| 1. Question: At the startup on Windows the program complains about missing HOME variable. Why ? |
|---|
|
Answer: This usually happens if you run the program with different user account than it was installed with. At the startup the program tries to find the home directory of the user by looking this HOME environment variable. The IDS installation procedure sets this variable only for the user account used in installation (usually the administrator), because each user should have their own home directory separate from the others. You can fix this problem by adding an environment variable called HOME to that user account. The value of the variable should be a path to a directory where this user has write access. The program stores some session settings for the user into the directory defined in his HOME variable, so two users should not have the same path in their HOME variables. Otherwise they will override each others settings. The environment variables can be changed in the following places on different Windows versions: Windows NT4: Start->Settings->Control Panel: System: Environment Windows 2000: Start->Settings->Control Panel: System: Advanced: Environment variables Windows XP: Start->Control Panel: System: Advanced: Environment variables The dialog contains two lists of environment variables one for the systemwide variables, common for all users, and the other for the personal variables for the user making the changes. The HOME variable should be added to the list of the personal variables. |
| 2. Question: How can I change the directory opened in the File Window at startup ? |
|---|
|
Answer: The directory opened at the startup of the program can be defined using the environment variable DA_STARTDIR. The path of the directory is set as value of the variable. On Windows the environment variables can be changed in the following places on different Windows versions: Windows NT4: Start->Settings->Control Panel: System: Environment Windows 2000: Start->Settings->Control Panel: System: Advanced: Environment variables Windows XP: Start->Control Panel: System: Advanced: Environment variables The dialog contains two lists of environment variables one for the systemwide variables, common for all users, and the other for the personal variables for the user making the changes. If you want the start directory to be the same for all users, use the systemwide list. The personal list can be used to define separate start directories for each user. On Unix platforms the environment variable can be defined by adding the following line into the ".cshrc" or "System/DA.cshrc" file in the DeskArtes installation directory. setenv LM_LICENSE_FILE startdirpath Replace there the "startdirpath" with the path of the directory you want to be defined as start directory. |
| 3. Question: How can I check the program version number ? |
|---|
|
Answer: The exact version number of the program is shown when you select the command "SYSTEM->Version Info" in the IDS. The same version information is also shown in the startup window of the program. On Windows platforms the startup window only exists during the program session and disappears when the program is exited. While the program is running, the startup window is hidden behind the main graphics window. You can see it by minimizing the main graphics window from the minimize-button at the upper right corner of the window frame. On Unix the startup window is the one where you type the program startup command. The startup window is hidden behind the main graphics window of the program, while the program is running, but you can see it by minimizing the main graphics window from the minimize-button at the upper right corner of the window frame. |
| 4. Question: The program starts as DEMO version. Why ? |
|---|
|
Answer: If the program does not find a valid license at startup, it starts as so called Demo version. The Demo version of the Rapid Tools is not very useful because most of the commands do not work in that. With the Demo version of the IDS you can however run all the modeling and rendering commands, with some restrictions. Only saving the created model in a file is not allowed. If you have installed a license, but the program still starts up as Demo version, you can find more information about the reason to the problem in the startup window of program. The license check error message is shown in the startup window before the version information texts. On Windows platforms the startup window only exists during the program session and disappears when the program is exited. While the program is running, the startup window is hidden behind the main graphics window. You can see it by minimizing the main graphics window from the minimize-button at the upper right corner of the window frame. On Unix the startup window is the one where you type the program startup command. The startup window is hidden behind the main graphics window of the program, while the program is running, but you can see it by minimizing the main graphics window from the minimize-button at the upper right corner of the window frame. |
DESKARTES and the DA symbol are trademarks of DeskArtes Oy.
Copyright 1996-2008 DeskArtes Oy.