A Tecplot 360 EX configuration file is a special type of macro file that Tecplot 360 EX reads on start up. Use customized configuration files to override any or all of Tecplot 360 EX's factory default settings.
|
|
You can create a configuration file from scratch using any plain text editor, or by editing a copy of an existing configuration file. |
|
A configuration file should include only those options for which you want to override defaults.
See Section 30 - 1 “Custom Files loaded on Startup” for information on how it is loaded.
30 - 2.1 Editing Configuration File
You are not limited to merely customizing those settings that appear in an existing configuration file. Most settings that can be modified by the $!Field, $!LineMap, or $!Interface macro commands can be changed in the configuration file directly. The $!LIMITS macro command can be used in the configuration file only.
The simplest way to do this is to create a layout or macro with the settings you want, then copy and paste the appropriate commands into your configuration file. See the Scripting Guide for complete details on macro commands.
SetValue Commands
SetValue Commands are macro commands used to specify the value of a given plot attribute. You may add SetValue commands to your tecplot.cfg file to override any of Tecplot 360 EX's default settings. For example, suppose you want your 2D axes to appear cyan. You can add this preference to your configuration file as follows:
1.Using the Tecplot 360 EX interface, create a 2D plot with cyan axes while either recording your steps as a macro, or else save the resulting plot as a Tecplot layout.
2.Edit the resulting macro or layout, scanning for the lines that set the 2D axis colors. The following example shows the commands that specify the X- and Y-axis details in a layout of a 2D plot with cyan axes:
|
$!TWODAXIS XDETAIL{RANGEMIN = -3} |
|
$!TWODAXIS XDETAIL{RANGEMAX = 15} |
|
$!TWODAXIS XDETAIL{GRIDLINES{SHOW=YES}} |
|
$!TWODAXIS XDETAIL{AUTOGRID=NO} |
|
$!TWODAXIS XDETAIL{GRSPACING = 5} |
|
$!TWODAXIS XDETAIL{GRIDLINES{COLOR = CYAN}} |
|
$!TWODAXIS YDETAIL{GRIDLINES{SHOW = YES}} |
|
$!TWODAXIS YDETAIL{GRIDLINES{COLOR = CYAN}} |
3.Discard everything but the lines that actually set the color:
|
$!TWODAXIS XDETAIL{GRIDLINES{COLOR = CYAN}} |
|
$!TWODAXIS YDETAIL{GRIDLINES{COLOR = CYAN}} |
4.Paste the resulting lines into your configuration file.
Plot Default Setting - FIELDMAP and LINEMAP
A single $!FIELDMAP command can be included to set plot defaults. The zone cannot be specified in the configuration file, and the command is not effective for values set dynamically by Tecplot 360 EX, such as Mesh Color. In the example below, the default contour type is Flood, scatter symbol shape is Delta, and scatter size is 1.8.
|
$!FIELDMAP CONTOUR{CONTOURTYPE = FLOOD} $!FIELDLAYERS SHOWSCATTER = YES $!FIELDMAP SCATTER{SYMBOLSHAPE{GEOMSHAPE = DEL}} $!FIELDMAP SCATTER{FRAMESIZE = 1.8} |
In the same way as above, a single $!LINEMAP command can be added for line mapping defaults. In the example below, XY and Polar Line mappings will have a dashed line pattern, and symbols will be filled circles.
|
$!LINEMAP LINES{LINEPATTERN = DASHED} $!LINEPLOTLAYERS SHOWSYMBOLS = YES $!LINEMAP SYMBOLS{SYMBOLSHAPE{GEOMSHAPE = CIRCLE}} $!LINEMAP SYMBOLS{FILLMODE = USELINECOLOR} |
Override Automatic View>Fit
When loading a 3D plot, Tecplot 360 EX automatically fits the plot to the frame. To revert to the old Tecplot 360 EX behavior, which used a fixed zoom factor, remove the # from the following line in your tecplot.cfg file:
|
#$!FrameSetup Initial3DScale = 0.7 |
Interface Configuration
The many members of the $!INTERFACE macro help you configure Tecplot 360 EX's user interface and graphics drawing capabilities. Although some of these commands can be executed in any macro, the best place to put these is in the Tecplot 360 EX configuration file: tecplot.cfg. Below are a few examples. Refer to the Scripting Guide for a complete listing.
