The Preferences Browser

The Preferences Browser

The Preferences Browser provides a means of setting preferences, or default properties, for the general settings and file readers and writers used by all iTools. For example, if you prefer default drag quality to be low rather than high, you can change the default property for Default drag quality from High to Low in the Preferences Browser, as shown in Figure 7-5.

For more information on the property sheets displayed in the right-hand pane of the Preferences Browser, see Visualization Properties.

The Preferences Browser displays a nested list of general preferences, file readers, and file writers available for all iTools in the left pane, and a property sheet for the currently selected item in the right pane.

To expand a list item, click the + icon

To collapse an expanded list item, click the - icon

To change the properties of a general setting, file reader, or file writer from the Preferences Browser:

Select File ® Preferences.

Select the name of the general setting, file reader, or file writer in the list. A list of properties and the current property settings appears in the right-hand pane of the Preferences Browser window.

Locate the property you want to change in the list, and click in the settings column.

If a drop-down button

appears in the settings column, click the button to choose a new setting from the list of options, activate a slider to change the setting value, display a selection dialog or list, or display an Edit button providing access to a user-defined property control.

If the text is editable, edit the text to change the setting.

See Property Controls for a detailed description of the types of property settings included in property sheets.

Click the Close button

to close the Preferences Browser.

Note

Changes to preferences are saved between iTool sessions. When the OK button is clicked, preferences are saved in their current state.

General Settings

The first option on the Preferences Browser is the General Settings option. Settings listed here will be applied to all iTools if altered. The properties listed here are:


Property	Control Type: Values
Unlimited Buffer	Boolean: Set to determine buffer size as limited or unlimited: True False Default = True
Zoom on Window Resize	Boolean: Set to determine if iTool data resizes upon window resizing: True False Default = False
Change directory on open	Boolean: Set to be prompted to change directory upon open: True False Default = True
Default working directory	Select Edit to bring up the Browse for folder dialog. Default = none
Default style	Boolean: Select from existing style list. Default = none
Default drag quality	Boolean: Set the window drag quality. Low Medium High Default = High
Printer output format	Boolean: Set the format for printing output. Bitmap Vector Default = Bitmap
Clipboard output format	Boolean: Set the output format for clipboard copied data. Bitmap Vector Default = Bitmap

Note

The Restore Defaults button at the bottom of the Preferences Browser restores all default settings immediately.

File Readers

Select this folder to edit file reader preferences and properties. Available file reader types and their editable properties are listed in the following tables. For more information on reading in data of various types, see Importing and Exporting Data.

iTools State

The iTools State File Reader properties are:


Property	Control Type: Values
None	The iTools State File Reader has no configurable properties other than Name and Description.

Windows Bitmap

The Windows Bitmap File Reader properties are:


Property	Control Type: Values
None	The Windows Bitmap File Reader has no configurable properties other than Name and Description.

Joint Photographic Experts Group

The Joint Photographic Experts Group File Reader properties are:


Property	Control Type: Values
None	The Joint Photographic Experts Group File Reader has no configurable properties other than Name and Description.

JPEG2000

The JPEG2000 File Reader properties are:


Property	Control Type: Values
Levels to discard	A droplist giving the number of highest resolution levels which will not appear in the result. Image dimensions are divided by 2 to the power of this number. For example, if the image in the object has dimensions of 1024 x 1026, and DISCARD_LEVELS is set to 3, the resulting image will have dimensions of 128 x 129, which is the ceiling of [1024, 1026] divided by 23. The default is "None", implying that the full resolution image will be returned.
Quality layers	A droplist giving the maximum number of quality layers which will be returned in the result. Each layer contains the information required to represent the image at a higher quality, given the information from all the previous layers. A value of "All", the default, implies that all layers should be returned.

Macintosh PICT

The Macintosh PICT File Reader properties are:


Property	Control Type: Values
None	The Macintosh PICT File Reader has no configurable properties other than Name and Description.

Portable Network Graphics

The Portable Network Graphics File Reader properties are:


Property	Control Type: Values
None	The Portable Network Graphics File Reader has no configurable properties other than Name and Description.

Tag Image File Format

The Tag Image File Format File Reader properties are:


Property	Control Type: Values
Image index	Number: Level at which to begin image index. Edit the number to change the value. Default = `0`
Image Stacking	String List: Image stacking method. Select a method from the list. Choose between these values: +X -X +Y -Y +Z -Z Default = Read Single Image

DICOM Image

The DICOM Image File Reader properties are:


Property	Control Type: Values
None	The DICOM Image File Reader has no configurable properties other than Name and Description.

