How to transfer settings to new database, user,...

[ChrisMatch]

Hi

In this thread (and in the Technical Reference of the help file)
https://www.photools.com/community/index.php?topic=236.msg1188#msg1188
we get the information that:
IMatch stores settings per user, per database, per computer and in various mixes. Generally speaking, settings which depend on specific machine information, screen resolutions or dimensions etc. is stored per-machine. Database-specific things are stored per database. Settings which belong to specific users are stored per user.
All settings are stored in the settings database. There are no settings elsewhere. That's the reason for the database, after all.

So the good thing is that we have all our settings within one database file which makes backup easy.

But what happens if we found our favorite combination of settings (panel layout, thumbnail layout, file window tip, look and feel of the application in general (e.g. colors), XMP Labels, version definitions and so on... ) and now change something (create a new database, change monitor/screen resolution, change the user or change the machine)?

Some of my settings will be 'lost' (no longer available) with the new setup.
I assume there will be settings for which it makes no sense to transfer them - but others will be missed.

So what I am interested in is:
- Which settings are stored per user, per database, per computer,... ?
- How can I transfer the settings I like to my current 'setup'?

I have not found this information in the help so I am asking this question here.
For a general information I found the chapter 'The Imatch Settings Database' in the 'Technical Reference' of the help file which explains how to transfer settings from one computer to another.

But what if I have set up everything to my liking and create a new database (or change the user, screen resolution,...)?
I did a few tests switching between two database files and found out that most of the settings (like thumbnail layout, workspaces) will be preserved - but for instance I 'lose' the File Relation Definitions. That's not a bad thing at all and makes sense in many cases. But if I want to create a second image database it could well be that I want to transfer most of them to the new database.

So I think/hope that this all sounds more complicate than it really is. My hope is that there will be only a few settings that are really of relevance to us and need to be transfered.
But what and how...

Thanks
Chris

[Mario]

IMatch maintains over 400 (!) settings, many of them complicated binary structures. It would be useless to list them here.

If you create a new database and some settings are not transferred, there is usually a good reason for it (e.g. because the data is linked to internal ids which depend on a specific database). The same is true for per-user or per machine settings (screen resolution is not relevant).

The system works very well using the following assumptions:

+ 98% of all IMatch users use only one database (from experience, test databases excluded).
+ Users usually don't change their user name. And if they use multiple computers, they usually use the same user name.
+ Users use IMatch on one to two computers.

If you need multiple databases, or you regularly switch your user name, you will need to setup some settings multiple times. But that's usually an effort of a few minutes, e.g. re-creating a File Relation rule. I do that all the time.

IMatch 5 has extensive export and import features for all data and settings which are complicated or costly to transfer, or which should be easily shareable between IMatch users, e.g.:

• Thesaurus
  
• File window layouts
  
• Metadata panel layouts
  
• Attributes
  
• Custom label sets
  
• Metadata Templates
  
• File Window Tip
  
• Category Schemata
  
• ...

[ChrisMatch]

IMatch maintains over 400 (!) settings,.... It would be useless to list them here.

That indeed wouldn't be fun to write down (or to read) 

My hope was that we could group the settings into a few relevant categories and make some general statements like 'Perference>Application' are always preserved, 'File Relations' never and so on ...
But it seems that even this is not an easy task (and of course there are still a few bugs demanding your attention)

IMatch 5 has extensive export and import features for all data and settings which are complicated or costly to transfer,

Aha, I can use this as an indication that this setting will probably not be preserved.

Maybe I will write down my experience with 'lost settings' some day.

[Mario]

I have no intention do document or group all the settings. They are changing with every version anyway. The settings database feature works well, no need for users to dabble with it.