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The config and system files within Virtual Salesroom/Shopfloor (VS) control the content for many of the reports, saw interface files and background defaults in VS. To access and edit these files you will need to select either the ‘Config Files’ or ‘System Files’ folder within the Preferences.

System Files

These are all default files required by VS to interpret your company details, roof & sidewall profile data, costing information and glazing settings. For example if VS requires costing information for a roof component, it will open the Cost defaults (costing.inp) file to find this information. All these files are specific to your company and the roof system you are using and are not directly related to the underlying functionality of VS, and as such, these files are all kept in a separate directory called the Config directory which contains all these ‘user’ specific files.

You can directly access these files in the config directory by using a file explorer; C:\PSTLtd\virtual_salesroom\config\..

Since the files in the Config directory are user specific, they can be edited in order to tailor VS to your specific user requirements. Files can be edited in the Preferences by selecting the required file from the ‘System Files’ folder within the Preferences. The right hand area of the Preferences will then display the file content in the file editor;

The contents of the file will be displayed ready to edit. Select the ‘Save’ button to save the modifications. Note, these modifications will overwrite the existing version of this file in the Config directory. If you want to retain the original version of the file, use a file explorer to make a back up of the file before you edit it in VS.

Although you can edit these files in the System Files (as described above), they are easier to edit by going directly to the appropriate user interface within Preferences. For example, if you want to edit the Contract control defaults, then open the ‘Project admin’ folder in the Preferences and edit the settings. The table below shows you where to edit the System files in the Preferences and the underlying file which gets edited in the config directory;

The ‘User defaults’ (user.inp) file is the last file read by VS when working out what system settings get used by VS, by default the user.inp file is empty and so has no effect on any VS settings. However, you can populate the user.inp file with any required settings to over-ride the existing settings within VS. For example when VS searches for the ‘default roof glass type’, it looks in the systems.inp file, however if you have also added the ‘default roof glass type’ to your user.inp file, this will be used in favour of the default roof glass setting in the systems.inp. This can be useful if you want to build up a group of user specific settings which over-ride the default settings in the Preferences.

The User defaults (user.inp file) can only be edited in either the System Files in Preferences or by using an external file editor (such as Wordpad).

Config Files

This option, within the VS Preferences, gives you access to the default data (.dat) files which are used to populate the VS Report lists, drawings and saw drivers with the correct profiles. The default version of these data files is located within the core code of VS and so cannot be edited directly. However, you can modify these files and save the modified version into a local directory in VS called the Config directory. This means the original is kept in tacked within VS and the edited version (in the config directory) is used by VS in favour of the original version. Note, if the edited version in the config directory is then deleted, VS will revert back to using the original version.

These data (.dat) files can be edited in the Preferences by selecting the required file from the ‘Config Files’ folder in the left hand Preferences menu. The right hand area of the Preferences will then display the file editor;

To view the default version of a file in the file editor, select the ‘Default’ button, this will then display the data file contents which can be edited as required. Once you have made the required changes to the file, select the ‘Save’ button to save this modified version into the local config directory. Note, the original default version will still be unchanged within VS, but the modified version in the config directory will be used by VS to build the report in favour of the original data file.

If there is an edited version of a data file in the config directory, the ‘Config’ button will become active to allow you to open and re-edit the config version (as oppose to the original default version).

The ‘Delete’ button will only affect the config version of a file, since the original default version can not be deleted.

The ‘Clear’ button just clears the edit area, but does not delete the file from the config directory.

As an example, if you want to change the profiles which appear on the Aluminum cutting list, go into the ‘Config files’ folder in the Preferences and choose the ‘Aluminium cutting list’ option. You can then open up the Default version of its data file in the file editor, edit the list of profiles which appear in it, and then Save a local version of the file into your local config directory. This local version of the ‘aluminum cutting list’ data file will now be used when the Aluminum list is created by VS.

Any changes to the config files will only take effect in VS once the software has been restarted.

You can also access the report data files in the config directory directly using a file explorer;

C:\PSTLtd\virtual_salesroom\config

For example, if you wanted to copy your Aluminum cutting list data file (filter_aluminium.dat) into someone else’s config directory.