAX to a
               number less than this will cause caGet to return only the
               first MAX values in the array.

 OUTPUTS:
       value:  The value of the process variable. By default, caGet returns
               "value" with the native data type and number of elements
               of the process variable. It determines this information by
               calling caGetCountAndType().  Note that if caGet is called
               after calling caStartGroup but before calling caEndGroup then
               the IDL variable "value" is created, but will not actually
               contain the data until caEndGroup is called.

       The function return value of caGet is a status value.  The
       status is 0 if the routine was successful (i.e. the process variable
       exists) and non-zero if the routine failed.  If caGet is called from
       within an asynchronous group then the status return only indicates
       whether the operation was successfully queued.

 COMMON BLOCKS:
       EZCA_COMMON contains a flag (ingroup) which indicates if we
       are currently in an asynchronous group. This routine tests that flag.

 SIDE EFFECTS:
       This routine will causes a channel access search to take place if
       this is the first time this process variable has been referenced. It
       performs a ca_get, unless called as part of an asynchronous group.

 RESTRICTIONS:
       There are two important restrictions which must be kept in mind when
       calling caGet from inside a "group", i.e. after calling caStartGroup
       and before calling caEndGroup.

       1) The IDL "value" variable (i.e. the second parameter
       passed to caGet) must not be "re-used" or deleted before the call to
       caEndGroup. The reason for this is that EZCA has been passed the
       address of this variable as the location in which the data is to be
       copied when caEndGroup is called. Thus, this location must still
       point to a valid memory location when caEndGroup is called.
       If the "value" variable is re-used then IDL's behavior is
       unpredictable, and bus errors/access violations could occur.

       2) When using caGet to read strings, the data type returned will be
       a byte array, rather than a string.  The reason has to do with the
       manner in which IDL passes strings, which requires that EZCA actually
       be passed pointers to byte arrays. When caGet is called outside of a
       group it automatically converts the byte array to a string before
       returning the value. However when caGet is called inside of a group
       it cannot perform this conversion, since it cannot be done until after
       the data is read, which does not occur until caEndGroup is called.
       Thus, it is the user's responsibility to convert the data from a byte
       array to a string after calling caEndGroup. This is done very simply
       with the string() function. For more information see the example below.

 PROCEDURE:
       This routine uses ezcaGet().

 EXAMPLES:
       IDL> ; The following is an example of a single caGet
       IDL> status = caGet('test_mca1.VAL', value)

       IDL> ; The following is an example of a valid grouped operation
       IDL> ; It also shows how to handle strings.
       IDL> caStartGroup
       IDL> status = caGet('test_mca1.VAL', mca_value)
       IDL> status = caGet('test_vme1.DESC', vme_desc) ; This is a string PV
       IDL> status = caEndGroup()
       IDL> vme_desc = string(vme_desc)    ; Convert from byte array to string

       IDL> ; The following is an example of an INVALID grouped operation
       IDL> caStartGroup
       IDL> status = caGet('test_mca1.VAL', mca_value)
       IDL> status = caGet('test_vme1.VAL', vme_value)
       IDL> mca_value=0
       IDL> ; We have redefined mca_value, so the previous location is
       IDL> ; undefined. NO NOT DO THIS!
       IDL> status = caEndGroup()

 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
       Written by:     Mark Rivers
       June 28, 1995

(See src/idl_cvs/ezcaIDL.pro)

 NAME:
       caGetArray

 PURPOSE:
       This function reads values for a list of Channel Access process
       variable. It returns 0 if successful, returns -1 if failed.

 CATEGORY:
       EPICS Channel Access Interface

 CALLING SEQUENCE:
       Status = caGetArray(names,pdata,max=no,type=i,/TYPE,/EVENT)

 INPUTS:
       names:  The variable for a list of channel access PV names for which
               the array of data is to be returned.

 KEYWORD PARAMETERS:
      MAX:    Default to 1 for a list of PV names. If more than one values
              to be returned for a list of array type PV names, this keyword
              must be specified. If the `no' specified is greater than the
              native count, zeros will be padded in the output array.

              If only one PV name is input, then caGetArray returns
              the native element count for the process variable. Setting
              MAX to a number less than the native count this will cause
              caGetArray to return only the first MAX values for the PV.

      TYPE:   This keyword specifies the IDL data type to be returned by
              the output array. If not specified, it defaults to 5, i.e.
              double precision type of data will be returned by the
              output array.

                1 - byte      2 - short       3 - long      4 - float
                5 - double    7 - string

     /TYPE    Instead of type=i a user can use the IDL data type keyword
              directly, the data type keyword supercedes the type=i
              specification. Valid types given below

                            /double
                            /float
                            /string
                            /long
                            /short
                            /byte

    /EVENT    If specified use the ca_array_get_callback otherwise use
              the ca_array_get

 OUTPUTS:
     pdata:  The output variable,  pdata(max,noNames), returns the data
             array for the requested list of PV names. The `max' is the no
             of values specified by the keyword MAX, the `noNames' is the
             number of PV names in the input variable names.

 COMMON BLOCKS:
       None.

 SIDE EFFECTS:
       This routine will causes a channel access search to take place if
       this is the first time this process variable has been referenced.

 RESTRICTIONS:
       Only one type of data can be requested for a list of PV names.

 PROCEDURE:
       This routine uses Ezca_getArray() from the EzcaScan library.

 EXAMPLES:
       Three examples are given below.
       The first caGetArray call returns only the first value for each PV
       name, the second and third caGetArray call both returns 10 float
       values for each PV name

       IDL> names=['chademowf7','chademowf8']
       IDL> st = caGetArray(names,pdata)
       IDL> st = caGetArray(names,pdata,max=10,/float)
       IDL> st = caGetArray(names,pdata,max=10,type=4)

 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
       Written by:     Ben-chin Cha      Dec, 1995
      04-11-96     bkc    If array get failed, only the pvnames not found are
                          reported
      04-22-96     bkc    Replace caError by caGetError

(See src/idl_cvs/ezcaIDL.pro)

 NAME:
       caGetControlLimits

 PURPOSE:
       This procedure reads the control limits for the specified channel
       access process variable.

 CATEGORY:
       EPICS Channel Access Interface

 CALLING SEQUENCE:
       status = caGetControlLimits(pvname, low, high)

 INPUTS:
       pvname: The name of the process variable from which to read the
               control limits.

 OUTPUTS:
       low:    The low control limit (double).

       high:   The high control limit (double).

       The function return value of caGetControlLimits is a status value.  The
       status is 0 if the routine was successful (i.e. the process variable
       exists) and non-zero if the routine failed.

 PROCEDURE:
       This routine uses ezcaGetControlLimits().

 EXAMPLE:
       IDL> status = caGetControlLimits('test_ao1', low, high)

 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
       Written by:     Mark Rivers
       June 28, 1995

(See src/idl_cvs/ezcaIDL.pro)

 NAME:
       caGetCountAndType

 PURPOSE:
       This function returns the number of elements and data type of a
       Channel Access process variable.

 CATEGORY:
       EPICS Channel Access Interface

 CALLING SEQUENCE:
       Status = caGetCountAndType(pvname, count, type)

 INPUTS:
       pvname: The name of the process variable for which information is to
               be returned.

 OUTPUTS:
       count:  The number of elements in the process variable. This is 1 for
               scalar process variables and more than 1 for arrays.

       type:   This is a 3 element array containing information about the data
               type of the process variable.
               type(0) = Channel access data type as defined in "cadef.h"
               type(1) = EZCA data type as defined in "ezca.h"
               type(2) = IDL/PV-WAVE data type as defined in size()
               These data types are as follows:

               Name    Channel Access      EZCA        IDL/PVWAVE
               String      0                 1             7
               Short       1                 2             2
               Float       2                 4             4
               Enum        3                 2 (short)     2 (short)
               Byte        4                 0             1
               Long        5                 3             3
               Double      6                 5             5

   The function return value of caGetCountAndType is a status value.  The
   status is 0 if the routine was successful (i.e. the process variable exists)
   and non-zero if the routine failed.

 SIDE EFFECTS:
       This routine will cause a Channel Access search to take place if this is
       the first time this process variable has been referenced.

 RESTRICTIONS:
       The channel access data type enum is mapped to EZCA and IDL short
       data types.  However, application programs can use this routine to
       determine if the native channel access data type is enum, and then
       use caGet(pvname, value, /string) to read the string equivalent of the
       process variable. Programs can also use
       caGetEnumStrings(pvname, strings) to read the strings for the all of
       the possible values of an enum process variable.

 PROCEDURE:
       This routine uses ezcaPvToChid() and then ca_element_count() and
       ca_field_type().
       Note that this routine always returns its values "immediately", even
       if it is called between a caStartGroup and caEndGroup.

