OPTIONS... SAVE and RELOAD: Saving and Restoring Properties
OPTIONS... SAVE and RELOAD: Saving and restoring properties
Setting up properties (colour, transparency, etc) for a model can be time-consuming,
and it is useful to be able to preserve them for subsequent runs.
- writes the complete property list for the whole model into a "properties" ( .prp ) file.
- can read this in at a later date and restore all the saved settings.
You can create any number of property files, each will save the current status, and these may be read in at any time to update the current display.
Property files can be applied to different (but similar) models:
- All information in a property file is written using external item labels.
- When read back in these labels are mapped onto the items in the current model that have these labels.
- If an external label is encountered that has no internal counterpart it is ignored.
- Similarly those items in the current model which don't appear in the properties file are left unchanged.
Therefore you can apply a properties file to any model and, provided that it is not too dissimilar to the model from which the file was written, the effect should be to restore your settings almost completely.
Reading and writing properties files elsewhere in D3PLOT
Properties files can also be written and read back in from the panel. This is described in UTILITIES, SETTINGS_FILE .
They can also be read in at the same time as the model is input if the box is checked on the file input panel - see Open a Single Model
From release onwards they can also be read and written from the Saved properties option panel, see Export to file... saving properties to file
What is the difference between a Properties file and a Settings file?
A properties file contains information about the model properties: colour, transparency, labeling, visibility, display modes, etc. It is window independent.
A settings file contains information about the D3PLOT window settings: background colour, data component, contour levels, etc. It is model independent.
Properties and Settings files are forwards, but not backwards, compatible.
Both of these file types evolve with successive releases of D3PLOT. A newer format file will not read into an older version of the code, however an older format file may be read into a newer version of the programme and - usually - will function normally.
There are some minor exceptions: some overlay attributes in a properties file from release 9.0 of D3PLOT may not translate properly to a newer release. This is not so much because of file incompatibility, but rather because of changes to the inner workings of the code itself which make the "old" attributes invalid.
From D3PLOT 11.0 onwards the properties file is now both model and programme-independent, and in particular properties may be exchanged between D3PLOT and PRIMER. The format of the file and an explanation of its contents can be found in The Format of the Saved Properties (.prp) File
If you have problems with incompatibility please contact Oasys Ltd Support for help and advice.