14-01-2013, 02:11 PM
Creating Widget Applications
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Widgets
IDL allows you to construct and manipulate graphical user interfaces using widgets. Widgets are simple graphical objects such as pushbuttons or sliders that allow user interaction via a pointing device and a keyboard.
IDL graphical user interfaces are constructed by combining widgets in a treelike hierarchy. Each widget has one parent widget and zero or more child widgets. There is one exception: the topmost widget in the hierarchy (called a top-level base) is always a base widget and has no parent.
Widget Applications
The flow of control in a widget application is fundamentally different than in other IDL programs. A program written to be used from the IDL command line generally accepts its inputs when the program is invoked. The program then proceeds in a well-defined order to process those inputs and provide some output — a calculated value, a plot, an image, etc. In contrast, widget applications are event driven.
Types of Widgets
IDL supports several types of widgets and widget-like interface elements that can be used in your widget application: