Good morning friends,
A little confused about the proper way to back up Rhino. What is the best way to cover myself in case my main computer fails and I need to create an intermediate Rhino station on a second computer with all of my settings on it? Would exporting the Options via the Tools menu/ Export Options command (yielding an .ini file) include my settings for all of the following?
My scripts
My plug-ins
My aliases
My toolbars
My hotkeys
My templates
My display modes
My dimension styles
My linetypes
My hatches
And… anything else I might be forgetting:)
Would all of the above be saved or is there something else I should do?
My scripts: nope
My plug-ins: nope
My aliases: yep
My toolbars: nope
My hotkeys: yep
My templates: nope
My display modes: yep
My dimension styles: nope (these are per-file)
My linetypes: nope (these are per-file)
My hatches: nope (these are per-file)
So, the answer is, no, OptionsExport will not backup everything - not by a longshot.
My scripts: if these are stored externally to Rhino and called with an alias, you need to back up the folder(s) in which they live. If they are pasted inside toolbar buttons, backing up the rui file will also include the scripts, naturally.
My plug-ins: any plug-ins that are not native to a stock Rhino install need to be backed up/reinstalled
My toolbars: you need to back up your .rui file separately:
C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\McNeel\Rhinoceros\5.0\UI
My templates: back them up separately
My dimension styles
My linetypes
My hatches
While these three items are stored in each document where they are used, you also have the possibility to import them from the master document, found here:
C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\McNeel\Rhinoceros\5.0\Localization\language\Support
Very helpful and very succinct. Is this in the help file in one place with it’s own contents entry and summarized as well as this?
If I knew how, I would flag Margaret with this.
Following up on the above, could you let me know if the proper way to back up the toolbars is, from the Tools menu, I run Toolbar Layout. I now see several toolbars listed in the Files window in the top of the dialogue box:
I believe that the way to back up these tool bars is to select these one by one and run File/ Save As and then give each one a custom name with maybe a date with the destination being whatever media you back up to.
Is this correct?
Or would it be easier to just copy the folder that these are kept in – which is: c/Users/myname/AppData/Roaming/McNeel/Rhinoceros/5.0/UI and just paste it on to my external hard drive?
Bongo will manage its own toolbars, as long as you haven’t modified them you don’t need to back them up - a new install of Bongo will install them anyway. If you haven’t modified the Rhino Default rui, same thing - but… if you have in any way personalized the default workspace, I strongly recommend you save the .rui file under a new name in the same folder, plus back it up somewhere else. Default.rui is normally overwritten with a new install of Rhino or even a service release, and that will destroy your mods. Toolbar(rui) files have also been known to get corrupted once in awhile, so a backup somewhere else for a highly modified toolbar file is essential.
As with Bongo, TSplines should manage its own toolbars, if you haven’t modified them you shouldn’t need to back them up. The last three seem like custom toolbars with scripts in them, those should be backed up.
This is in the registry. You can go to your start menu and type regedit to access the registry. You can also use the windows key + R and type regedit there. Then search for that key and export it.
Be careful when playing around in the registry. You can cause a lot of grief if you aren’t careful. Exporting the key as I mentioned is not risky.
This is a Windows thing. Windows has a central storage of very important info it calls the Registry. It is not a set of user accessible files and folders, it’s a system controlled database, and it can be accessed only via via the registry editing tool (or via the Windows command line or various programming methods). To run the registry editing tool, you type “regedit” at the start button search box.
That being said, if you do not have the habit of rummaging around in the registry in Windows, I would be extremely careful. Careless editing of the registry can destroy your Windows installation. However, in theory nothing you touch under the Rhino section can do more than kill your Rhino installation… Have I succeeded in making you feel comfortable editing the registry? I hope so…
That being said, what Dan is suggesting is exporting a registry “key” - the one that contains your Rhino options and a number of other things. That will create a .reg file which amounts to an expert user backup of those options. To “reinstall” the options, all you have to do is to double click the reg file and it will re-write it to the registry… overwriting anything that was previously stored under that key… Again if you know what you’re doing, this does not present any real danger, but it’s not for the faint of heart nor the casual user.
Okay, guys @helvetosaur@DanBayn . I’m almost there. I’ve got the Export Registry File dialogue window open and it is asking for a file name. Three questions:
does it matter what I call it?
I assume that I’m going to save it in a folder on external hard drive, right?
Have I succeeded in making you feel comfortable editing the registry? I hope so… 