Preferences in ArchiCAD 7.0

Written by Ákos Pfemeter

Introduction

Preferences are various settings that make ArchiCAD customizable. This document summarizes these settings, their storage location and explains how you can work with them in different situations. The following topics will be discussed in this document:

• Description of the different settings.
• How you can transfer these settings among different computers.
• How you should proceed when different users use the same workstation.
• What you should do when you upgrade ArchiCAD to a newer version.

Description of the different settings

In ArchiCAD there are basically 3 types of settings: settings that are specific to concrete Projects, settings that define the working environment in ArchiCAD irrespectively of the actual project opened and user specific settings in a TeamWork project.

Project Specific Settings:

• File Menu: Project Publisher Settings
• Edit Menu: Find &Select Criteria
• Tools Menu: Magic Wand Settings
• Options Menu: Floor Plan Scale, Display Options, Grid & Background Settings, Layers & Layer Combinations, Pens & Colors, Line Types, Fill Types, Composite Structures, Materials, Zone Categories
• Options Menu / Preferences: Working Units, Dimensions’ Settings, Calculation Units, Construction Elements’ Settings, and Zones’ Settings
• Image Menu: 3D Projection & Window Settings, PhotoRendering Settings, and Cities
• Display Menu: Home View Setting
• Window Menu: Quick Views, Favorites

Working Environment Specific Settings:

• Window & Dialog & Palette Positions, Status Bar Settings, Tool Bar Settings
• File Menu: Recent File List, Plotter Settings, and Printer Settings
• Options Menu / Preferences: Mouse Constrains & Methods, Imaging & Calculation Settings, Data Safety Settings, Web Options, Miscellaneous Settings, Menu Shortcut Keys,

TeamWork User Specific Settings:

• Default tool settings, Actual zoom
• File Menu: Project Publisher Settings
• Edit Menu: Find &Select Criteria
• Tools Menu: Magic Wand Settings
• Options Menu: Floor Plan Scale, Display Options, Grid & Background Settings, Actual lock & visibility state of layers, Layer Combinations
• Image Menu: 3D Projection & Window Settings, PhotoRendering Settings, and Cities
• Display Menu: Home View Setting
• Window Menu: Quick Views, Favorites

Storage location of the different settings

ArchiCAD Program File:

The ArchiCAD Program file includes all of the default settings burnt in. These settings will be used:

• Whenever by starting ArchiCAD, the stored preferences are not available
• After the command "New&Reset" (except the Menu Shortcut Keys settings and some Windows specific settings)

ArchiCAD Project Files:

Every ArchiCAD project file contains all of the settings specific to that project. Whenever a certain project gets opened its own settings will be read from the project file.

The actual stage of all of the settings will be written into one of the Preferences files when ArchiCAD gets shut down. By the next launch of ArchiCAD creating a new plan these settings will be used. On Windows you can define the storage location of the Preferences files in the Registry. On the traditional Macintosh the Preferences files are always stored in the System Folder / Preferences Folder. On Macintosh OS X the preferences files work the same way as on the traditional Macintosh but each user has got its own preferences files set stored in: OSX/Users/The_Actual_User/Library/Preferences.

• The "ArchiCAD_Lasting" preferences file includes solely the Menu Shortcut Keys settings ("New&Reset" has no influence on this file).
• The "ArchiCAD_DialPos" preferences file exists only on Macintosh. This file contains the dialog and palette positions in ArchiCAD (on Windows these settings are stored in the Registry).
• The "ArchiCAD_Basic" preferences file includes the actual stage of the project specific settings and those of the working environment specific settings that are not stored in the above 2 preferences files or in the Registry (on Windows).
• The "TeamWork_Users’" Preferences files contain the part of project settings specific to each user in a certain TeamWork file. These files are distinguished by the users’ name registered in the TeamWork project.
• The "Plotter" Preferences files contain the plotter settings (Note that this preferences file is used commonly with PlotMaker).
• The "Digitizer" Preferences files contain the digitizer settings (Note that this preferences file is used commonly with PlotMaker).

Registry (only on Windows):

The registry on Windows contains 2 different types of information.

• The dialog and palette positions in ArchiCAD (on Macintosh these settings are stored in the "ArchiCAD_DialPos" preferences file).
• The Windows specific settings: Toolbar settings, the storage location of the Preferences files, The Recent File List, The Special Menu setting, The location of the Graphisoft Shared Folder and the position and size of the Main ArchiCAD Window (these are not overwritten by the "New&Reset" command).

How you can transfer these settings among different computers

1. Preferences files can be replaced by each other on the same platform when the Program version equals (Language, Package Version and License Type)
2. Project specific settings can be transferred in any plan files (even in an empty file)
3. Registry entries can be Exported/Imported in the Regedit program. You go to a certain entry (e.g. HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareGraphisoftArchiCADArchiCAD 6.5 QENTool Bar) and choose the Export command from the Registry menu. This will result in a file that can be imported on other computers in the Regedit (note that you have to export the file in a different format when the OS version differs on the other computer).
4. Between projects you can transfer the following settings by using the Attribute Manager AddOn: Layers & Layer Combinations, Pens & Colors, Line Types, Fill Types, Composite Structures, Materials, Zone Categories, Cities. In Attribute Manager you can import these setting either from an existing ArchiCAD project file or from an Attribute Manager file (*.aat).

How you should proceed when different users use the same workstation

1. In case more then one copy of ArchiCAD is installed on the same computer:
   • On Windows the information stored in Preferences Files cannot get mixed because each ArchiCAD copy has got its own ArchiCAD folder containing its own preferences files. However information in Registry are distinguished only by main localized version (E.g. ArchiCAD 6.5 QEN). It means regarding these settings in case of different sub releases of the same localized main program version (E.g. R1, R2) always the settings of the last used ArchiCAD will be registered.

     Note that registry entries are stored under HKEY_CURRENT_USER that means every user can have its own entries/settings provided that each user installed a discrete copy of ArchiCAD into a different folder.

   • On the traditional Macintosh Preferences Files are stored in a central location (in System Folder/Preferences) and are distinguished only by main version number (E.g. ArchiCAD 7.0). It means regarding settings stored in Preferences Files in case of different localized versions or sub releases of the same main program version (E.g. R1-QEN, R2-GER) always the setting of the last used ArchiCAD will be saved and used.
   • On Macintosh OS X Preferences files are stored user by user (in OSX/Users/The_Actual_User/Library/Preferences) so they can use different settings independently from each other.
2. In case more then one copy of ArchiCAD is installed on the same computer and is running parallel at the same time:
   • Always the settings of the last quit ArchiCAD are saved into the commonly used files described above and the copies started afterwards will use these settings.
3. In case one computer is used by more than one user different settings can be used by multiple installation of the program (only on Windows).

What you should do when you upgrade ArchiCAD to a newer version

1. Upgrading to a newer version means new ArchiCAD folder and differently named Preferences files. It means the settings cannot get transported between main versions, however settings stored in project files will be used irrespectively of the program version.
2. Between sub releases preferences files may be taken over but it is not guaranteed that this will function between all of the sub releases freely.

Page last updated: Thursday, June 10, 2004