IDL Platform Support

IDL & ENVI System Requirements - Platform Support

A network interface card (NIC or Ethernet) is required for software-based node-locked and floating licenses.

The following table describes the supported platforms and operating systems for IDL and ENVI.


Platform	Vendor	Hardware	Operating System	Supported Versions ^a
Windows	Microsoft	Intel/AMD x86 32-bit	Windows	XP SP2, Vista
Windows	Microsoft	Intel/AMD x86_64 64-bit	Windows	XP SP2, Vista
Macintosh	Apple	PowerPC 32-bit	OS X	10.4 ^g, 10.5.1
	Apple	Intel 32-bit	OS X	10.4 ^g, 10.5.1
	Apple	Intel 64-bit	OS X	10.4 ^g, 10.5.1
UNIX	SUN	SPARC 32-bit	Solaris ^c	10
	SUN	SPARC 64-bit	Solaris ^c	10
	SUN	Intel/AMD x86_64 64-bit	Solaris ^{e, f}	10
	various	Intel/AMD x86 32-bit	Linux^{b, c}	Kernel version 2.6.9 glibc version 2.3.4 gtk2 version 2.4.13
	various	Intel/AMD x86_64 64-bit	Linux^{b, c, d}

^aSupported versions indicate that IDL and ENVI were was either built on (the lowest version listed) or tested on that version. You can install and run IDL and ENVI on other versions that are binary compatible with those listed.

^bThe LINUX version of IDL is built on RedHat 4. If your version of Linux is compatible with the listed kernel and glibc versions, you should be able to install and run IDL and ENVI.

^cThe IDL Workbench requires the GTK+ library version 2.4 or later. Printing functionality in the Workbench requires GTK+ library version 2.10 or later. If GTK+ version 2.4 or later is not available, IDL will only run in console mode.

^d On 64-bit Linux systems, the IDL Workbench requires that your platform's 32-bit compatibility libraries be installed.

^e The IDL Workbench and Online Help are not supported on Solaris x86 64-bit machines. Documentation is available on the DVD for Solaris x86 platforms.

^f ENVI 4.6 is not supported on Solaris X86 64-bit machines.

^g IDL 7.1 is not supported on Macintosh OS X version 10.4.

32-bit and 64-bit Versions

On UNIX and Macintosh Intel platforms that provide 64-bit support, you can run IDL or ENVI as either a 32-bit or a 64-bit application. When both versions are installed, the 64-bit version is the default. You can run the 32-bit version by specifying the -32switch at the command line, as follows:

% idl -32   
% idlde -32  
% envi -32  
% envizoom -32

Under Microsoft Windows, the 32-bit and 64-bit versions are started via separate Start menu entries.

On Macintosh Intel 64-bit machines, you can double-click on the 32-bit Macintosh applescript (.app) files.

Graphics Hardware

Some IDL and ENVI Zoom features take advantage of graphics hardware that supports the OpenGL 2.0 interface to improve rendering performance, if such hardware is present. Your video card should support OpenGL 2.0 or higher to take advantage of these features. Be sure to update your video card drivers with the most recent version.

To enable ENVI Zoom to use your computer's graphics card, select File → Preferences from the ENVI Zoom menu bar. Select Display General on the left side of the ENVI Zoom Preferences dialog. Set the Use Graphics Card to Accelerate Enhancement Tools preference to Yes. All of the following criteria must be met for this preference to be effective:

Set the Zoom Interpolation Method preference to Nearest Neighbor.

The image data type must be byte, integer, unsigned integer, or floating-point.

Your platform must be Windows or Linux.

Software Requirements

The following table describes the software requirements for IDL and ENVI:


Platform	Software Requirements
Windows	Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher
Macintosh	Apple X11 X-Windows manager

Feature Support by Operating System

IDL Features

The following table shows marks indicating which platforms support the corresponding feature. IDL technologies not listed in this table are assumed to work on all supported platforms.


Feature	Windows		OS X			Linux		Solaris
Feature	Intel 32-bit	Intel 64-bit	PPC 32-bit	Intel 32-bit	Intel 64-bit	Intel 32-bit	Intel 64-bit	SPARC 32-bit	SPARC 64-bit	Intel 64-bit
ActiveX: WIDGET_ACTIVEX (IDLcomActiveX object)	•
COM Object –Export (via Export Bridge Assistant)	•	•
COM Object –Import (IDLcomIDispatch object)	•
DataMiner	•	•				•	•	•	•
DXF file format (IDLffDXF object)	•					•		•
IDL Advanced Math and Stats (IMSL Numerical Library)	•		•	•		•	•	•	•
MrSID (IDLffMrSID)	•
Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs)			•	•		•	•	•	•	•
IDL Workbench and Online Help	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•

ENVI Features

The following ENVI features are provided in addition to the features listed above for IDL. ENVI technologies not listed in this table are assumed to work on all supported platforms.


Feature	Windows		OS X			Linux		Solaris
Feature	Intel 32-bit	Intel 64-bit	PPC 32-bit	Intel 32-bit	Intel 64-bit	Intel 32-bit	Intel 64-bit	SPARC 32-bit	SPARC 64-bit	Intel 64-bit
ENVI – Atmospheric Correction Module: QUAC and FLAASH^a	•					•	•	•	•
ENVI – tape utilities ^a	•		•	•	•	•	•	•	•
ENVI – reading ECW files ^a	•
ENVI – reading/writing ESRI^® GRID files ^a	•
ENVI – GPS Link ^a	•
ENVI – Reading MrSID files ^a	•
ENVI – RemoteView link ^a	•							•	•
Opening files in ArcMap^™ from ENVI and ENVI Zoom ^a,b	•
ArcGIS^® geodatabase support in ENVI and ENVI Zoom: ^a,b Connect to and read from geodatabase Save to file or personal geodatabase Save to enterprise SDE geodatabase ^c	•
IAS and JPIP in ENVI and ENVI Zoom ^a	•		•	•	•	•	•		•
NITF in ENVI and ENVI Zoom	•	•				•	•	•	•
ENVI Orthorectification Module	•	•	•^d	•^d	•^d	•	•

^a Windows users: these ENVI functions only run in 32-bit mode. If you have a 64-bit Windows PC and you want to use these functions, run ENVI in 32-bit mode as follows from the Windows Start menu: Program Files → ENVI x.x → 32-bit → ENVI or ENVI + IDL or ENVI Zoom.

^b Supported on ArcGIS^® Desktop 9.2 and later; tested on Windows XP 32-bit and Vista 32-bit with ArcGIS^® Desktop 9.3.

^cRequires ArcInfo^® or ArcEditor^™ license (ArcView^® does not support this feature).

^d Not supported on Macintosh OS X 10.4 platforms.