 EXAMPLE:
       IDL> status = caGetCountAndType('test_mca1.VAL', count, type)
       IDL> print, status
       0                       ; Status = success
       IDL> print, count
       2048                    ; Array with 2048 elements
       IDL> print, type
           5       3       3   ; Long data type
 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
       Written by:     Mark Rivers
       June 28, 1995

(See src/idl_cvs/ezcaIDL.pro)

 NAME:
       caGetEnumStrings

 PURPOSE:
       This function returns all of the choice strings associated with a
       Channel Access "enum" process variable. It is particularly useful
       for building menus of options.

 CATEGORY:
       EPICS Channel Access Interface

 CALLING SEQUENCE:
       Status = caGetEnumStrings(pvname, strings)

 INPUTS:
       pvname: The name of the process variable for which the enum strings
               are to be returned. The native channel access data type of
               this process variable must be enum (3).

 OUTPUTS:
       strings: A string array containing the strings for each possible
               value of the enum variable.

       The function return value of caGetEnumStrings is a status value.  The
       status is 0 if the routine was successful (i.e. the process variable
       exists and is of type enum) and non-zero if the routine failed.

 SIDE EFFECTS:
       This routine causes a channel access read. It does not use the
       grouping mechanism of EZCA, i.e. it always executes immediately.

 RESTRICTIONS:
       There must be less than MAX_ENUM_STATES enum strings and they must each be
       less than MAX_STRING_SIZE characters.

 PROCEDURE:
       This routine uses ezcaPvToChid and then ca_get() with a request type
       of DBR_GR_ENUM.  The functionality required by this routine is not
       presently provided directly in EZCA, although it should probably be
       added.

 EXAMPLES:
       IDL> status = caGetEnumStrings('test_mca1.SCAN', strings)
       IDL> for i=0, n_elements(strings)-1 do print, strings(i)
       Passive
       Event
       I/O Intr
       10 second
       5 second
       2 second
       1 second
       .5 second
       .2 second
       .1 second

 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
       Written by:     Mark Rivers
       June 28, 1995

(See src/idl_cvs/ezcaIDL.pro)

 NAME:
       caGetError

 PURPOSE:
       This function get CA return codes for a list of process variable names.
       Return code can be 0 or -1, 0 for success, -1 for failure.

 CATEGORY:
       EPICS Channel Access Interface

 CALLING SEQUENCE:
       Status = caGetError(Pvname,Err)

 INPUTS:
      Pvname: The variable for a list of process variables for which the
              channel access return code to be checked.

 KEYWORD PARAMETERS:
       None.

 OUTPUTS:
       Err:  The corresponding return code(s) for the Pvname(s) are returned.
             Returns array of 0 or 1. 0 indicates success, 1 indicates failed.

 COMMON BLOCKS:
       None.

 SIDE EFFECTS:
       This routine will causes a channel access search to take place if
       this is the first time pvnames has been referenced.

 RESTRICTIONS:
       None.

 PROCEDURE:
       This routine uses Ezca_get_error_array() from the EzcaScan library.

 EXAMPLES:
       IDL> print,caGetError('chademoai1')
       IDL> x = ['chademoai1','chademoai2']
       IDL> status = caGetError(x)

 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
       Written by:     Ben-chin Cha      Dec, 1995

(See src/idl_cvs/ezcaIDL.pro)

 NAME:
       caGetGraphicLimits

 PURPOSE:
       This procedure reads the graphic limits for the specified channel
       access process variable.

 CATEGORY:
       EPICS Channel Access Interface

 CALLING SEQUENCE:
       status = caGetGraphicLimits(pvname, low, high)

 INPUTS:
       pvname: The name of the process variable from which to read the
               graphic limits.

 OUTPUTS:
       low:    The low graphic limit (double).

       high:   The high graphic limit (double).

       The function return value of caGetGraphicLimits is a status value.  The
       status is 0 if the routine was successful (i.e. the process variable
       exists) and non-zero if the routine failed.

 PROCEDURE:
       This routine uses ezcaGetGraphicLimits().

 EXAMPLE:
       IDL> status = caGetGraphicLimits('test_ao1', low, high)

 MODIFICATION HISTORY:
       Written by:     Mark Rivers
       June 28, 1995

(See src/idl_cvs/ezcaIDL.pro)

 NAME:
       caGetPrecision

 PURPOSE:
       This procedure reads the precision for the specified channel
       access process variable.

 CATEGORY:
       EPICS Channel Access Interface

 CALLING SEQUENCE:
       status = caGetPrecision(pvname, precision)

 INPUTS:
       pvname: