= VSO Interfaces Through IDL =

There are two sets of interfaces using RSI's Interactive Data Language.  The first is a low-level VSO object, that can be extended for use in other programs.  The second are commands for the general science public who wish to search for data products using the command line.

Both are available through [http://www.lmsal.com/solarsoft/ SolarSoft], in the gen tree.  The code used is pure IDL, and does not have any dependancies on other programming languages, but may be slow for exceptionally large arrays of metadata results.

== User Tools ==

There are two functions available within IDL to search for data products:

  * [wiki:VsoIDL/VsoSearch vso_search] : uses VSO to get a list of records that match given parameters
  * [wiki:VsoIDL/VsoGet vso_get] : will attempt to download available data products, given a list of records.

== Programmer Tools ==

For programmers who wish to extend the VSO for use in their own code, there is a more low level interface, that uses [http://www.sipwork.org/?p=117 IDL Objects] in the [wiki:VsoIDL/VsoDefine VSO object].  Documentation is available through the IDL `xdoc` or `doc_menu` commands, as well as example usage in  [wiki:VsoIDL/VsoSearch vso_search], [wiki:VsoIDL/VsoGet vso_get] or Dominic Zarro's EIT object.

== Support ==

Questions, comments or suggestions about the VSO interface in IDL should contact help@virtualsolar.org.