IDL input files. - Idl-pvwave

ryanselk@gmail.com writes:

> ive been reading some manuals and books for IDL but im not sure how to
> solve this likely simple problem.

Oh, dear. Which books have you been reading!?

You need to explain your problem a little bit better
for us. You code doesn't work for many reasons, but
one big reason is that you are trying to read from
a file you opened for writing. And I can't tell from
your example, what it is you are trying to do.

Do you wish to *create* a file (OPENW and PRINTF), or
do you wish to *read* from a file (OPENR and READF)?

Or, do you wish to ask the user a question (maybe you
need http://www.dfanning.com/widget_tips/popup.html)
and then write the answers in a file?

I'm very confused by your question. Do you think you
could clarify for us?

Cheers,

David
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com/
Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")

On Jun 18, 11:38 am, David Fanning <n...@dfanning.com> wrote:
> ryans...@gmail.com writes:
> > ive been reading some manuals and books for IDL but im not sure how to
> > solve this likely simple problem.
>
> Oh, dear. Which books have you been reading!?
>
> You need to explain your problem a little bit better
> for us. You code doesn't work for many reasons, but
> one big reason is that you are trying to read from
> a file you opened for writing. And I can't tell from
> your example, what it is you are trying to do.
>
> Do you wish to *create* a file (OPENW and PRINTF), or
> do you wish to *read* from a file (OPENR and READF)?
>
> Or, do you wish to ask the user a question (maybe you
> needhttp://www.dfanning.com/widget_tips/popup.html)
> and then write the answers in a file?
>
> I'm very confused by your question. Do you think you
> could clarify for us?
>
> Cheers,
>
> David
> --
> David Fanning, Ph.D.
> Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
> Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming:http://www.dfanning.com/
> Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")


Whoops, its just reading from a file, I messed with it earlier and
forgot to change it back, It should be:

PRO inputer
print, 'starting input'

getfile = DIALOG_PICKFILE (/READ)

print, getfile

OPENR, 1, getfile
POINT_LUN, 1, 0

IDL_Name = ' ' ; want extendable length if possible.

READU, 1, IDL_Name

print, IDL_Name

POINT_LUN, 1, 0
CLOSE, 1

END

Ideally,
This idl file just reads whatever file is selected and stores the name
variable to IDL_Name .
But what I want to do is 'search' the file opened for certain words,
when it finds them I want to be able to store that value to an IDL
variable.
Im going to need to declare more variables then IDL_Name, but im
unsure how to do it.

ie: if the user selects this file:

Name = {Joe}
Department = {CS}
Age = {25}

I want in IDL to have those 3 variables stored ie:

IDL_Name = Joe
IDL_DEPARTMENT = CS
IDL_AGE = 25


But, if the file reads:

Age = {30}
Department = {Science}

I would want IDL to return;

IDL_DEPARTMENT = Science
IDL_Age = 30


I think i need to use some sort of 'search file' command. I hope this
is clearer, sorry for being unclear before.

Thank you! and David your website has been of help to me frequently in
the past.

