Customizing Imagix 4D

Several aspects of Imagix 4D, ranging from menu items to documentation output format to optimized reports, can be customized. For the most part, this is achieved by modifying the files and subdirectories located under the ../imagix/user directory. More detailed descriptions about the files and how to change them are included with the files themselves. What follows here is a brief description of some of the customization that can be done.

Many settings involving the behavior and appearance of the tool can be specified in Imagix 4D dialogs, especially the Options dialog (File > Options). For each user, key dialog settings along with a list of recent projects are retained between sessions. Under Unix, this information is stored in the file ~/.4Drc8, while under Windows, the registry HKEY_CURRENT_USER::Software::Imagix::4D 4Drc8 is used.

For certain additional behaviors and appearances, non-standard defaults can be specified through a 4Ddefaults file and then applied during the Imagix 4D start-up. Both site and user-specific 4Ddefaults files can exist. In such a case, both files are read and individual user-specific settings supersede those for the site as a whole. The file ../imagix/user/sample.4Ddefaults contains more detail, along with sample settings for some of the common defaults. Contact technical support for information about other defaults you're interested in changing.

In addition to the default settings, there are a number of other aspects of Imagix 4D that can be customized. The directory ../imagix/user contains a number of instruction files, control files, and subdirectories supporting aspects of Imagix 4D customization. Files with a .tcl suffix are written in the tcl/tk language; modifying them requires a basic knowledge of the tcl/tk language and/or a certain sense of adventure.

Instructions / Samples

sample.4Ddefaultsdocumentation about additional behavior and appearance settings
user_cmd.txtdocumentation about batch mode command files

Control Files

user_doc.txtcontrols default contents and organization of automatically generated documents
user_ed.tclcontrols integration with non-Imagix 4D editors and diff tools, and with configuration management systems
user_mnu.tclcontrols Imagix 4D menu structure
user_prt.tclcontrols color conversions when printing graphic windows

Subdirectories

cc_cfgfor modifying and adding C/C++ compiler configuration files
java_cfgfor modifying and adding Java language configuration files
pluginsfor adding custom reports, checks, metrics, imports and exports
doc_genfor customizing the contents, organization and appearance of automatically generated documents
mk_trgtsfor customizing targets added through the Add Targets to Makefile approach