How Automation Can Help You Manage and Administrate Settings

The Tools->Options... dialog box displays a tree in its left part. The first level nodes represent solutions, such as General, Infrastructure, Mechanical Design, Shape, and so on. The second level nodes represent workbenches, such as Display, Compatibility, Parameters and Measure, and so on. A property sheet is displayed in the right part. It is always associated with a workbench, and possibly with a solution. A property sheet contains property pages represented as tab pages.

For example, the picture below shows the property sheet associated with the General solution. This property sheet contains the General, Help, Shareable Products, Licensing, and so on, property pages. The property page General is the active one.

A property page displays single setting attributes, such as User Interface Style, or setting parameters, such as Data Save, that are made up of two or more setting attributes. Data Save includes a setting attribute to store which box is checked, and another one to store the frequency as a number of minutes. If the second box is not checked, the second setting attribute is not used, and the box is not available. In the same way, Memory Warning at the bottom of the property page is made up of a setting parameter including two setting attributes for Trigger Memory warning and the percentage of memory use, and a setting attribute for Trigger Memory Stopper.

The setting attributes are stored in setting repositories, usually one for a given tab page. Sometimes, two setting repositories can be used in a tab page. For example, still on the picture below, User Interface Style deals with the user interface part of the application, and Data Save deals with the model part. Since they are accessed by different parts of the application, they are stored in two different setting repositories. But they are displayed in the same tab page because it makes sense for the end user to find them together.

Creating Macros for Property Pages

The Tools->Options... dialog box contains a dump button   at the bottom left for dumping settings to a .catvbs script macro file:

Click the dump button to open the following dialog box, specify which settings to dump, the output directory for the dump, and then click Yes:

You can chose to dump the parameter's values:

• Of this property page. One macro is created for this property page.
• For the selected workbench only. This option is grayed in the example above since the displayed property page is associated with a solution, named "General", and not with a workbench. If this option were not grayed, a set of macros would be created, one for each property page associated with the selected workbench.
• For the selected solution only. A set of macros is created, one for each property page associated with the selected solution. In the example above, a macro is created for General, another one for Help, another one for Shareable Products, and so on.
• For the selected solution and its associated workbenches. A set of macros is created, one for each property page associated with the selected solution and for all its associated workbenches. In the example above, a macro is created for each property page of the General solution, and for each property page of the four workbenches Display, Compatibility, Parameters and Measure, and Devices and Virtual Reality.
• For all the property pages. A set of macro is created, one for each property page whatever its associated solution or workbench.

The resulting macros retrieve the current settings values: the values are represented as comments in the macro. This function is only implemented on a limited number of property pages [1]. For the other property pages, the dump command creates an empty macro.

The example described below corresponds to the Dump of Parameters dialog box as it is shown above for the General property page of the General solution. Click Yes to create the macro.

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Understanding the Created Macros

The macro files are by default stored in C:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Temp with Windows, where user is your user name. They are named according to the solution, workbench, and property page names separated by a dash character. If a space character appears in a name, it is replaced with an underscore "_". For example, the macro created from the General property page located in the General solution is named General-General.catvbs, and the macro created from the Tree Appearance property page located in the Display workbench of the General solution is named General-Display-Tree_Appearance.catvbs.

Such a macro contains code to manage the setting attributes the setting repositories of which can be accessed using Automation. So, in such a macro, you may find code for all the setting attributes making up the property page, or a part of them. You may also find a single object to manage all the setting attributes if they all belong to the same setting repository, or several objects otherwise. Each of these objects can be either a setting controller object dedicated to the setting repository, or the generic SettingRepository object:

• The setting controller object dedicated to the setting repository contains, for each setting attribute, a property to read and write the setting attribute value, and a couple of method to manage the setting attribute lock and get attribute information.
• The generic SettingRepository object contains a couple of GetAttr/PutAttr methods to read and write any attribute values, a couple of GetAttrArray/PutAttrArray method to read and write any array type attribute values, a SetAttrLock method to manage any setting attribute locks and a GetAttrInfo method to get any attribute information.

