The Settings File (.set) Stores Programme, Not Model, Information
The settings file (.set) stores Programme, not Model, information
Almost all the values in the settings file are model-independent, and can be applied to any analysis. The exceptions are:
| The current view. | Both the direction cosines (the view direction) and the current centre, scale and perspective distance are stored. If applied to a model with significantly different dimensions it may be necessary to (autoscale) after reading the settings file in order to make the model visible. |
| Nodes used in , and . |
If any of these nodes are defined they are converted to their external labels when written to the settings files. When the file is read back in an attempt is made to match the external label in the current model. If this is successful (for all nodes in a context where > 1 are required) that mode is restored, otherwise that mode is switched off. |
| Nodes used in , and " " |
Likewise nodes used to define a cut-section are written using external labels. When reread an attempt is made to match these in the current model. For cut section definitions it doesn't matter if the node(s) are not matched, since they are only used to derive section geometry and can be dispensed with once this has been computed. However if " " has been selected, but any of the nodes cannot be matched, this mode will be switched off. |
The Properties (.prp) file stores Model-specific information
Information about models: item colour, transparency, brightness, overlay, labelling, etc is stored in the "properties" file. More details about this file are given under in Properties: Controlling colour, drawing style, transparency, lighting attributes and overlay of entities .
Properties files are written using external labels, so they can be applied to different models. Where an external label is not matched in the current model, or no counterpart to a current item is found in the properties file, no action is taken. Therefore properties files can be used to restore model settings to broadly similar analyses.
However the Settings and Properties files are closely related
Because these files are so closely related in terms of what they do it makes sense to process them together, and the panel allows you to read and write both types.