On Jun 18, 12:35 pm, ryans...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Jun 18, 11:38 am, David Fanning <n...@dfanning.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > ryans...@gmail.com writes:
> > > ive been reading some manuals and books for IDL but im not sure how to
> > > solve this likely simple problem.
>
> > Oh, dear. Which books have you been reading!?
>
> > You need to explain your problem a little bit better
> > for us. You code doesn't work for many reasons, but
> > one big reason is that you are trying to read from
> > a file you opened for writing. And I can't tell from
> > your example, what it is you are trying to do.
>
> > Do you wish to *create* a file (OPENW and PRINTF), or
> > do you wish to *read* from a file (OPENR and READF)?
>
> > Or, do you wish to ask the user a question (maybe you
> > needhttp://www.dfanning.com/widget_tips/popup.html)
> > and then write the answers in a file?
>
> > I'm very confused by your question. Do you think you
> > could clarify for us?
>
> > Cheers,
>
> > David
> > --
> > David Fanning, Ph.D.
> > Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
> > Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming:http://www.dfanning.com/
> > Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
>
> Whoops, its just reading from a file, I messed with it earlier and
> forgot to change it back, It should be:
>
> PRO inputer
> print, 'starting input'
>
> getfile = DIALOG_PICKFILE (/READ)
>
> print, getfile
>
> OPENR, 1, getfile
> POINT_LUN, 1, 0
>
> IDL_Name = ' ' ; want extendable length if possible.
>
> READU, 1, IDL_Name
>
> print, IDL_Name
>
> POINT_LUN, 1, 0
> CLOSE, 1
>
> END
>
> Ideally,
> This idl file just reads whatever file is selected and stores the name
> variable to IDL_Name .
> But what I want to do is 'search' the file opened for certain words,
> when it finds them I want to be able to store that value to an IDL
> variable.
> Im going to need to declare more variables then IDL_Name, but im
> unsure how to do it.
>
> ie: if the user selects this file:
>
> Name = {Joe}
> Department = {CS}
> Age = {25}
>
> I want in IDL to have those 3 variables stored ie:
>
> IDL_Name = Joe
> IDL_DEPARTMENT = CS
> IDL_AGE = 25
>
> But, if the file reads:
>
> Age = {30}
> Department = {Science}
>
> I would want IDL to return;
>
> IDL_DEPARTMENT = Science
> IDL_Age = 30
>
> I think i need to use some sort of 'search file' command. I hope this
> is clearer, sorry for being unclear before.
>
> Thank you! and David your website has been of help to me frequently in
> the past.

Crap, again, i messed it up. It should be a readf not a readu.

ryanselk@gmail.com wrote:
> ive been reading some manuals and books for IDL but im not sure how to
> solve this likely simple problem.
>
> I have this I need to input to idl (.txt file):
>
> Name = {Joe}
> Department = {CS}
> Age = {25}
>
>
> and in IDL i need to save each attribute to its own variable. But if,
> lets day, department is ommited I want it to not input age as
> department. With c/c++ this isnt so bad as you can search the file for
> a 'keyword' and print the value from there, but I cant find how to do
> this in IDL.

Well, I don't think you can search the file in IDL, but you can read it in line by line
and search the lines. Why not create the file as IDL commands? e.g.:

pro test

; Create file to read
openw, lun, 'test.input', /get_lun
printf, lun, 'Name = "Joe"'
printf, lun, 'Department = "CS"'
printf, lun, 'Age = 25'
free_lun, lun

; Now read the file
openr, lun, 'test.input', /get_lun
buffer = ' '
while not eof(lun) do begin
readf, lun, buffer
result = execute(buffer)
endwhile
free_lun, lun
help, name, department, age

end

??


IDL> .run test
% Compiled module: TEST.
IDL> test
NAME STRING = 'Joe'
DEPARTMENT STRING = 'CS'
AGE INT = 25

IDL> $more test.input
Name = "Joe"
Department = "CS"
Age = 25


--
Paul van Delst Ride lots.
CIMSS @ NOAA/NCEP/EMC Eddy Merckx

Paul van Delst writes:

> ryanselk@gmail.com wrote:
> > ive been reading some manuals and books for IDL but im not sure how to
> > solve this likely simple problem.
> >
> > I have this I need to input to idl (.txt file):
> >
> > Name = {Joe}
> > Department = {CS}
> > Age = {25}
> >
> >
> > and in IDL i need to save each attribute to its own variable. But if,
> > lets day, department is ommited I want it to not input age as
> > department. With c/c++ this isnt so bad as you can search the file for
> > a 'keyword' and print the value from there, but I cant find how to do
> > this in IDL.
>
> Well, I don't think you can search the file in IDL, but you can read it in line by line
> and search the lines. Why not create the file as IDL commands? e.g.:
>
>
> ??
>
>
> IDL> .run test
> % Compiled module: TEST.
> IDL> test
> NAME STRING = 'Joe'
> DEPARTMENT STRING = 'CS'
> AGE INT = 25
>
> IDL> $more test.input
> Name = "Joe"
> Department = "CS"
> Age = 25