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Setting Repository Managed by a Dedicated Object

For example, consider the macro file created for the General property page of the General solution as shown in the image above. This macro is named General-General.catvbs and begins with the following statements:

Language="VBSCRIPT"

Sub CATMain()

Set settingControllers1 = CATIA.SettingControllers

Set generalSessionSettingAtt1 = settingControllers1.Item("CATCafGeneralSessionSettingCtrl")

The first object retrieved is the SettingControllers collection object in the settingControllers1 variable. Since the setting controller collection is aggregated to the Application object, simply calling CATIA.SettingControllers returns this collection.

The setting controller collection contains all the setting controller objects available in the current session. Each setting controller manages a setting repository stored in a CATSettings file. A setting controller gives you read and write access to the setting values contained in the setting repository, enables you to retrieve information about these settings, namely their default values and whether they are locked, and to lock or unlock them.

The next line retrieves a setting controller in the generalSessionSettingAtt1 variable thanks to the Item method of the setting controller collection to which the setting controller identifier CATCafGeneralSessionSettingCtrl is passed as argument. The variable name is built by the Dump command according to the setting controller object name, with the first character set to lowercase, and with a digit added to the end. So you can easily get the object name GeneralSessionSettingAtt from the identifier generalSessionSettingAtt1. A table gives the correspondence between the property pages, the setting controller object names and their identifiers you should pass as an argument to retrieve them from the setting controller collection [1].

Note that the settings displayed in a given property page may belong to different setting repositories, and are thus managed by different setting controllers.

The next lines of this macro are:

Dim long1
long1 = generalSessionSettingAtt1.UIStyle
'--------------------------------------------------
' Returned value : (CATGenUIStyle) UIStyleP2
'--------------------------------------------------

They deal with the User Interface Style setting that is displayed on top of the General property page.

This setting is stored as a long integer and its current value is returned in the long1 variable the name of which is built with the setting type. This setting is managed thanks to the UIStyle property of the GeneralSessionSettingAtt object. This property enables you to get the setting value, as shown in the macro above, or to set it. The comment below, beginning with the simple quote character, displays the current value of this setting: UIStyleP2, which must be chosen among the available ones that are described thanks to the CATGenUIStyle enumeration shown between parentheses. Note that enumerations contain a discrete set of values that prevents from returning or setting out of scope values. Each of these values is an integer, starting with 0 for the first value, 1 for the second one, and so on. Using enumerations helps to give meanings to such values. With CATGenUIStyle, the value 0 is handled with the character string UIStyleP1, the value 1 with UIStyleP2, and the value 2 with UIStyleP3. UIStyleP2 makes sense rather than 1 does not. 

The next lines give additional information about this setting attribute.

Dim bSTR1
bSTR1 = ""
Dim bSTR2
bSTR2 = ""
Dim boolean1
boolean1 = generalSessionSettingAtt1.GetUIStyleInfo(bSTR1, bSTR2)
'--------------------------------------------------
' Parameter 1 : (String) "Default value"
' Parameter 2 : (String) "Unlocked"
' Returned value : (Boolean) False
'--------------------------------------------------

These lines use the GetUIStyleInfo method that retrieves the following information displayed as comments:

• The first parameter is a character string. Its type is CATBSTR, shown in its name bSTR1. This argument indicates whether the setting value is the default value. In the example above, this is the case and the character string "Default value" is displayed. Otherwise, if the value were changed by an administrator, the character string "Set at Admin Level n", where n is the administration level where the change occurred, would be displayed.
• The second parameter is also a character string named bSTR2. It indicates whether the setting is locked. In the example above, the value "Unlocked" informs you that the setting is not locked. Otherwise, if the value were locked by an administrator, the character string "Locked at Admin Level n", where n is the administration level where the lock occurred, would be displayed. If the setting were locked at the same administration level than the one using the Dump command, the character string "Locked" would be retrieved without any level indication.
• The value returned in the boolean1 variable indicates whether the setting value was modified or locked at the current administration level. If yes, this returned value is True. It is False otherwise.

This method name GetUIStyleInfo is built using the setting attribute name UIStyle to which the prefix Get and the suffix Info are added. This is valid for all the setting repositories managed using a dedicated Automation object. You can refer to the GeneralSessionSettingAtt object to learn more about this method.

