SolarSoft

SSW System Environment and IDL Setup

Samuel L. Freeland; 19-September-1997
Last Revised: R.D. Bentley; 13 November 2000

Invoking SolarSoft

Under Unix

In order to start SolarSoft, the enviroment variable SSW must be defined. If we assume that the SolarSoft tree (ssw) is installed at path of .../ssw, then:

% setenv SSW .../ssw: ( 'point' the environmental SSW to the top of the SSW tree )

The actual pathname on local machine is not critical - you just need to know where SSW is. For user convenience, system managers may create the symbolic link /ssw or /solarsoft which points to the top of the local SSW tree.

The next step is to define which instrument you wish to include in your SolarSoft environment, and execute their setup files:

% setenv SSW_INSTR "instr1 [instr2 instr3 ...instrN]": ( Optional: Define SSW instrument list, blank delimited )
% source $SSW/gen/setup/setup.ssw [/loud]: ( Execute the primary SSW setup script )

Alternately, or to update instrument environment, you can use setssw (which actually executes the two commands listed above) after first creating the necessary aliases:

% source $SSW/gen/setup/setup.ssw_alias: ( create the SSW aliases - this is called by setup.ssw )
% setssw [instr1 instr2 instr3]: ( update SSW_INSTR and reexecute setup.ssw )

Then, to run SSW IDL:

% sswidl: ( alias defined in setup.ssw )

Under Windows

Before the SolarSoft environment can be invoked, the environment variable SSW needs to be define before anything else can happen. Under Windows, this is done within the sswidl.bat file which also starts IDL. This is discussed in detail in the Running SolarSoft under Windows page.

SSW Setup and Startup Files

The SolarSoft environment is created using setup files that define environment variables, and startup files that execute procedures as IDL starts. The setup files can be found in the SSW tree in /setup directories under the gen, instrument and site directories - they have filenames of the form setup.xxx_path and setup.xxx_env. The gen and instrument level setup files define default values of variables; the site level files modify the defaults to allow for local differences in the location of files.

Since the setup files are used under all operating systems (including Unix and Windows), a particular format had to be adopted and the syntax used in the files is that defined by the Unix C-shell.

SSW Level Setup
   GEN: <$SSW/gen/setup/setup.ssw> , aka The SSW setup script
        This is the 'master' which controls the setup order and flow - it sets
        up some fundamental SSW environmentals.
   SITE: 
        $SSW/site/setup/setup.ssw_paths
        This file maps some fundamental SSW environmentals/logicals to 
	local pathnames.  SITE managers will need to understand and probably
	edit this file to match the local disk/paths.

INSTRUMENT Level Setup
   If the environmental SSW_INSTR is defined prior to running it is assumed
   to contain a blank delimited list of one or more SSW instruments.
   for each SSW instrument in SSW_INSTR:
       if $SSW/Mission/XXX/setup/setup.xxx exists, execute it
       if $SSW/site/setup/setup.xxx exists, execute it
       if $HOME/setup.xxx exists, execute it
   end

Setup file naming conventions:
If the following conventions are followed for instrument level and personal
setup files, the SSW setup script will execute them automatically.

At the instrument level, these files should be located in path:
	$SSW/MX/IX/setup/  (MX = mission    (soho, yohkoh, trace)
			   (IX = Instrument (eit, cds, sxt, trace, etc)

At the 'personal' level, these files are located in the users HOME directory.

   Name:                Contains:

   setup.xxx            Files which contain shell or DCL Logic or Code

   setup.xxx_env        Files which only contain "setenv" (unix) or "define"
                        (vms) - this convention would allow simple execution
                        or definition of the environmental/logical setups 
                        within IDL.

                        IDL> set_logenv, file='setup.xxx_env'
                             routine takes an optional input file of setenv
                             or set logicals and defines them within IDL

   setup.xxx_alias      Define UNIX aliases or VMS symbols useful for
                        system level work (changing directories, listing
                        or modifying xxx environment, etc)

   setup.ssw_device     Define local printers, tape drives etc.

   IDL_STARTUP		Customize IDL environment

SSW IDL Environment (UNIX and VMS)

Once within the SolarSoft IDL environment:

The routine ssw_path may be used to add or remove SSW paths to the IDL !path variable. [Note: this routine only effects the IDL libraries which are available - additional system level environmental setup might be required for instrument level analysis]

Some ssw_path examples:
IDL> ssw_path [,/more]
( display current path to terminal)
IDL> ssw_path, /xxx
( adds instrument xxx and associated mission GEN tree )
IDL> ssw_path, /xxx, /remove
( removes instrument xxx )
IDL> ssw_path, /xxx, /prepend
( prepend instrument xxx [default is append] )
IDL> ssw_path, /ucon, /yohkoh
( adds a 'selected' group of UCON directories )
IDL> ssw_path, /eit, /sxt
( permit EIT and SXT analysis )
IDL> ssw_path, /cds, /prepend
( prepend the CDS.../idl )
IDL> ssw_path, /xxx, /test
( add directory $SSW/MISSION/xxx/test )
The routines pr_logenv or pr_env will display the current environment (UNIX environmentals and VMS logicals) to the terminal.

Some Examples (pr_env and pr_logenv may be used interchangeably):

IDL> pr_env,/ssw
( show any logicals or environmentals matching "SSW" )
IDL> pr_env,/eit
( show EIT environment )
IDL> pr_env,/xxx
( show any logicals or environmentals matching "xxx" [routine is SSW independent])

freeland@penumbra.nascom.nasa.gov