DADiSP uses a configuration file, dadisp.cnf, to set program parameters such as screen fonts, default Window configurations, and hardcopy features. The dadisp.cnf file is automatically read and loaded each time DADiSP starts. It contains comments which briefly describe the configuration parameters which may be set. Details about the setting of configuration parameters are provided in this Appendix.
Some configuration items can be overridden by DADiSP commands or by environment variables. In all cases, DADiSP commands have the highest precedence, followed by environment variables, followed by items in dadisp.cnf. You can dynamically change any of the configuration parameters during a session with the menus provided or the SETCONF or SETCONFIG function. Any changes you make dynamically during a session are saved in the DADiSP Session file, dadisp.ses, not the dadisp.cnf file. Unless noted, any changes you make dynamically with SETCONF or the pull-down menus provided in Tools, Configuration take effect immediately.
The DADiSP session file, dadisp.ses, is an ASCII text file containing the configuration parameters you have changed during a session. You can delete lines from the session file if you do not want DADiSP to set those parameters upon startup. Alternately, you can set the IGNORE_SESSION parameter to cause DADiSP to ignore the session file completely upon startup.
The parameters in the dadisp.cnf file follow a KEYWORD KEYVALUE format. To set a particular parameter, un-comment the line (by removing the exclamation point ! at the beginning of the line), and specify the desired KEYVALUE for the appropriate KEYWORD in the file. For example, to turn on the vertical cursor, the configuration line would read:
VERT_CURSOR 1
A text KEYVALUE which contains spaces must be enclosed in double quotes " ". For example:
POSTSCRIPT_EPILOGUE "stroke showpage"
The \ character in a string is an escape character. For example, \x1FA indicates the HEX number 1FA. Other escape characters include \n return, \t tab, and \\ for the \ character itself.
The ! character indicates a comment. All text following a ! is ignored. Although some of the parameters are commented out and therefore ignored during the reading of the file, DADiSP has default values for all parameters. Leaving parameters you have not changed commented out speeds the processing of the dadisp.cnf file upon startup.
The configuration items are grouped according to their similarity. There are options to configure printing, default Window setup, default Series setup, GPIB, importing, and other miscellaneous items. The parameters available for printer and screen/video configuration vary from platform to platform. Notes are included to indicate these platform specific configuration parameters.