Going further in the macro, the following lines met are:

Dim boolean2
boolean2 = generalSessionSettingAtt1.DragDrop
'--------------------------------------------------
' Returned value : (Boolean) False
'--------------------------------------------------

Dim bSTR3
bSTR3 = ""
Dim bSTR4
bSTR4 = ""
Dim boolean3
boolean3 = generalSessionSettingAtt1.GetDragDropInfo(bSTR3, bSTR4)
'--------------------------------------------------
' Parameter 1 : (String) "Default value"
' Parameter 2 : (String) "Unlocked"
' Returned value : (Boolean) True
'--------------------------------------------------

They deal with the Drag & Drop setting, that is displayed almost at the bottom of the dialog box, but is managed by the same setting controller object, since the macro uses the same variable generalSessionSettingAtt1. This means that this setting attribute is stored in the same setting repository. Note that the different variable names still use the variable types with increasing indexes.

The DragDrop property of the GeneralSessionSettingAtt object returns or sets whether drag and drop for cut, copy, or paste operation is enabled. To depict that, a boolean variable bearing the True for enabled when the check box is checked as above, and False for disabled when the check box is not checked, is enough.

Then the macro contains the following lines.

Set disconnectionSettingAtt1 = settingControllers1.Item("CATSysDisconnectionSettingCtrl")

Dim boolean4
boolean4 = disconnectionSettingAtt1.ActivationState
'--------------------------------------------------
' Returned value : (Boolean) False
'--------------------------------------------------

Dim bSTR5
bSTR5 = ""
Dim bSTR6
bSTR6 = ""
Dim boolean5
boolean5 = disconnectionSettingAtt1.GetActivationStateInfo(bSTR5, bSTR6)
'--------------------------------------------------
' Parameter 1 : (String) "Default value"
' Parameter 2 : (String) "Unlocked"
' Returned value : (Boolean) False
'--------------------------------------------------

Here a new setting controller is returned from the setting controller collection object. This is the DisconnectionSettingAtt object [2]. This is because the setting Disconnection is managed by this object, and not by the previous GeneralSessionSettingAtt object, even if both settings are located in the same dialog box. The reason is that they are stored in two different setting repositories, each having its own setting controller.

The boolean4 variable value indicates whether the disconnection should happen: True if it should, that corresponds to the check box checked in the dialog box, and False otherwise. The parameters of the GetActivationStateInfo method have the same meaning that those of GetUIStyleInfo above.

The next lines are:

Dim long2
long2 = disconnectionSettingAtt1.InactivityDuration
'--------------------------------------------------
' Returned value : (Long) 1800
'--------------------------------------------------

Dim bSTR7
bSTR7 = ""
Dim bSTR8
bSTR8 = ""
Dim boolean6
boolean6 = disconnectionSettingAtt1.GetInactivityDurationInfo(bSTR7, bSTR8)
'--------------------------------------------------
' Parameter 1 : (String) "Default value"
' Parameter 2 : (String) "Unlocked"
' Returned value : (Boolean) False
'--------------------------------------------------

This setting contains the inactivity duration after which the application should disconnect. It makes sense if the previous setting is checked. Note that the value displayed in the dialog box (30) is expressed in minutes, but the value returned and stored in the setting repository (1800) is expressed in seconds. You may find differences like this one between what is shown in the dialog box to the end user and what is actually managed by the application. Note that these two setting attributes are related to each other and make up a setting parameter.

The macro continues, but you should now know enough to understand the remaining part. You will notice that this remaining part only deals with the Memory Warning settings. This means that the other settings displayed in this dialog box are not managed by any setting controller object. These settings are:

• Data Save
• Referenced Documents
• Conferencing.

Setting management using macros does not apply to these settings.

Note that the macro ends with the statement:

End Sub

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Setting Controller Managed by the SettingRepository Object

For example, consider the macro file created for the PCS property page of the General solution as shown in the image below.

This macro is named General-PCS.catvbs and begins with the following statements:

Language="VBSCRIPT"

Sub CATMain()

Set settingControllers1 = CATIA.SettingControllers

Set settingRepository1 = settingControllers1.Item("GeneralPCS")

The first object retrieved is the SettingControllers collection object in the settingControllers1 variable. Since the setting controller collection is aggregated to the Application object, simply calling CATIA.SettingControllers returns this collection.

The setting controller collection contains all the setting controller objects available in the current session. Each setting controller manages a setting repository stored in a CATSettings file. A setting controller gives you read and write access to the setting values contained in the setting repository, enables you to retrieve information about these settings, namely their default values and whether they are locked, and to lock or unlock them.

The next line retrieves the generic SettingRepository object in the settingRepository1 variable thanks to the Item method of the setting controller collection to which the setting repository identifier GeneralPCS is passed as argument. This object is thus dedicated to the GeneralPCS setting repository. A table gives the correspondence between the property pages and their setting repository identifiers you should pass as an argument to retrieve a generic SettingRepository object dedicated to them from the setting controller collection [1].

Note that the settings displayed in a given property page may belong to different setting repositories.

The next lines of this macro are:

uLong1 = settingRepository1.GetAttr("StackFullWarning")
'--------------------------------------------------
' Parameter 1 : (String) "StackFullWarning"
' Returned value : (Variant) (Unsigned Long) 0
'--------------------------------------------------

They deal with the Stack Full setting attribute.

This setting attribute is stored as a unsigned long integer and its current value is returned in the uLong1 variable the name of which is built with the setting attribute type. This setting attribute is retrieved using the GetAttr method of the SettingRepository object, to which the setting attribute name StackFullWarning is passed as an argument. To know the type and the possible values of this setting attribute, look for the General solution in the Setting Controller Reference page [1], then for None in the Workbench column, since the property page is attached directly to the solution, and then for the PCS property page. This shows you a link to the SettingRepository object and a link to the GeneralPCS setting repository [3], where the setting attributes that can be customized with Automation in this setting repository are described. Here is the documentation of the StackFullWarning setting attribute:

• StackFullWarning
  Role: Activation flag for stack full warning
  Detailed role: Sets the behavior when the Undo/Redo stack becomes full.
  0 means that no warning is displayed, 1 displays an easy warning, 2 displays a notify box requesting a user commitment.
  
  • Type: unsigned integer
  • Default value: 0
  • Min value: 0
  • Max value: 2
  • Step: 1

The comments below the first line in this macro, beginning with the simple quote character, display the type, the name, and the current value of this setting attribute.

The next lines give additional information about this setting attribute.

Dim bSTR1
bSTR1 = ""
Dim bSTR2
bSTR2 = ""
Dim boolean1
settingRepository1.GetAttrInfo "StackFullWarning", bSTR1, bSTR2, boolean1
'--------------------------------------------------
' Parameter 1 : (String) "StackFullWarning"
' Parameter 2 : (String) "Default value"
' Parameter 3 : (String) "Unlocked"
' Parameter 4 : (Boolean) False
'--------------------------------------------------

These lines use the GetAttrInfo method of the SettingRepository object that retrieves the following information about the StackFullWarning setting attribute, displayed as comments:

• The first parameter is the setting attribute name: StackFullWarning
• The second parameter is a character string. Its type is CATBSTR, shown in its name bSTR1. This argument indicates whether the setting value is the default value. In the example above, this is the case and the character string "Default value" is displayed. Otherwise, if the value were changed by an administrator, the character string "Set at Admin Level n", where n is the administration level where the change occurred, would be displayed.
• The third parameter is also a character string named bSTR2. It indicates whether the setting is locked. In the example above, the value "Unlocked" informs you that the setting is not locked. Otherwise, if the value were locked by an administrator, the character string "Locked at Admin Level n", where n is the administration level where the lock occurred, would be displayed. If the setting were locked at the same administration level than the one using the Dump command, the character string "Locked" would be retrieved without any level indication.
• The fourth parameter is a Boolean. It is here set to False, meaning that the setting parameter value has not been explicitly modified at the current administrator or user level.

The macro continues, but you should now know enough to understand the remaining part.

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Using a Created Macro to Manage Settings

If you attempt to run the macro as it is created, you will get no more than what is written as comments.

You can now reuse and change this macro to:

• Retrieve information about a setting attribute.
• Set a new value.
• Lock a setting attribute.

The way to do this depends on whether the setting repository can be accessed using a dedicated setting controller object or the generic SettingRepository object.

With a Dedicated Setting Controller Object

The setting controller object depends on the setting repository, and includes properties and methods dedicated to each setting attributes. See the Setting Controller Reference [1] to know which setting controller objects apply to a given tab page. 

