Settings Files

Settings files provide an easy and flexible way of defining default plotting values for your plots and plot sets. Settings files, which can be either binary or ASCII, should be used to do the following:

• Store plotting parameters so that they can be easily reused.
• Establish settings that pertain to the entire plot set, such as printer name.
• Enforce drawing standards.
• Eliminate typographical errors.
• Group together plotting parameters so that you can apply them to a specific plot or plot set.
• Assist novice users -- settings files can reduce the need to navigate through dialog boxes entirely.

Binary settings files:

• Allow settings for multiple data types to be defined in one settings file.
• Supported with InterPlot 9.0 or later.
• Created using the settings file editor in Organizer.

ASCII settings files:

• Allow settings for IPLOT or APLOT only.
• Supported in all versions of InterPlot.
• Created using any ASCII text editor.

Using Organizer to Create Binary Settings Files

1. From the Organizer menu bar, choose Edit > Settings File > Create.
2. In the Create Settings File dialog box, select a section from the "Sections to create" list, and then click the Create Section button. This removes the section entry from the "Sections to create" list and adds it to the "Sections created" list.

   Note: Only data type support that is installed will display in this dialog box. The Common section enables you to specify common settings. Common settings include printer name, archive name, rendering attributes filename, and plot set attributes.

    

3. Click the Edit Section button to access the properties sheet.
4. From the Create Settings property sheet, specify the settings you want. To get help on a specific item, click ? at the top of the Create Settings property sheet and drop it on the item you want help on.
5. To exit the Create Settings property sheet, click OK.
6. To add additional sections, repeat steps 2-5 (this step is optional).
7. To remove a section from the settings file, select the section from the Sections created list and click the Delete Section button (this step is optional). This removes the section entry from the Sections created list and adds it to the "Sections to create" list.
8. To save the settings file, click Save As. Specify the name of the settings file, and then click Save.
9. To exit the Create Settings dialog box, click Close.

Creating ASCII Settings Files

ASCII settings files are text files that contain Create and Modify command line qualifiers. The format of the settings file is one qualifier per line (along with its associated value). The maximum length of any line in a settings file is 1024 characters. The leading dash (-) character is optional when used in a settings file, though the command line interface requires it.

You can use any setting in a settings file except for the -settings qualifier. One additional setting you cannot use in a printer settings file is -printer. The following is an example of a settings file:

  # This settings file establishes a default printer, color table, pen table and turns off  # the display of enter data fields and text nodes.  queue=hp5si  color_table=c:\program files\common files\interplot\iplot\misc\color.ctb  pen_table=c:\data\pen\test.pen  nodisplay=[enter_data, text_nodes]

Types of Settings Files

Default Settings File
You can create a default settings file that stores plot parameters that will be applied automatically each time you create plots using the dialog, Organizer or command line interfaces. By default, you must name the settings file IPLOT.SET and put it in one of three directories:

• Your home directory (which allows "per user" defaults on machines with shared user accounts)
• The directory containing the drawing file or design file (which allows the same settings to be used for all of the files in the given directory)
• The settings subdirectory of the product directory (which allows "per machine" defaults)

Printer Settings File
When you select a printer, InterPlot searches for a printer settings file, which defines the parameters related to a specific printer. For example, suppose you have a printer named color that connects to a color plotter and a printer named mono that connects to a monochrome plotter. You can create a printer settings file for each printer and use the color table qualifier to specify a different color table for each printer.

InterPlot searches for a printer settings file with the same name as the printer and with a .set extension appended to it. Using the previous example, InterPlot looks for a printer settings file named color.set when you use the color printer.

Manually Applied Settings File
Although InterPlot uses settings files automatically, you can manually load specific settings files by using Organizer, the dialog box or the command line. By manually applying settings files, you can store groups of commonly used qualifiers (along with their values) in a file and then reference them on demand. This method of referencing settings files is helpful when a group of plotting parameters is used only for a specific project or on an occasional basis.

Priorities When Using Settings Files

To ensure that you have an opportunity to override any settings file defaults, InterPlot always processes settings files and any specified qualifiers in a particular order. The following priority issues are applicable to the dialog, Organizer and command line interfaces:

• Any plotting parameters specified in the dialog, Organizer or in the command line interface after a settings file has been loaded always override any duplicate or mutually exclusive qualifiers that may have appeared in the loaded settings file. Mutually exclusive qualifiers are qualifiers that are not intended to be together, because using one of them would alter the value of the other. For example, Xsize and Scale are mutually exclusive qualifiers. If the loaded settings file contained Xsize and Scale was then specified, InterPlot would use the Scale value.
• When the configuration variable IP_APPLY_ALL_SETTINGS is set to true, all of the default and printer settings files found in the search path will be read and applied. Mutually exclusive qualifiers that may appear in subsequent default or printer settings files override the same qualifiers that appear in previous default or printer settings files. When this variable is set to false, only the first occurrence of a default and printer settings file will be read and applied; InterPlot does not search any of the remaining directories for the file. The default value for this configuration variable is false.
• If both a default and printer settings file exists, duplicate or mutually exclusive parameters in the printer settings file override those in the default settings file. This situation could occur if a default settings file (defined by the IP_DEFAULT_SETTINGS configuration file variable) is used and contains a reference to a printer that has a printer settings file associated with it.

The following priority issues are applicable only to the command line:

• If you use a qualifier and a settings file that contain the same or mutually exclusive qualifiers in the same command line, then the value of the qualifier from the settings file is ignored.
• If you use the -settings qualifier with the Create or Modify commands and a default or printer settings file exists, any qualifiers in the file referenced by the -settings qualifier will override any duplicate or mutually exclusive qualifiers that InterPlot read from the default or printer settings file.

Configuration File Variables

There are several variables in the Common configuration file, ip.cfg, that relate to settings files.

IP_DEFAULT_SETTINGS
If you want to name the default settings file something other than iplot.set, you can change it. The default settings file name is defined by the configuration variable IP_DEFAULT_SETTINGS.

IP_SETTINGS_PATH
The directory locations for default and printer settings files can be changed. InterPlot searches the directories specified by the configuration variable IP_SETTINGS_PATH for default and printer settings files. Once it finds the first occurrence of the settings file, InterPlot does not search any of the remaining directories for the file. To specify a list of directories in the settings file search path, you must separate each directory with a semicolon.

IP_SETTINGS_FILE_FILTER
IP_SETTINGS_FILE_FILTER defines the settings file filter and is defined as set by default. Organizer and the dialog interfaces use this filter to determine which filenames to display in the file selection dialog box.

IP_APPLY_ALL_SETTINGS
By default, InterPlot finds the first occurrence of a default or printer settings file and does not search any of the remaining directories in the settings file search path. You can change this behavior and search multiple levels of default and printer settings files.

The configuration variable IP_APPLY_ALL_SETTINGS allows you to set up multiple levels of default settings files. For example, some users may want to have company-wide default settings files that can be overridden on a per-user or per-site basis. To do this, you can set the configuration variable IP_APPLY_ALL_SETTINGS to true. When this configuration variable is set to true, all of the default settings files found in the search path are read and applied. The default value for this configuration variable is false.

See Also

Product TechNotes and FAQs

ProjectWise TechNotes And FAQs

External Links

Bentley Technical Support KnowledgeBase

Bentley LEARN Server

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