Appendix B. Configuration Files

The Cascade DataHub sets itself up using configuration files, which it reads at start-up. There are two main kinds of configuration files, standard and custom.

Standard Configuration File

The Cascade DataHub comes with a default configuration file, default.cfg. When the program is started for the first time, it uses default.cfg to create its standard configuration file, Cascade DataHub.cfg. This standard configuration file gets edited automatically every time you make changes in the Properties Window. When you shut down and restart the DataHub, it reads the configuration in Cascade DataHub.cfg to pick up where you left off.

The Cascade DataHub.cfg configuration file is created automatically by the DataHub for internal use only. It should never be edited directly. To make changes to it, use the Properties window.

If you ever need to copy the configuration from one DataHub to another, you can simply copy Cascade DataHub.cfg. Make sure you don't copy default.cfg, since that file holds the original configuration for the Cascade DataHub, and doesn't reflect any changes you might have made to the configuration. The Cascade DataHub.cfg file does.

Configuration and License File Locations

In versions 5.2.0 and earlier, the Cascade DataHub saved its configuration and license files in the application installation directory (typically in C:\Program Files\Cogent\Cascade DataHub). From version 5.2.1 onward, this behaviour has changed to give each user a private configuration. The DataHub now stores its configuration files in the current user's Application Data directory, in a subdirectory named Cascade DataHub. Here is the typical location:

C:\Documents and Settings\User Name\Application Data\Cascade DataHub\Cascade DataHub.cfg

(The Application Data directory is a hidden directory.)

If there is no private configuration when the DataHub starts, it will search for configuration files and license files from previous versions in the application installation directory, and copy them to the user's private configuration. If there is no old configuration file, the DataHub will copy the default.cfg file from the application installation directory. Thereafter, changes to the Cascade DataHub's properties (made through Properties window) will only modify the user's private configuration.

A user can modify this behaviour in two ways:

If both -H and -U are specified, the -U flag is ignored.

Custom Configuration Files

Creating and editing custom configuration files should only be attempted by experienced users.

When the Cascade DataHub starts up, you may wish to have certain points and data structures get created immediately. To do this, you can create one or more custom configuration files. These files must be listed in the bottom of the Scripting option of the Properties Window.

Custom configuration files can be created using a text editor like Notepad, and are written in Lisp syntax. They should be put in the same directory as the Cascade DataHub executable, such as C:\Program Files\Cogent\Cascade DataHub\ (it may be different for your installation). Each entry of the file contains either a command or a comment. Comments are marked with a semicolon character (;) at the beginning of each line.

For more information about commands and their syntax, please refer to Cascade DataHub Command Set.

A small custom configuration file might look like this:

;;; Create some points in the default domain
(create default:Point1)
(create default:Point2)
(create default:Point3)

;;; Assign values and confidences to the points
(set default:Point1 5 100)
(set default:Point2 67.234 100)
(set default:Point3 Hello 100)


;;; Create a new domain
(create_domain NewDomain)

;;; Create some points in that domain
(create NewDomain:Point1)
(create NewDomain:Point2)
(create NewDomain:Point3)

;;; Assign a value and confidence to the point
(set NewDomain:Point1 "A string" 100)
(set NewDomain:Point2 95 100)
(set NewDomain:Point3 3.1519 100)