Windows Waveform Audio Stream

The Windows Waveform Audio Stream File Reader properties are:


Property	Control Type: Values
None	The Windows Waveform Audio Stream File Reader has no configurable properties other than Name and Description.

ESRI Shapefile

The ESRI Shapefile File Reader properties are:


Property	Control Type: Values
Combine all shapes	Boolean: If True then combine all of the shapes within the file into a single visualization (ShapePolygon, ShapePolyline, or ShapePoint). The default is to create a separate visualization for each shape.
Name attribute	String List: If the shapefile has attributes associated with each shape, then the Shapefile reader will attempt to use one of these attributes for the Name of the newly-created data and visualizations. The droplist contains all of the available attributes, and allows you to choose a different attribute to be used for the visualization name. If "Combine all shapes" is True then this property is insensitive, and the filename will be used for the Name of the resulting data and visualization.

ASCII text

The ASCII text File Reader properties are:


Property	Control Type: Values
None	The ASCII text File Reader has no configurable properties other than Name and Description.

Binary data

The Binary data File Reader properties are:


Property	Control Type: Values
None	The Binary data Graphics File Reader has no configurable properties other than Name and Description.

File Writers

Select this folder to edit file write preferences and properties. Available file writer types and their editable properties are shown in the following tables. For more information on writing data of various types, see Importing and Exporting Data.

iTools State

The iTools State File Writer properties are:


Property	Control Type: Values
None	The iTool State File Writer has no configurable properties other than Name and Description.

Windows Bitmap

The Windows Bitmap File Writer properties are:


Property	Control Type: Values
Bit depth	String List: Bit depth in bits. Select a depth from the list. Choose between these values: Automatic 8 bit 24 bit Default = Automatic

Encapsulated Postscript

The Encapsulated Postscript File Writer properties are:


Property	Control Type: Values
Graphics format	Bitmap or Vector: Render graphics using bitmap or vector output Note - Only a Window or View can be exported to EPS.
Color model	RGB or CMYK

Windows Enhanced Metafile

The Windows Enhanced Metafile File Writer properties are:


Property	Control Type: Values
Graphics format	Bitmap or Vector: Render graphics using bitmap or vector output Note - Only a Window or View can be exported to EMF.

Joint Photographic Experts Group

The Joint Photographic Experts Group File Writer properties are:


Property	Control Type: Values
Color	String List: Select a depth from the list. Choose between these values: TrueColor Grayscale Default = TrueColor
Quality	Number: Factor from 0 - 100 determining the level of quality. Move slider to change the level. Default = `75`

JPEG2000

The JPEG2000 File Writer properties are:


Property	Control Type: Values
Reversible	Boolean: Use reversible (lossless) compression.
Wavelet levels	Number: The number of wavelet decomposition levels, or stages, in the range of 0...15. Higher values take longer to store and read, but may give better compression. The default is 5.
Quality layers	Number: A positive integer specifying the number of quality layers. Each layer contains the information required to represent the image at a higher quality, given the information from all the previous layers. A larger number of layers takes longer to encode and produces a larger file, but provides more flexibility when decoding.

Macintosh PICT

The Macintosh PICT File Writer properties are:


Property	Control Type: Values
None	The Macintosh PICT File Writer has no configurable properties other than Name and Description.

Portable Network Graphics

The Portable Network Graphics File Writer properties are:


Property	Control Type: Values
Bit depth	String List: Bit depth in bits. Select a depth from the list. Choose between these values: Automatic 8 bit 24 bit Default = Automatic

Tag Image File Format

The Tag Image File Format File Writer properties are:


Property	Control Type: Values
Bit depth	String List: Bit depth in bits. Select a depth from the list. Choose between these values: Automatic 8 bit 24 bit Default = Automatic
Compression	String List: Compression type. Select a type from the list. Choose between these values: None Packbits JPEG Default = None

ASCII text

The ASCII text File Writer properties are:


Property	Control Type: Values
Separator	Enter a value. Default = None
Use default format	Boolean: Use default format? Choose True or False. Default = True
Format string	Number: Enter a number to change the value. Default = `G9.2`

Binary data

The Binary data File Writer properties are:


Property	Control Type: Values
Byte ordering	String List: Byte ordering type. Select from the list. Choose between these values: Native Little endian Big endian Default = Native