Manage Settings - Data Exchange

Data exchange

The 'Data Exchange' function allows individual settings to be exported or imported. This is useful when you want to back up settings, share them with a colleague, import from another version, or send them. With this data exchange you can not only export or import all settings in bulk, but you can also select each individual setting deliberately and import or export only those.

To use the data exchange, select the 'Data Exchange' switch in the management dialog box of the respective function. A two-pane dialog box then opens.

On both sides of the dialog box you will find a list or a tree view (if you have groups in the settings), below that a few buttons and below those the comments and images of the selected setting.

On the left side of the dialog box you always see the settings that are currently available in the program for the running function. On the right side you have the settings that are stored somewhere outside the program. If you start the data exchange for the selected function for the first time, the right side is empty.

Above the list (the tree) on the right side there is an input field with an icon at the right end. Via this icon you can choose the directory into which you want to export the settings or from which you want to import settings. If you click this icon, another dialog box opens to help you select the directory.

In the lower area of the dialog box you will find the usual directory tree where you can select any desired directory. Above it are four large buttons that set four different standard directories at the push of a button. A button below the tree also allows you to create a new directory. Once you have selected the desired directory, you finalize the choice with the Apply button.

The settings are each saved in files that have filenames composed of letters and numbers. However, you do not need to know the names of these files. The program knows from which function the data exchange was started (for example the tenon input) and then shows only the matching files. If you want to perform an export, you also do not need to select a directory that already contains such a file; you can choose any empty directory. The program will then create a new settings file there.

Once you have set the correct path on the right side of the data exchange dialog box, you can copy the data. To do so, select all or individual files on the left or right. Individual files are selected as usual in Windows by holding down the Ctrl or Shift key. Using the icons between the lists, you can copy the selected settings from left to right or vice versa. The button below the lists also allows you to delete settings directly.

Email attachment

The 'Email Attachment' is a special form of export. The switch for it is available below both lists. The program automatically packs all settings marked on the respective side into a file and creates an email in the program that is configured as the email client on the computer. The packed file is attached to this email and a text is inserted into the email explaining how to import the settings from there back into the program:

To import the data, please proceed as follows:

1. Save the attachment of this message to the desktop.

2. In Dietrich's program, open the dialog for which the settings are intended.

3. Open the settings management via the second button next to the setting.

You only need to enter the email address and expand the text appropriately so that the recipient knows who sent the email and from which function the settings originate (for example the tenon function). If the recipient then follows the instructions in the email, they can import the settings into their program easily and with program support, without overwriting their own settings.