Well, I'd do this a little differently:

pro test, name, dept, age

; Create file to read
openw, lun, 'test.input', /get_lun
if n_elements(name) NE 0 then $
printf, lun, 'Name = ' + name else $
printf, lun, 'Name = '
if n_elements(dept) NE 0 then $
printf, lun, 'Department = ' + dept else $
printf, lun, 'Department = '
if n_elements(age) NE 0 then $
printf, lun, 'Age = ' + StrTrim(age,2) else $
printf, lun, 'Age = '

free_lun, lun

; Now read the file
openr, lun, 'test.input', /get_lun
buffer = ' '
while not eof(lun) do begin
readf, lun, buffer
parts = StrSplit(buffer, " ", /Extract)
case n_elements(parts) of
2: print, 'No value for ' + parts[0]
3: print, parts[0] + '= {' + parts[2] + '}'
else: print, 'Whoa, I am like totally confused!!'
endcase
endwhile
free_lun, lun
end

Then try it like this:

IDL> test, 'coyote', 'PE', 43
Name= {coyote}
Department= {PE}
Age= {43}

IDL> test
No value for Name
No value for Department
No value for Age

Cheers,

David
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com/
Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")

On Jun 18, 1:15 pm, David Fanning <n...@dfanning.com> wrote:
> Paul van Delst writes:
> > ryans...@gmail.com wrote:
> > > ive been reading some manuals and books for IDL but im not sure how to
> > > solve this likely simple problem.
>
> > > I have this I need to input to idl (.txt file):
>
> > > Name = {Joe}
> > > Department = {CS}
> > > Age = {25}
>
> > > and in IDL i need to save each attribute to its own variable. But if,
> > > lets day, department is ommited I want it to not input age as
> > > department. With c/c++ this isnt so bad as you can search the file for
> > > a 'keyword' and print the value from there, but I cant find how to do
> > > this in IDL.
>
> > Well, I don't think you can search the file in IDL, but you can read it in line by line
> > and search the lines. Why not create the file as IDL commands? e.g.:
>
> > ??
>
> > IDL> .run test
> > % Compiled module: TEST.
> > IDL> test
> > NAME STRING = 'Joe'
> > DEPARTMENT STRING = 'CS'
> > AGE INT = 25
>
> > IDL> $more test.input
> > Name = "Joe"
> > Department = "CS"
> > Age = 25
>
> Well, I'd do this a little differently:
>
> pro test, name, dept, age
>
> ; Create file to read
> openw, lun, 'test.input', /get_lun
> if n_elements(name) NE 0 then $
> printf, lun, 'Name = ' + name else $
> printf, lun, 'Name = '
> if n_elements(dept) NE 0 then $
> printf, lun, 'Department = ' + dept else $
> printf, lun, 'Department = '
> if n_elements(age) NE 0 then $
> printf, lun, 'Age = ' + StrTrim(age,2) else $
> printf, lun, 'Age = '
>
> free_lun, lun
>
> ; Now read the file
> openr, lun, 'test.input', /get_lun
> buffer = ' '
> while not eof(lun) do begin
> readf, lun, buffer
> parts = StrSplit(buffer, " ", /Extract)
> case n_elements(parts) of
> 2: print, 'No value for ' + parts[0]
> 3: print, parts[0] + '= {' + parts[2] + '}'
> else: print, 'Whoa, I am like totally confused!!'
> endcase
> endwhile
> free_lun, lun
> end
>
> Then try it like this:
>
> IDL> test, 'coyote', 'PE', 43
> Name= {coyote}
> Department= {PE}
> Age= {43}
>
> IDL> test
> No value for Name
> No value for Department
> No value for Age
>
> Cheers,
>
> David
> --
> David Fanning, Ph.D.
> Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
> Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming:http://www.dfanning.com/
> Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")

Thank you guys! these should help, although I cant have IDL writing
the program unfortunately. Ill have to figure out how to get the pre-
made files read.

