RAT Initialization

Introduction
Initialization files
Initialization commands
Sample ini File
Alfred.ini
Scheme Files

Introduction

Initialization Files

• RAT.ini : loaded by all RAT applications
• TOR.ini : loaded by MTOR and Slim
• application.ini : only loaded by application (e.g. alfred.ini, it.ini, mtor.ini, slim.ini)

Applications look for the above files in these directories:

• $RATTREE/etc
• $RAT_SCRIPT_PATHS
• ~/.pixarPrefs/RATversion

All RAT.ini files are loaded, followed by all TOR.ini, and finally all appname.ini files. More specifically (in programmer-friendly lingo..) the startup sequence looks like:

USERPREFS = ~/.pixarPrefs/RAT[Version]
load $RATTREE/etc/RAT.ini
foreach dir in $RAT_SCRIPT_PATHS {
    load $dir/RAT.ini
}
load $USERPREFS/RAT.ini

if {application == MTOR or Slim} {
    load $RATTREE/etc/TOR.ini
    foreach dir in $RAT_SCRIPT_PATHS {
        load $dir/TOR.ini
    }
    load $USERPREFS/TOR.ini
}

load $RATTREE/etc/appname.ini
foreach dir in $RAT_SCRIPT_PATHS {
    load$dir/appname.ini
}
load $USERPREFS/appname.ini
load $USERPREFS/appname.prefs

Initialization Commands

general commands:

RATGetDir dir - returns the path of a rat subdir.  dir{lib, etc, resource, home} 
GetHostName - get host machine name
GetUserName - get current users name
GetAppName - get name of currently running application
GetVersion - get program version
GetPlatform - return platform name
GetEnv var {default {}} - returns setting of system environment variable.  takes an optional 2nd argument specifying default value.

initialization commands:

SetPref name value - Sets application preference name with value
LockPref name value - Sets application pref with value and locks out any additional attempts to change its value
LoadExtension type filename - loads the extension defined in filename into the current application
GetPref name {value {}} - gets value of named pref with option default value
LockExtension - locks out any addition calls to LoadExtension
LogMsg level msg -logs a message at given level - level {COPIOUS, INFO, NOTICE, WARNING, ERROR}

Any legal Tcl code can be used within these initialization file.

Sample ini File

Brief sections of the $RATTREE/etc/slim.ini file are illustrated below as examples on setting up .ini files

LoadExtension tcl [file join [RATGetDir etc] SlimExpression.tcl]
   loads the "tcl" extension "SlimExpression.tcl" into SLIM.  uses the RATGetDir command to get the location of "SlimExpression.tcl"

if {[GetEnv SLIM_RUNMODE artist] == "developer"} 
    SetPref ShaderCompiler "shader -I%I %f"
} else {
    SetPref ShaderCompiler "shader -I%I -nolint %f"
}
  checks the system environment variable SLIM_RUNMODE to determine user specific settings of preferences for ShaderCompiler

SetPref ExpertMenus 0
     sets the pref ExpertMenus to 0 (this setting will be overridden by any subsequent call to SetPref ExpertMenus

LockPref ROColor #8080a0
     set and lock the value of ROColor to #8080a0.  This will be the value of ROColor upon start of the application

During the initialization process, the same preference can be set multiple times (possibly using different values). As long as the preference is not set with LockPref, then the value of the preference will be that of the last call to SetPref. If the preference is set with LockPref somewhere within the hierarchy of files, all modifications after that setting will be ignored.

Alfred.ini

Settings in alfred.ini should be reviewed by a system administrator, especially with regard to site security. The default values here have been chosen to be generally useful, although most multi-user sites will want to name, and initialize, an alfred maitre-d host.

The notes accompanying each configuration variable are intended to be self-explanatory, but they do assume a familiarity with the basic alfred concepts and vocabulary.

In addition to the alfred.ini file, the alfred.schedule file contains the (crucial!) remote server definitions. See the notes on scheduling and remote servers for detailed information.

See the Alfred Site Administration Notes for information on installing and configuring some of the more esoteric alfred features such as:

• "wrangler" mode
• automatic alfred/maitre-d/alfserver restart on reboot
• fallback maitre-d servers

For a discussion of overall installation issues, including the license manager, see the RenderMan Toolkit installation notes.