Chapter 1: Overview of iTools 13
iTool Developer’s Guide About the iTools Code Base
About the iTools Code Base
The iTools component framework is written almost entirely in the IDL language. The
IDL code that implements both the component framework and all of the standard
iTools included with IDL is available for you to inspect, copy, and learn from.
To inspect the iTools code, look in the
lib/itools subdirectory of your IDL
installation directory. The iTools code base is organized as follows:
•In the
lib/itools directory you will find code that implements the iTool
launch routines. These routines can be called directly at the IDL command line
to launch a specific iTool.
•In the
lib/itools/framework directory you will find the core iTool object
class definitions and utility routines. The classes in this directory define how
the iTools operate; they are made available for your inspection, but they should
not be altered.
•In the
lib/itools/components directory you will find derived iTool object
classes. The classes in this directory implement the non-core features of the
iTool toolset as included with IDL. You are encouraged to use these classes to
implement your own iTool functionality, either by subclassing from a derived
iTool object class or by modifying a copy of the class definition for a derived
class.
•In the
lib/itools/ui_widgets directory you will find the IDL code that
creates an iTool user interface using IDL widgets. You may find it useful to
inspect some of these routines if you are creating a side panel or a dialog used
to collect parameter settings for an operation. See Chapter 11, “iTool User
Interface Architecture” for additional information on creating additional user
interfaces for an iTool.
Documented vs. Undocumented Classes
If you inspect the lib/itools directory and its subdirectories, you will notice that
there are many more classes included in the iTools component framework than are
documented in the IDL Reference Guide and in this manual. Our approach to
documenting the iTools code that is included with IDL is as follows:
• iTool launch routines for iTools included in the IDL distribution are
documented in the IDL Reference Guide. Use of the launch routines for the
pre-built iTools is discussed in the iTool User’s Guide.
