= Frequently Asked questions about SAXO =
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This is a list of Frequently Asked Questions about SAXO.


This list is roughly divided into categories: general questions,
technical questions, contributors questions.


Suggestions for corrections or additional sections are welcome -- please email them to [mailto:saxo-dev@forge.ipsl.jussieu.fr saxo-dev@forge.ipsl.jussieu.fr].


General



What is SAXO ?




see document [wiki:WhatisSaxo What is SAXO].






How can I get help ?




see Support in document [wiki:WikiStart Main page of SAXO].






How do I get SAXO ?




see document [wiki:GetSaxo Get SAXO].






What is the current version of SAXO ?









On what systems does SAXO run ?









Does SAXO works with GDL instead of IDL ?




Not yet. 





When is the next version of SAXO due out ?









How can I find if a routine to do what I want already exists ?









How should SAXO be cited or acknowledged in publication ?








Technical questions



Is there on-line help for SAXO ?




Yes, if you use at least IDL 6.2. It is produced by [http://www.ittvis.com/codebank/search.asp?FID=100 IDLdoc]. SAXO and IDL online_help have been merged, you can simply get the help by typing:
     
{{{
#!html
<pre xmlns:xl="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" class="screen">
       <code class="prompt">idl&gt;</code> <strong class="userinput"><code><span><strong class="command">?</strong></span></code></strong>
     </pre>
}}}





Contributors



Is there an SAXO Style Guide available ?




There is a template for header [../new_header.txt new_header.txt]
which can be parsed by IDLdoc.


This file can be added in Emacs configuration

  
    C-cC-h
  
  IDLWAVE
  Templates
  Doc Header
.
in your {{{${HOME}/.emacs}}} like this :

(add-hook 'idlwave-mode-hook
  (function
    (lambda ()
     (setq idlwave-file-header '("'''''SAXO_basedirectory'''''/SAXO_DIR/SRC/Documentation/new_header.txt")
    ))))






Is there any trouble with IDLdoc ?




Yes, there are some :

 * \ in {{{*.pro}}} are not written
in {{{*.html}}}.
They must be escaped by an other \ or you can choose an other character.

 * Search doesn't handle characters like -
and |.

 * Paragraphs of {{{*.pro}}} headers are shown with a proportional
font in the HTML release.

If you need to draw some small figure like grid cell, you can encapsulate
the block to be shown in constant font 
between
; &lt;fixe&gt; and
; &lt;/fixe&gt;

Unfortunately, these troubles may not be fixed because the author does not
have anymore the opportunity to work on his own work.


Bugs can be submitted to IDL but we do not expect answers !






How can I check spelling of XML files ?




There is one way with command line :
     
{{{
#!html
<pre xmlns:xl="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" class="screen">
       <code class="prompt">$</code> <strong class="userinput"><code><span><strong class="command">aspell</strong></span> <code class="option">--mode=sgml</code> <code class="option">-c</code> xmlfile</code></strong>
     </pre>
}}}






How can I check spelling of IDL files ?




Not so easy but you can start with something like this :
     
{{{
#!html
<pre xmlns:xl="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" class="screen">
       <code class="prompt">$</code> <strong class="userinput"><code><span><strong class="command">cd</strong></span> ${HOME}/SAXO_DIR/SRC/</code></strong>
       <code class="prompt">$</code> <strong class="userinput"><code>list=$(find . -name "*.pro")</code></strong>
       <code class="prompt">$</code> <strong class="userinput"><code>for file in ${list}; do aspell list &lt; ${file}; done &gt; /tmp/list_word </code></strong>
       <code class="prompt">$</code> <strong class="userinput"><code>sort -u /tmp/list_word &gt; /tmp/list_sort</code></strong>
     </pre>
}}}


This will give {{{/tmp/list_sort}}} a list of sorted word
used in IDL files that are not in the default dictionnary.
Some of these words are correct in IDL and SAXO vocabulary, so they do not have to be replaced but some typo can be found.


To find occurences of one of these misspelled words, you have to do this :
     
{{{
#!html
<pre xmlns:xl="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" class="screen">
       <code class="prompt">$</code> <strong class="userinput"><code>find . -name "*.pro" -exec grep -h "<code class="replaceable">misspelled_word</code>" {} \;</code></strong>
     </pre>
}}}


We should improve this by providing some IDL and SAXO dictionnary. 





How can I see online help update ?




You won't see  online help update if you are working with the official distribution because of {{{!HELP_PATH}}}. To override this problem, when you are in {{{SAXO_basedirectory/SAXO_DIR/SRC/Documentation/xmldoc/}}},  you can call online help like this :
     
{{{
#!html
<pre xmlns:xl="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" class="screen">
       <code class="prompt">idl&gt;</code> <strong class="userinput"><code><span><strong class="command">ONLINE_HELP</strong></span>,<code class="option">book="../idldoc_assistant_output/idldoc-lib.adp"</code></code></strong>
     </pre>
}}}