ryanselk@gmail.com wrote:
> On Jun 18, 1:15 pm, David Fanning <n...@dfanning.com> wrote:
>> Paul van Delst writes:
>>> ryans...@gmail.com wrote:
>>>> ive been reading some manuals and books for IDL but im not sure how to
>>>> solve this likely simple problem.
>>>> I have this I need to input to idl (.txt file):
>>>> Name = {Joe}
>>>> Department = {CS}
>>>> Age = {25}
>>>> and in IDL i need to save each attribute to its own variable. But if,
>>>> lets day, department is ommited I want it to not input age as
>>>> department. With c/c++ this isnt so bad as you can search the file for
>>>> a 'keyword' and print the value from there, but I cant find how to do
>>>> this in IDL.
>>> Well, I don't think you can search the file in IDL, but you can read it in line by line
>>> and search the lines. Why not create the file as IDL commands? e.g.:
>>> ??
>>> IDL> .run test
>>> % Compiled module: TEST.
>>> IDL> test
>>> NAME STRING = 'Joe'
>>> DEPARTMENT STRING = 'CS'
>>> AGE INT = 25
>>> IDL> $more test.input
>>> Name = "Joe"
>>> Department = "CS"
>>> Age = 25
>> Well, I'd do this a little differently:
>>
>> pro test, name, dept, age
>>
>> ; Create file to read
>> openw, lun, 'test.input', /get_lun
>> if n_elements(name) NE 0 then $
>> printf, lun, 'Name = ' + name else $
>> printf, lun, 'Name = '
>> if n_elements(dept) NE 0 then $
>> printf, lun, 'Department = ' + dept else $
>> printf, lun, 'Department = '
>> if n_elements(age) NE 0 then $
>> printf, lun, 'Age = ' + StrTrim(age,2) else $
>> printf, lun, 'Age = '
>>
>> free_lun, lun
>>
>> ; Now read the file
>> openr, lun, 'test.input', /get_lun
>> buffer = ' '
>> while not eof(lun) do begin
>> readf, lun, buffer
>> parts = StrSplit(buffer, " ", /Extract)
>> case n_elements(parts) of
>> 2: print, 'No value for ' + parts[0]
>> 3: print, parts[0] + '= {' + parts[2] + '}'
>> else: print, 'Whoa, I am like totally confused!!'
>> endcase
>> endwhile
>> free_lun, lun
>> end
>>
>> Then try it like this:
>>
>> IDL> test, 'coyote', 'PE', 43
>> Name= {coyote}
>> Department= {PE}
>> Age= {43}
>>
>> IDL> test
>> No value for Name
>> No value for Department
>> No value for Age
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> David
>> --
>> David Fanning, Ph.D.
>> Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
>> Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming:http://www.dfanning.com/
>> Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
>
> Thank you guys! these should help, although I cant have IDL writing
> the program unfortunately. Ill have to figure out how to get the pre-
> made files read.

Um, that's what these examples do. The writing of the test input files was simply to
provide an entirely self-contained example. The various details that aren;t addressed are
the formats of the files. If you can't create them (i.e. change their formats to make them
more "IDL friendly" as it were), then all that needs to be modified in both David's and my
examples is how you extract the relevant information from the string you read from file
(i.e. the STRSPLIT.)

On a side note, I initially started using regular expressions with the STRSPLIT function
only to discover IDL seems to use a hamstrung version that doesn't understand stuff like
\s, \w, \n, etc. For the format you list, e.g.

Name = {Joe}
Department = {CS}
Age = {25}

regexps would be the go (IMO) - although I don't see any mention of how you would capture
certain parts of a match and not others (but I didn't look too hard )

