Linux

First you must download the source code from Source Forge. Download package gdl-0.9rc1 to your computer. After downloading unzip the package. Before we start the installation process we need to correct a line in one of the source code files. Go to the folder labeled scr and open the file plot3d_nr.cpp. Next, proceed to line 223 and erase the false argument in the pldtik function.

Line 223 before: pldtik(zmin, zmax, &tick, &nsub, FALSE);
Line 223 after: pldtik(zmin, zmax, &tick, &nsub);

We will also need to install a series of different softwares in order to successfully install GDL. If you're using a debian based linux system, open a terminal and change the current directory to the unzipped GDL folder. Then type the following lines into the command prompt (ignore >>)

>> sudo apt-get install netcdfg-dev libhdf5-serial-dev libplplot-dev plplot9-driver-xwin libhdf4g-dev libreadline5-dev gsl-bin libgsl0-dev

>> sudo apt-get install libmagick++9-dev

>> sudo apt-get install g++

>> sudo apt-get install gawk

The first set of commands are a bunch of different software that will provide various GDL capabilities such as plottting and read & write. The second command will install the ImageMagick libraries which are needed for reading and writing image files. The last two command lines are needed to compile the source code.

Once all of the above software is installed, type the following into the command line

>> ./configure --with-python=no

>> make

>> sudo make install

Once the installation is done the current directory should have a file call gdl. If not, the gdl file will be in the scr folder. If the gdl file is in the current directory you can run gdl by typing ./gdl into the command prompt and pressing enter. If the gdl file is in the scr folder, change the directory to the scr folder and the type ./gdl into the command prompt and pressing enter

Mac OS X

Fortunately installing GDL on a Mac is easy because there is a binary file that can be downloaded from Sourceforge's MAC OS X HPC site.