this nice simple plot program is at /usr/share/astro/sm
if you put /usr/share/astro in your path, all you have to do is type sm
list device tells you what graphics devices are set up. i recommend x11 or postscript, for screen or paper, respectively.
OUT OF DATE as of 2008-11-01.
For our systems, we want to use the network time protocol put in place by the college. Therefore, we do not set the time manually but rather, have it sync from the Carleton Network Time server. To do this follow these easy steps.
As root, under the Applications menu to the right of the little red hat, click on System Settings/Date and Time.
Click on the Network Time protocol tab. Under this tab you should see a place to add and delete network time servers. Delete any servers that are there.
Then type ntp.carleton.edu and click the add button. ntp.carleton.edu should then appear as a server on the list. Click OK and wait a few moments for the machine to sync with the server.
Double check the time to make sure it is accurate. Your system should now have the correct date and time.
the following are examples of useful commands inside idl:
print, !path will print out the value of the idl path variable
? will start up help browser
?size goes to help browser to find fnc size (it’ll search for closest name to that)
help, /source brings up compiled procedures, compiled functions
help, pola tells you a lot about the variable pola
help, hdr,/st ditto on structure called hdr
print, size(pola) gives a buncha numbers which can be used by idl or deciphered by ?size
doc_library, ‘readcol’ gives documentation of nonnative fncs, like unix man
$ls executes unix ls command
Also see post entitled idl documentation and help commands from drew