Retrieving Information About a Setting

Suppose you want to retrieve information about the User Interface Style setting. You can reuse the part of the created macro as it is, and display the retrieved information in a pop-up, or write it to a file. As seen when detailing the created macro, this information is:

• Setting value: the current value, and is it the default one, or was it changed at a given administrating level.
• Setting lock: is it locked or unlocked.
• Setting change: is it changed or not at this level.

The macro to retrieve this information is just a copy of the created macro.

1. First create a Sub.

   Option Explicit
   Sub CATMain()

   The explicit option enables the script compiler/interpreter to issue an error if a non declared or misspelled variable is found. Note that the Language="VBSCRIPT" is omitted. It is of no use but still output in recorded or dumped macros.

2. Then retrieve the setting controller collection object from the application, and the setting controller object dealing with the User Interface Style setting. Just copy the third and fourth statements of the macro described above, and add the Dim statements. You can get this information in the Setting Controller Reference [1].

   Dim settingControllers1 As SettingControllers
   Set settingControllers1 = CATIA.SettingControllers
   Dim generalSessionSettingAtt1  As GeneralSessionSettingAtt
   Set generalSessionSettingAtt1 = settingControllers1.Item("CATCafGeneralSessionSettingCtrl")

3. Now you will retrieve the setting value and information. The User Interface Style value is returned.

   Dim long1
   long1 = generalSessionSettingAtt1.UIStyle
   '--------------------------------------------------
   '' Returned value : (CATGenUIStyle) UIStyleP2
   '--------------------------------------------------
   Dim bSTR1 As String
   bSTR1 = ""
   Dim bSTR2 As String
   bSTR2 = ""
   Dim boolean1 As Boolean
   boolean1 = generalSessionSettingAtt1.GetUIStyleInfo(bSTR1, bSTR2)
   '--------------------------------------------------
   ' Parameter 1 : (String) "Default value"
   ' Parameter 2 : (String) "Unlocked"
   ' Returned value : (Boolean) False
   '--------------------------------------------------
   

4. To display the retrieved data in a pop-up, add the following lines:

   msgbox "User Interface Style" & Chr(13) & _
          "  Value: " & long1 & Chr(13) & _
          "  Default Value: " & bSTR1 & Chr(13) & _
          "  Lock Value: " & bSTR2 & Chr(13) & _
          "  Locked or modified at this level: " & boolean1

   Note that you can add text between double quotes, and line breaks using Chr(13). These are concatenated thanks to the "&" (ampersand) character. The "_" (underscore) character at the end of each line makes the following line part of the same statement.

5. Do not forget to end the macro.

   End Sub

The pop-up displayed is as follows.

Note that the setting value is returned to the integer 1 corresponding to the second value (UIStyleP2) of the enumeration CATGenUIStyle.

Setting a New Value

Now assume you want to set the User Interface Style to P1. To ease your job, you can reuse a part of the created macro.

1. First create a Sub.

   Option Explicit
   Sub CATMain()

2. Then retrieve the setting controller collection object from the application, and the setting controller object dealing with the User Interface Style setting. Just copy the third and fourth statements of the macro described above, and add the Dim statements. You can get this information in the Setting Controller Reference [1].

   Dim settingControllers1 As SettingControllers
   Set settingControllers1 = CATIA.SettingControllers
   Dim generalSessionSettingAtt1  As GeneralSessionSettingAtt
   Set generalSessionSettingAtt1 = settingControllers1.Item("CATCafGeneralSessionSettingCtrl")

3. Now you will set the new value. The User Interface Style value is returned or set thanks to the UIStyle property of the GeneralSessionSettingAtt setting controller object. This property takes the enumeration CATGenUIStyle as argument. The value corresponding to the P1 style is UIStyleP1. So first create a new variable, say myNewStyle, and set it the value UIStyleP1 of the enumeration CATGenUIStyle by writing CATGenUIStyle.UIStyleP1 as value. Then assign that new value to the UIStyle property.

   Dim myNewStyle = CATGenUIStyle.UIStyleP1
   generalSessionSettingAtt1.UIStyle = myNewStyle

4. Do not forget to save your changes by calling the SaveRepository method and to end the macro.

   generalSessionSettingAtt1.SaveRepository
   End Sub

You can now run this short macro to change the User Interface Style to P1.