cheers,

paulv

--
Paul van Delst Ride lots.
CIMSS @ NOAA/NCEP/EMC Eddy Merckx

On Jun 18, 3:23 pm, Paul van Delst <Paul.vanDe...@noaa.gov> wrote:
> ryans...@gmail.com wrote:
> > On Jun 18, 1:15 pm, David Fanning <n...@dfanning.com> wrote:
> >> Paul van Delst writes:
> >>> ryans...@gmail.com wrote:
> >>>> ive been reading some manuals and books for IDL but im not sure how to
> >>>> solve this likely simple problem.
> >>>> I have this I need to input to idl (.txt file):
> >>>> Name = {Joe}
> >>>> Department = {CS}
> >>>> Age = {25}
> >>>> and in IDL i need to save each attribute to its own variable. But if,
> >>>> lets day, department is ommited I want it to not input age as
> >>>> department. With c/c++ this isnt so bad as you can search the file for
> >>>> a 'keyword' and print the value from there, but I cant find how to do
> >>>> this in IDL.
> >>> Well, I don't think you can search the file in IDL, but you can read it in line by line
> >>> and search the lines. Why not create the file as IDL commands? e.g.:
> >>> ??
> >>> IDL> .run test
> >>> % Compiled module: TEST.
> >>> IDL> test
> >>> NAME STRING = 'Joe'
> >>> DEPARTMENT STRING = 'CS'
> >>> AGE INT = 25
> >>> IDL> $more test.input
> >>> Name = "Joe"
> >>> Department = "CS"
> >>> Age = 25
> >> Well, I'd do this a little differently:
>
> >> pro test, name, dept, age
>
> >> ; Create file to read
> >> openw, lun, 'test.input', /get_lun
> >> if n_elements(name) NE 0 then $
> >> printf, lun, 'Name = ' + name else $
> >> printf, lun, 'Name = '
> >> if n_elements(dept) NE 0 then $
> >> printf, lun, 'Department = ' + dept else $
> >> printf, lun, 'Department = '
> >> if n_elements(age) NE 0 then $
> >> printf, lun, 'Age = ' + StrTrim(age,2) else $
> >> printf, lun, 'Age = '
>
> >> free_lun, lun
>
> >> ; Now read the file
> >> openr, lun, 'test.input', /get_lun
> >> buffer = ' '
> >> while not eof(lun) do begin
> >> readf, lun, buffer
> >> parts = StrSplit(buffer, " ", /Extract)
> >> case n_elements(parts) of
> >> 2: print, 'No value for ' + parts[0]
> >> 3: print, parts[0] + '= {' + parts[2] + '}'
> >> else: print, 'Whoa, I am like totally confused!!'
> >> endcase
> >> endwhile
> >> free_lun, lun
> >> end
>
> >> Then try it like this:
>
> >> IDL> test, 'coyote', 'PE', 43
> >> Name= {coyote}
> >> Department= {PE}
> >> Age= {43}
>
> >> IDL> test
> >> No value for Name
> >> No value for Department
> >> No value for Age
>
> >> Cheers,
>
> >> David
> >> --
> >> David Fanning, Ph.D.
> >> Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
> >> Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming:http://www.dfanning.com/
> >> Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
>
> > Thank you guys! these should help, although I cant have IDL writing
> > the program unfortunately. Ill have to figure out how to get the pre-
> > made files read.
>
> Um, that's what these examples do. The writing of the test input files was simply to
> provide an entirely self-contained example. The various details that aren;t addressed are
> the formats of the files. If you can't create them (i.e. change their formats to make them
> more "IDL friendly" as it were), then all that needs to be modified in both David's and my
> examples is how you extract the relevant information from the string you read from file
> (i.e. the STRSPLIT.)
>
> On a side note, I initially started using regular expressions with the STRSPLIT function
> only to discover IDL seems to use a hamstrung version that doesn't understand stuff like
> \s, \w, \n, etc. For the format you list, e.g.
>
> Name = {Joe}
> Department = {CS}
> Age = {25}
>
> regexps would be the go (IMO) - although I don't see any mention of how you would capture
> certain parts of a match and not others (but I didn't look too hard )
>
> cheers,
>
> paulv
>
> --
> Paul van Delst Ride lots.
> CIMSS @ NOAA/NCEP/EMC Eddy Merckx

haha, I realized this as soon as I looked at the code but didnt at the
time of my last post.

I got things working excellent. The strsplit I have working very well
for my application. Somehow I didnt know about this command, now I got
it figured out, very useful tool that I have missed.

Thanks again guys!

On Jun 18, 4:19 pm, ryans...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Jun 18, 3:23 pm, Paul van Delst <Paul.vanDe...@noaa.gov>
> > On a side note, I initially started using regular expressions with the STRSPLIT function
> > only to discover IDL seems to use a hamstrung version that doesn't understand stuff like
> > \s, \w, \n, etc. For the format you list, e.g.
>
> > Name = {Joe}
> > Department = {CS}
> > Age = {25}
>
> > regexps would be the go (IMO) - although I don't see any mention of how you would capture
> > certain parts of a match and not others (but I didn't look too hard )


I'm just catching this at the end, but I think this would be useful
for you:

IDL> results = stregex(line, '([[:alnum:]]*) = \{([[:alnum:]]*)\}', /
extract, /subexpr)
IDL> print, results[0]
Name = {Joe}
IDL> print,
results[1]
Name
IDL> print, results[2]
Joe

IDL regular expressions have character classes as well, but a
different notation than Perl, i.e. \s is [[:blank:]], \w is
[[:alnum:]], etc. See

http://www.ittvis.com/codebank/search.asp?FID=311

for a more detailed account.

Mike
--
www.michaelgalloy.com