Preferences

The Preferences option in the File menu allows you to select various program preferences for Dips.

You can access the Preferences dialog by selecting the Preferences option in the File menu.

The following options are available:

Open Stereonet View for v5 files

When you open a Dips (version 5.0) file, a Grid Data view of the data is displayed by default. If the Open Stereonet View for v5 Files checkbox is selected, then a Grid Data View and a Stereonet View will automatically be displayed when you open a Dips version 5 file. You may choose to open either a Pole Plot or a Contour Plot. If this checkbox is not selected, then only the Grid Data view will appear when you open a Dips version 5 file.

Show Tabs for Multiple Windows

If the Show Tabs for Multiple Windows option is selected, tabs for selecting the views will appear at the bottom of the application window, when multiple views are open. You may find this convenient for switching views when the view size is maximized within the application window.

Large Toolbar Buttons

If the Large Toolbar Buttons option is selected, larger toolbar buttons will appear in the application window.

Use High Quality Graphics

If the Use High Quality Graphics option is selected, plot views will be rendered with higher quality graphics.

Sidebar Position

By default the Sidebar appears on the left side of the Dips application window. This preference allows you to choose the default Sidebar location ( Left or Right). This setting takes effect the next time you start Dips, not during the current session.

Enter Key Navigation

In Standard mode, when you enter a value in the Grid Data view and press Enter, the focus will move down the current column. In As Tab mode, when you press the Enter key, the focus will move across the current row, and at the end of a row will jump to the first column in the next row.

Maximum Number of Intersections to Display

Under Plot Options in the Sidebar, the Intersection > Grid Data Planes option will plot the intersections of all of the planes in the Dips Grid Data view. That is, each plane in the file will be intersected against every other plane in the file. In general, this leads to a large (or very large) number of intersections. Depending on the number of planes in your Dips file, the display of all grid data plane intersections may cover most of the stereonet, obscuring other plot data. The maximum number of grid data plane intersections which get displayed can be limited with the Maximum Number of Intersections to Display option in the Preferences dialog.

Sharing Default Settings with Different Users

In Dips the settings are saved inside each file so when you share a file, whatever you see is what the recipient will see as well.

If you would like to share just the display settings, in the Sidebar that appears when you’re looking at a stereonet plot view there is a button (a save icon) to export your current display settings. That is, it will export whatever display settings the current file is using. The file you exported contains only display settings at that point. Anyone can import the settings from that file, using the import button (an open icon) that is directly beside the export button on the Sidebar.

Furthermore, if you want your current settings as the default for all new files, you use the set default button (a check mark icon) on the Sidebar. That way any new documents from then on will automatically use those settings.

If you want to share identical settings with your office you should set them as your default, export them to a file and send the file to everyone who will import the settings into a document. They will then set those settings as their default as well. Any files from then on will use those display settings. Finally, you can import those settings into existing documents as well to ensure consistency.

If you like to share absolutely everything, if you look in the Program Settings Folder, which by default is C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Rocscience\Dips, you will see numerous files. You can also change that folder by going to File > Preferences. You will have to ensure you’ve set the defaults for everything on the first computer using set defaults in the appropriate dialogs. The following files should be there:

• contour options prests.ini
• default contour options.ini
• default diplsay.ini
• default global symbols.ini
• default scatter settings.ini
• default symbolic symbols.ini
• locked symbols.ini

Once all defaults are set correctly on one machine, copy the files to the Program Settings Folder on everyone else's machine. They should then have identical settings in all regards.

Additional Tip:

In the Preferences dialog, if you right-click on the Program Settings Folder path, a popup menu will appear with Open Folder and Copy options. This allows you to easily go directly to this folder. This should speed up the Copy procedure considerably.