General Interface Configuration Options
$!INTERFACE followed by:
• MOUSEACTIONS {MIDDLEBUTTON {SIMPLEDRAG=ZOOMDATA}} - Specify the action of the middle mouse button click and drag. Several other options for the middle and right mouse buttons are listed in the Scripting Guide. These commands can only be executed in the Tecplot 360 EX configuration file.
• USESTROKEFONTSONSCREEN = (YES, NO) - If set to YES, all text drawn in the work area will be drawn using Tecplot 360 EX's internal stroke fonts. If set to NO, the native True Type fonts will be used instead.
• USESTROKEFONTSFOR3DTEXT = (YES, NO) - If set to YES, all 3D text drawn in the work area will be drawn using Tecplot 360 EX's internal stroke fonts. 3D text consists of ASCII scatter symbols and node and cell labels when the active plot type is 3D Cartesian. For 3D text, this setting overrides the setting of USESTROKEFONTSONSCREEN. If set to NO, TrueType fonts will be used instead.
OpenGL-Specific Configuration Options
Several options are available to further tune Tecplot 360 EX to operate with the OpenGL capabilities of your platform. To assign values to these parameters you must use the $!INTERFACE OPENGLCONFIG command. A complete list of these options is given in the Scripting Guide.
$!INTERFACE OPENGLCONFIG followed by:
• {ALLOWHWACCELERATION = (YES, NO)} - In some cases, bugs in OpenGL drivers cause problems in Tecplot 360 EX. In these situations, Tecplot 360 EX will typically behave better if this options is set to NO. However, Tecplot 360 EX will also be slower.
• {SCREENRENDERING {DOEXTRADRAWFORLASTPIXEL = (YES, NO)}} - Some OpenGL implementations use an optimization for line drawing that omits the last pixel in the line. Set this to YES to change all line drawing to force the last pixel to be drawn. This setting applies only to drawing on the screen.
• {SCREENRENDERING {STIPPLEALLLINES = (ALL, CRITICAL, NONE)}} - Set to ALL to make all lines drawn using stippling. Set to CRITICAL to use stippling for stroke and user-defined fonts. Set to NONE to disable stippling. This setting applies only to drawing on the screen.
• {SCREENRENDERING {MAXMULTISAMPLES = <integer>} - Specifies the number of multisamples to be used for antialiasing displayed images. The default is 4. A value of 0 may be used for faster rendering (with some roughness in the display). Higher values may be used at some cost in performance.
• {IMAGERENDERING {DOEXTRADRAWFORLASTPIXEL = (YES, NO)}} - Some OpenGL implementations use an optimization for line drawing that omits the last pixel in the line. Set this to YES to change all line drawing to force the last pixel to be drawn. This setting applies only to exporting images from Tecplot 360 EX.
• {IMAGERENDERING {STIPPLEALLLINES = (ALL, CRITICAL, NONE)}} - Set to ALL to make all lines drawn using stippling. Set to CRITICAL to use stippling for stroke and user-defined fonts. Set to NONE to disable stippling. This setting applies to exporting images from Tecplot 360 EX.
• {IMAGERENDERING {MAXMULTISAMPLES = <integer>} - Specifies the number of multisamples to be used for antialiasing exported images. The default is 4.
• {PRETRANSLATEDATA = (AUTO, ON, OFF)} - Applies a translation to data before sending it to OpenGL for rendering, reducing jitter when data is far from the origin but has small differences between data points. The default is AUTO, which applies the translation automatically when appropriate.
30 - 2.2 Default Temporary Directory
Tecplot 360 EX writes out a number of temporary files. To tell Tecplot 360 EX where to place these files, put the following macro command in the tecplot.cfg file
|
$!FILECONFIG TEMPFILEPATH = "tempfilepath" |
:
where tempfilepath is the new path. The default path is system dependent.