copying settings to several computers

tronmikk · Post by **tronmikk** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 1:55 pm

I'm running the 3D fabrication lab here at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts and we have several computers with SpaceExplorers running Rhinoceros and Solidworks. I've programmed all the buttons so that the SE works well with Rhino (the default settings just make no sense at all) here on my laptop. To avoid having to rewrite all the macros and adjust all the settings for every computer in the lab I'd like to copy settings between them. Where is the file containing this info? For future upgrades I'd like to suggest that in the 3dx control panel under "options - save as" one may also choose a location to save to. Along with the option to load a configuration, of course.

Phil999 · Post by **Phil999** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 4:08 pm

the profiles are in scg format and can be read and edited with a text editor. But I did not have success with copying and reusing those files. They are numbered 00, 01, 02, etc., and your Rhino profile is probably 01 on one machine, and 02 on the other, depending on how you installed the applications and the 3dx driver.

Of course it is possible to create template profiles and use them for several computers, but only with the needed care and knowledge. The latest driver seems to allow renaming scg-files, and when the procedure of installation is the same for every machine, templates should work. But I'm not in the mood of experimenting, because I have all 4 devices configured and running perfectly now.

I would also welcome if 3dconnexion could introduce the option of saving profiles in a future driver version. Many people use more than one computer, many people use both 32- and 64-bit operating systems and must therefore configure the device twice.

Post by **jwick** » Sun Jul 26, 2009 7:08 am

Saved configurations are saved into your %appdata%\3dconnexion\3dxware\profiles directory. They are named userXX.scg with XX starting at 01 and incrementing with each new saved config. You can copy those files from machine to machine as you please. Put them into the correct user's %appdata% dir. Or you could replace the Rhino.scg file in the default dir with yours (rename it to Rhino.scg or whatever we are calling that today).

Regardless of where you place it, you'll probably have to (once) switch to that configuration when you restart the 3DxWare driver. It remembers that in the registry.

tronmikk · Post by **tronmikk** » Sun Jul 26, 2009 11:06 am

Thanks guys, I'll get on it and see if I can make it work.

Phil999 · Post by **Phil999** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 8:48 am

when the driver is installed and running, a supported application is recognized when it is run once, and a default profile is created automatically. When I later want to change that profile with simple exchanging the scg-file, do I also need to change registry entries?

Post by **jwick** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 9:45 am

when the driver is installed and running, a supported application is recognized when it is run once, and a default profile is created automatically.

A user file is created when you change something and change to a new app, or exit. A default file can only be created via file system surgery. You have to restart the driver to get it to recognize a new default file.

When I later want to change that profile with simple exchanging the scg-file, do I also need to change registry entries?

The association between an executable name and an scg file name is kept in the registry. If you don't change the name, you don't have to edit the registry. See HKCU/software/3dconnexion/3dxware/applications.
Before you ask, there is no way to externally goose the driver into rereading the scg file. The only way to do that is to: A) bounce the driver (which will probably lose the connection to your app) or, B) change away and back to your configuration in the driver configuration drop down listbox.

tronmikk · Post by **tronmikk** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 1:00 pm

I opened all the "userXX" files in notepad on all the computers and used the "find" function to discover which one was called "rhinoceros - username" in each different setup. I then just replaced the files with the one from the correctly set up computer, renaming wherever needed. This worked out perfectly. Thanks for the advice

Phil999 · Post by **Phil999** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 7:03 pm

glad you succeeded.

Has anybody done it for 3dsmax? I would like to have a detailed description how to do it, including when to stop and restart the driver and rebooting, for the SpacePilot and SpacePilotPro.

I use a lot of controllers (MIDI, 3dx, joysticks, gamepads, custom built), and I always create my profiles once and copy them. Only with 3dx (3dsmax) and Wacom it does not work.

Post by **rstadie** » Thu Aug 06, 2009 5:24 am

Hi Phil999,

If you are using the same device with the same driver version on the same platform you can try the following:

A) Exit 3ds Max
B) Stop 3DxWare driver
C) Open the registry and navigate to

Code: Select all

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\3Dconnexion\3DxStudio

D) Right-click on "3DxStudio", select "Export" (save the file)
E) Exit all applications on the target machine (including 3DxWare driver) and rename in the registry:

Code: Select all

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\3Dconnexion\3DxStudio

to

Code: Select all

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\3Dconnexion\3DxStudio.bak

Then double click on the exported file, start your 3DxWare driver and Max on the target machine.

Phil999 · Post by **Phil999** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 9:51 am

wow, that looks promising. I will try it out next week and report back if it worked.

Thank you very much for the advice, rstadie.

Phil999 · Post by **Phil999** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:42 pm

because the 3dx devices on all machines and platforms (operating systems) are already fully configured, I deinstalled the 3dx driver on one platform with the SpacePilot and deleted the profiles. Then I installed the driver again and fired up 3dsmax.
But it loaded my previous profile again, although the profile folder was empty, well, not even present. So I cannot test your procedure right now, I will do next time when I do a fresh Windows installation. Good to know that I then will save these 30 minutes for the SpacePilot configuration.

Thanks again.

Post by **rstadie** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:39 am

The Plug-in for 3ds Max does not use the "profiles" (scg-files) - it uses the registry instead (see also my previous post).

Post by **jwick** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:46 am

...and your login registry settings may be shared across machines on the network depending on your system settings.

Phil999 · Post by **Phil999** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 8:25 am

alright, I see it more clearly now.

Thanks again, this is a very good support.

Phil999 · Post by **Phil999** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 2:51 am

I tested now this registry method, and it works fine. Thanks again for the tip. Although, in the case of SpacePilot, it only saves/transfers the first page. If one has more than one page, they have to be configured manually.