Locking a Setting

1. First Create a Sub.

   Option Explicit
   Sub CATMain()

2. Then retrieve the setting controller collection object from the application, and the setting controller object dealing with the User Interface Style setting. Just copy the third and fourth statements of the macro described above, and add the Dim statements. You can get this information in the Setting Controller Reference [1].

   Dim settingControllers1 As SettingControllers
   Set settingControllers1 = CATIA.SettingControllers
   Dim generalSessionSettingAtt1  As GeneralSessionSettingAtt
   Set generalSessionSettingAtt1 = settingControllers1.Item("CATCafGeneralSessionSettingCtrl")

3. Now you will lock the setting. The method to use does not appear in the create macro. This method name is built using the setting parameter name UIStyle to which the prefix Set and the suffix Lock are added. This is valid for all the setting parameters managed using dedicated Automation objects. You can refer to the GeneralSessionSettingAtt object to learn more about this method. To lock the setting, pass the Boolean value True to this method, as follows.

   generalSessionSettingAtt1.SetUIStyleLock True

4. Do not forget to save your changes by calling the SaveRepository method and to end the macro.

   generalSessionSettingAtt1.SaveRepository
   End Sub

Do not forget to save your changes by calling the SaveRepository method. You can now run this short macro to lock the User Interface Style setting. Note that since you lock a setting, you need to start in the admin mode, otherwise the macro will fail.

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With the Generic SettingRepository Object

The SettingRepository object uses a single set of methods for all the setting attributes. See the Setting Controller Reference [1] to know which setting repository objects apply to a given tab page and to get the description of their setting attributes [3]. 

Retrieving Information About a Setting Attribute

Suppose you want to retrieve information about the Stack Full setting attribute. You can reuse the part of the created macro as it is, and display the retrieved information in a pop-up, or write it to a file. As seen when detailing the created macro, this information is:

• Setting value: the current value, and is it the default one, or was it changed at a given administrating level
• Setting lock: is it locked or unlocked
• Setting change: is it changed or not at this level.

The macro to retrieve this information is just a copy of the created macro.

1. First create a Sub.

   Option Explicit
   Sub CATMain()

   The explicit option enables the script compiler/interpreter to issue an error if a non declared or misspelled variable is found. Note that the Language="VBSCRIPT" is omitted. It is of no use but still output in recorded or dumped macros.

2. Then retrieve the setting controller collection object from the application, and the setting repository object dealing with the PCS setting repository. Just copy the third and fourth statements of the macro described above, and add the Dim statements.

   Dim settingControllers1 As SettingControllers
   Set settingControllers1 = CATIA.SettingControllers
   Dim settingRepository1 As SettingRepository
   Set settingRepository1 = settingControllers1.Item("GeneralPCS")

   You can get the GeneralPCS character string to pass to the Item method in the Setting Controller Reference [1].

3. Now you will retrieve the setting value and information. Complete the Dim statements. The Stack Full value is returned, as well as its information.

   Dim uLong1 
   uLong1 = settingRepository1.GetAttr("StackFullWarning")
   '--------------------------------------------------
   ' Parameter 1 : (String) "StackFullWarning"
   ' Returned value : (Variant) (Unsigned Long) 0
   '--------------------------------------------------
   Dim bSTR1 As String
   bSTR1 = ""
   Dim bSTR2 As String
   bSTR2 = ""
   Dim boolean1 As Boolean
   settingRepository1.GetAttrInfo "StackFullWarning", bSTR1, bSTR2, boolean1
   '--------------------------------------------------
   ' Parameter 1 : (String) "StackFullWarning"
   ' Parameter 2 : (String) "Default value"
   ' Parameter 3 : (String) "Unlocked"
   ' Parameter 4 : (Boolean) False
   '--------------------------------------------------
   

4. To display the retrieved data in a pop-up, add the following lines:

   msgbox "Stack Full " & Chr(13) & _
          "  Value: " & uLong1 & Chr(13) & _
          "  Default Value: " & bSTR1 & Chr(13) & _
          "  Lock Value: " & bSTR2 & Chr(13) & _
          "  Locked or modified at this level: " & boolean1

   Note that you can add text between double quotes, and line breaks using Chr(13). These are concatenated thanks to the "&" (ampersand) character. The "_" (underscore) character at the end of each line makes the following line part of the same statement.

