IDL 4.0 Update Preview (forward for those who missed it)

[Liam Gumley <liamg(at)ssec.wisc.edu>]

From: Research Systems Inc.
To: gumley
Subject: IDL 4.0 Update Preview
>Date: Friday, February 24, 1995 4:12PM

Priority Upgrade - IDL 4.0 is Coming

Research Systems is pleased to announce the arrival of IDL 4.0.  For those
customers covered by a maintenance contract effective on or before April 1,
1995, they will receive this latest release free of charge.

Some of the highlights of the IDL 4.0 release include:

* Callable IDL allows access to the plotting, image processing, graphics
and numerics  from developers' C or FORTRAN programs via library-style
calls.  This flexible connectivity includes a  Windows DLL, UNIX shareable
object library and Macintosh Applescript support.

*  Advanced IDL statistics includes 50 new highly optimized functions
commonly used by scientists and engineers such as: correlation analysis,
hypothesis testing, multivariate analysis, probability functions,
statistical fitting, and time series analysis & forecasting.

* Fully-indexed on-line manuals with Hypertext links allow users to
efficiently navigate IDL documentation and easily print hardcopy pages or
entire sections.

* Organizations with a mix of platforms can use IDL's enhanced application
development tools to rapidly build IDL applications in one operating system
and distribute versions with native "look & feel" to users on other 
platforms.

* New scientific & engineering features solidify IDL's dominance as a
computation and visualization environment.  Just a few of the new features
are listed below:

        - Support for Double Precision Complex numbers increases the
accuracy of calculations involving complex numbers.

        - Native support of missing data simplifies calculations and
visualization of sparse datasets.  The IEEE NaN (not a number) value
represents missing data.

        - Spherical gridding, useful to researchers with global-scale data,
automatically interpolates irregularly-gridded data into regular grids.

* The most current versions of HDF, CDF, and netCDF are fully supported.
With the best scientific data support of any commercial application, IDL 4.0 

makes it easy to read and write these powerful and complex formats.

*  New cross-platform interface controls enhance the native "look & feel" of 

IDL applications running under Motif, Windows and Macintosh applications
built in IDL.

* Improved debugging support increases the productivity of  IDL programmers
in a  sophisticated development environment.


If you are not currently on maintenance, but would like to receive the 4.0
release of IDL please remit payment per the invoice you will receive in a
separate email message.  The invoice itself provides a detailed summary of
the licenses for which you are the associated contact.  Note that licenses
with an expiration date after March 31, 1995 will automatically receive
IDL 4.0.

There will be a  price increase for technical support and maintenance
effective April 1, 1995.  All orders for support and maintenance renewal
received on or before March 31 will receive benefit of the old price as well 

as the major IDL 4.0 upgrade.

For questions or comments, feel free to call Jackie Rape'  at
(303)-786-9900, or email at renewal@rsinc.com.


Research Systems Technical Support & Maintenance Policies

Research Systems separates Technical Support and Maintenance, giving
you maximum flexibility to tailor technical services to your
organization's special needs.  You receive prompt, authoritative, and
convenient replies to your technical questions from qualified
engineers who are trained in the sciences and engineering disciplines.
Software maintenance is a great value that will keep you up-to-date
with the latest software releases from Research Systems.

Technical Support Summary

Each new IDL or ENVI license entitles one designated technical contact
at your organization to 60 days of free technical support via
telephone, fax, and E-mail.  To receive technical assistance after
60-days, you must annually renew technical support for each designated
technical contact. For an additional fee, any number of technical
support agreements can be associated with a single installation number
if you prefer to establish more than one technical contact for a
license.

Maintenance Summary

Each new IDL or ENVI license entitles each license to 60 days of free
software maintenance updates.  During this period you will receive any
software updates or upgrades, and documentation.  To continue
receiving the latest software updates, you can annually renew
maintenance for each license (fees based on 10% of the current list
price).  If you are currently on maintenance, you will receive
documentation with each IDL update, not at the time of maintenance
renewal. All software updates will be automatically shipped.

Each software license must be on maintenance to be transferred to another
machine.

Standard media for software updates is CD ROM.  You can also obtain
software updates over the Internet.

Maintenance Reinstatement Policy

If your maintenance has lapsed, it can be reinstated by paying a fee
equal to a maximum of one year back cost plus one year forward. By
reinstating your maintenance, you will receive the latest versions of
the software as well as one set of documentation.  You will also
continue to receive software updates throughout the service period.


How to Contact Research Systems Technical Support

Hours:          8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. MST.
E-mail:         support@rsinc.com
Telephone:      303-786-9930 extension 320
Fax:            303-786-9909

Physical Address:
Research Systems, Inc.
2995 Wilderness Place
Boulder, CO  80301

When Calling Technical Support

* State your name.
* State your Installation Number (shown when your start up IDL or ENVI).
* State your version number, machine type, and operating system version.

Before Calling Technical Support

* Check your Reference Guide, User's Guide, or On Line help for possible
  solutions to your problem.
* Run your  IDL code twice to confirm a problem or clarify a question.
* Simplify your code to a small, self-contained example.  See the
  "Reporting Bugs" chapter 25 of the User's Guide or look in the on line
  help, for more information.