Making IDL Code Available Was: Easy way to make hard copies at full printer resolution

[davidf(at)dfanning.com (David Fanning)]

Kristian Kjaer (kristian.kjaer@risoe.dk) writes:

> Sounds great! Any chance of getting hold of this code, preferably with
> the ten minutes added in?

Well, yes, now that you mention it... :-)

Despite what it sometimes looks like on this newsgroup, I
make a living by writing IDL code and (sometimes) teaching
other people how to write IDL code. This linked list idea
I have was to be the first addition to a new shareware
library I plan to be offering on my web page. (My second
addition is to be a completely re-written PS_FORM program
that works the way it is suppose to and doesn't embarrass
me with the way it is written. :-) 

My idea is to offer IDL save files on the shareware site,
and send you the IDL code when you register the product
and pay your shareware fee. (I'm thinking of fees in the
neighborhood of $20-$100, depending upon the program.)
I don't have any idea whether this will work or not, or
whether it is even practical. But I would like to be able
to offer better programs to people than what I currently
give away for free. And I would like to be compensated,
at least a little, for the time it takes to write them.
So I'm going to try this and see how it works. My grand
idea is to make this a repository of good code offered
by many different IDL programmers.

I expect this idea might be a bit controversial and
to some extent it goes against the grain of the open
exchange of ideas and programs that makes this newsgroup
such a great place to visit. I am certainly not
trying to damage that sense of openness. And I am
willing to tell you how to write your own linked list
if that is what you want to do. (Hopefully, it won't
take you two weeks like it did me. *Why* are linked
lists so easy to envision and so hard to program?!)
I think of this shareware library as over and above
the kind of exchange that goes on in this newsgroup.

I am in the process of getting all of this organized
and it may be a few more weeks before everything is 
ready to go. (Documenting the programs sufficiently is
what takes the most time.) But I will certainly let 
you know when it is ready. Perhaps I will offer a free
book to my first 10 shareware customers. :-)

Best Regards,

David

----------------------------------------------------------
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting
E-Mail: davidf@dfanning.com
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Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com/