5. Do not forget to end the macro.

   End Sub

The pop-up displayed is as follows.

From the Setting Repository Reference [3], you can access to the GeneralPCS setting repository documentation, where the Stack Full setting is represented using the StackFullWarning setting attribute. The value 0 means that no warning is displayed.

Setting a New Value

Now assume you want to set the Stack Full to Easy warning. To ease your job, you can reuse a part of the created macro.

1. First create a Sub.

   Option Explicit
   Sub CATMain()

2. Then retrieve the setting controller collection object from the application, and the setting repository object dealing with the PCS setting repository. Just copy the third and fourth statements of the macro described above, and add the Dim statements.

   Dim settingControllers1 As SettingControllers
   Set settingControllers1 = CATIA.SettingControllers
   Dim settingRepository1 As SettingRepository
   SSet settingRepository1 = settingControllers1.Item("GeneralPCS")

3. Now you will set the new value. From the Setting Repository Reference [3], you can access to the GeneralPCS setting repository documentation, where the Stack Full setting is represented using the StackFullWarning setting attribute. The Easy warning is associated with the value 1. Use the PutAttr method to which you pass the setting attribute name as a String, and the value you want to set.

   settingRepository1.PutAttr "StackFullWarning", 1

4. Do not forget to save your changes by calling the SaveRepository method and to end the macro.

   settingRepository1.SaveRepository
   End Sub

You can now run this short macro to change the Stack Full to Easy warning.

Locking a Setting

1. First create a Sub.

   Option Explicit
   Sub CATMain()

2. Then retrieve the setting controller collection object from the application, and the setting repository object dealing with the PCS setting repository. Just copy the third and fourth statements of the macro described above, and add the Dim statements.

   Dim settingControllers1 As SettingControllers
   Set settingControllers1 = CATIA.SettingControllers
   Dim settingRepository1 As SettingRepository
   Set settingRepository1 = settingControllers1.Item("GeneralPCS")

3. Now you will lock the setting. The method is SetAttrLock. To lock the setting, pass the setting attribute name and the Boolean value True to this method, as follows.

   settingRepository1.SetAttrLock "StackFullWarning", True

4. Do not forget to save your changes by calling the SaveRepository method and to end the macro.

   settingRepository1.SaveRepository
   End Sub

Do not forget to save your changes by calling the SaveRepository method. You can now run this short macro to lock the Stack Warning setting. Note that since you lock a setting, you need to start in the admin mode, otherwise the macro will fail.

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Administrating Setting Using Macros

You can use macros to administrate settings.

• Create macros to set values and lock settings.
• Re-apply a previously created customization using macros to a new release.
• Use the created macros to store the status of a level.
• Compare a stored release status with a new installed release to find out the changes and news.

A good working methodology is to save the status of each installed release as it it before any customization takes place. To do this, simply click the Dump button for all the property pages, and store the resulting catvbs files in a folder you can name using the release level, such as V5R17 or V5R18, and a qualifier such as Standard, or Default. Then you can copy the catvbs file you want to customize to carry out your administration tasks in another folder you can name, for example V5R17 Customization, and modify the catvbs files to change the different setting values you need, or to lock some settings.

When a new release is installed, you run the Dump command again for all the property pages, store the resulting files in a new folder named according the new release level, and compare these newly created files to the ones of the previous release using commands, such as diff, or windiff with Windows, or xdiff with UNIX. When you have found out all the differences between the previous release and the new release, you can determine what to do, depending on whether the changes are of interest for you, for example if:

• Some of the changes fall into your customization.
• Some of the new settings that can be customized using macros need to be administrated.

You can then decide to update your customization macros and/or create new ones if the changes are in your customization scope, or use the previous ones as they are otherwise.

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In Short

Administrating settings can be much simplified using Automation. You can record the default settings in macros, use some of these macros to change values, set or reset locks, and apply you customization by simply running the changed macros. These macros keep track of the default values and of your customization, and you can easily compare settings and their default values from one release to another one. This helps decide what to do to administrate settings when a new release is installed.

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