IDL Agent and ENVI Agent in VS Code extension

[Chris Torrence]

Hi all,

NV5 Geospatial has just released a new version of our IDL for VS Code extension! If you aren't already aware, the IDL for VS Code extension provides a complete IDL/ENVI programming environment within Visual Studio Code. Both VS Code and the IDL extension are downloadable for free on Windows, Linux, and Mac. The extension provides an IDL code editor with chromacoding, content assist, and an IDL debugger.

The extension now includes full Agentic capabilities for IDL and ENVI. The IDL Agent interfaces with Github Copilot, and allows you to generate IDL code, anything from "Hello World" scripts to complex vectorized algorithms​. You can also ask the agent

to explain sections of code or propose a fix for errors​. The Agent understands all IDL code, including more modern tools like function graphics, the HttpRequest class, and the embedded Python bridge.

The ENVI Agent exposes the full capabilities of the ENVI ecosystem, including remote sensing algorithms such as image registration, change detection, and image classification.

Both IDL Agent and ENVI Agent will work seamlessly with existing installations of IDL 9.2 and ENVI 6.2. For the best experience it is strongly recommended that you have a paid subscription to Github Copilot. The IDL Agent works with existing IDL 9.2 licenses, while the ENVI Agent requires an additional licensing module.

Links:

Visual Studio code

IDL for VS Code extension

Github Copilot

Thanks!

-Chris Torrence

IDL Lead Engineer

NV5 Geospatial

[Paulo Penteado]

Thanks, that is great news.

Two questions: 

1) Does it need IDL 9.2? 

2) If I am running VS Code remotely through ssh (not as a X window, I mean with the VS Code SSH extension, so I run the GUI in my laptop, and it talks to a remote computer where the files and execution actually are), and the IDL license is in the remote computer, would the agent work in my local computer I am running the VS Code GUI from?

Thanks!

[Chris Torrence]

Hey, great to hear from you!

1. The IDL for VS Code extension will work all versions of IDL back to IDL 8.8. You can use the IDL Agent to write (and explain) code for any version of IDL, but if you want it to actually start IDL and run IDL programs, then it needs IDL 9.2.

2. That is a tricky question - the IDL Agent doesn't do any license checks by itself, so it doesn't care where IDL is installed. However, if you want it to be able to start/run IDL automatically, it would need to somehow be able to fire up that IDL. There is a preference in the IDL for VS Code extension where you can put the location of your IDL installation - it expects that to be a normal file path - it could certainly be on a remote machine but that installation folder would have to be visible on a network drive.

So, the short answer is that you can use both the extension and the IDL Agent with almost any version of IDL to write and analyze code. But if you want it to actually run the code, then you'll probably have to do some experimentation.

Hope this helps!

-Chris