2.4 User Settings

User setting allow customization of various aspects of Karamba3D:

  • System of physical units ("SI" or "Imperial").

  • Limit distance for snapping together neighboring nodes.

  • The value of the acceleration of gravity.

  • Limit inclination for verticality.

  • Number format and display properties of output values.

  • Properties of the default materials.

  • Colors used for displaying rendered calculation results.

  • ...

User settings in Karamba3D are primarily managed through text files named "karamba.ini". These files contain comments, indicated by "#", and variable assignments (see Fig. 2.4.1). Assigning "auto" or "default" to a variable will apply the default values.

The shortcut for editing "karamba.ini" user settings is via the Karamba3D menu: Settings > Edit User Settings.

To ensure a flexible and transparent user preference system, Karamba3D employs a multi-step approach for reading settings data, with each step potentially overriding the settings from the previous one:

  1. Default Values: Lowest priority, hard-coded within Karamba3D.

  2. Installation Folder "karamba.ini": The "karamba.ini" file located in Karamba3D's installation directory.

  3. Installation Folder "karamba_user.ini": If present, the "karamba_user.ini" file in the installation folder is read next.

  4. User Directory "karamba.ini": The "karamba.ini" file located in "%appdata%\Karamba" follows.

  5. Grasshopper Document Units: The unit system (either "SI" or "Imperial") is stored directly in the Grasshopper document.

When first saving a new definition unit system and length unit are set according to the user preferences in the "karamba.ini"-files. By default this is "auto" for the unit length and either "SI" or "Imperial" for the units system. Choices set via the Karamba3D menu "Settings"-option overrides these values.

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