The VIDF editor is a GUI program to make the pain-staking creation of VIDF's a little easier. No editor in the world can do everything, and this one is no exception. The major problem with the VIDF format is its non-lexical nature. Due to this, you can introduce problems in the VIDF which can not be tracked until you try to create the I file from the V. Even worse, some problems are not visible until you plot. Another shortcoming of the editor is it might not make the most efficient VIDF's possible. This is just the nature of automated builders. However, if it works, there is usually no problem.
First, load up the VIDF editor. You can do this one of two ways. From the SDDAS Control Panel, select "Editors" and then select "VIDF Editor". Alternatively, you can type "vidfedit" from the command line. If you are editing a pre-exisitng VIDF, select "Open" from the "File" menu. If you are starting from scratch, I recommend using the "Create New VIDF Wizard" from the "Wizards" menu and answering all the questions as best you can. After you get the VIDF complete, you are ready to try and use it.
If you have problems creating a VIDF, contact Dr. Rudy Frahm at rudy@pemrac.space.swri.edu.
Command line loading of a VIDF file.
GUI editing of a Table - you can still do it the old fashioned way...
Loading an unfinished VIDF? Will it work (probably not)?
Data validation - currently there is none!
The main window is where the VIDF is actually stored. This is a fully editable window so be careful. If you change something here, it will be written to your VIDF file as you changed it. All the editing/arrow keys work as you would expect as well as cutting/pasting within the window.
The File Menu has the standard stuff you have come to expect from a GUI. The "New" will delete everything and start over. The "Open" will load a new VIDF. "Save" will save a VIDF to disk, and "Save As" will save the VIDF to disk with a different filename. "Delete" removes a file from disk, and "Quit" will exit the program.
The VIDF is broken up into section. This being the case, so are the VIDF editor dialog windows. The sections are as follows:
Each section is documented in the VIDF manual. Some sections were combined into the General VIDF Information section. One major section is left out and that is the Tables Information. This section may make its way into a future version of the editor, but for now, you must do that area by hand (or use the wizard to create them).
Currently, two wizards are available to automate certain repetitive tasks. One is the creation of the VIDF itself. Basically, all this does is go through each of the menus in the "Edit" section and lets you fill in the right answers. It can save you time in that you do not have to click through each of the menus to edit the sections. The downside is you have to go in order. If you ever want to abort the wizard, click on the Cancel button. Do not click on the decoration in the left hand corner (or single click and select "Close" from the menu). If you do this, all the buttons will be messed up until you use another wizard and complete the task! If you click on Cancel, all the previously entered information will have been saved in the main window.
The other wizard available is one to quickly add in the geometric factors for each of the sensors. This can be an enormous time savings!