Introduction to Tools and Dataflow Settings Dialog

Configuring tools and dataflow settings is a key skill for creating dataflows. The setting details are listed in the documentation for each tool and dataflow. In this article, we go through the setting dialog concepts in general.

Other Settings

Tools need all sorts of settings to operate according to your needs. There are several different kinds of setting you can apply. All of them have their own control you can use. Let's next go through them.

• Text
• Choice
• Number
• Whole Number
• On/Off
• New File
• 3D Point

Text

Any text that fits the configuration item, for example a name of an object group or object class.

{name}={text}

For example

OBJECT_CLASS=Wall

Text options can optionally have a pre-defined list of supported values. In this case you can choose one of the pre-defined values or provide your own value.

Choice

Selection from a pre-defined list of text values. All other values are invalid.

{name}={item}

For example

DATETIME_FORMAT=CURRENT_CULTURE

Number

Numbers use dot as the decimal separator regardless of your Windows regional settings.

{name}={number}

For example

ACCURACY=0.9

Whole Number

Positive or negative whole number, i.e. a number with no decimals

{name}={whole number}

For example

MAX_COUNT=5

On/Off

Turning a configuration item on or off. The allowed values are ON and OFF. All other values are invalid.

New File

The full path including file extension of a new file that is to be created by the tool.

3D Point

A 3D point is defined through it’s X, Y and Z components as well as a length unit. The syntax of the 3D Point configuration item is as follows.

{name}={x};{y};{z};{unit symbol}

For example

POINT=10.0;0.0;20.0;mm

The X, Y and Z components use the formatting of the Number configuration item.

The separator is a semi-colon.

If the unit symbol is omitted the length unit of the current model is used. However, the length unit is important because it allows you to use the same configuration with model that have different length units. The supported unit symbols are: mm, cm, m, in, ft and yd.