McIDAS-X Learning Guide
Version 2020

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Getting Started - Basic Concepts

Configuration GUI

Before you begin using this Learning Guide, McIDAS must be installed on your workstation and the account you are using must be enabled to run McIDAS. The first time you run McIDAS-X, the $HOME/.mcidasrc configuration file is created and the McIDAS-X Configuration Graphical User Interface (GUI) is run. The .mcidasrc file stores flags that configure the McIDAS session to your preferences. As shown below, the configuration GUI contains several tabs with sliders, checkboxes and text fields that are used to select values that override the settings of the corresponding flags in the .mcidasrc file. This configuration GUI makes one-time (for the current session only) configuration changes easier and less error-prone than other methods like changing flag settings in the .mcidasrc file or specifying the flags in the command line. By changing some of the start-up flags in the $HOME/.mcidasrc file, you can:

The Start McIDAS button starts a McIDAS session with the current settings as defined by the Configuration GUI.

The Save Settings button saves the current GUI settings in the .mcidasrc file. To make recovery easier, the option first moves the current .mcidasrc to .mcidasrc.old before creating the new .mcidasrc with the GUI settings.

The Exit button exits the McIDAS configuration window without saving any changes or starting McIDAS.

The Configuration GUI tabs


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