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This file is used to define several configuration variables which must
be set before several key objects (e.g., the display device) can be
created. (This is actually a limitation of the VMD implementation --
future versions will not use this file.) Thus this is the first file
read by VMD; before even the vmdinit.tcl file. VMD searches for
this file in three locations; $VMDDIR/.vmd_init,
$HOME/.vmd_init, and ./.vmd_init.
Each copy of the file found will be read in and
processed in that order. This allows the administrator to establish a
complete set of default values for all users, and then for each user
to selectively change the settings required without having to set ALL
parameters.
The lines in the initialization file should be either blank lines,
comment lines (beginning with the # character), or parameter
setting lines of the form
<keyword> = <value>
with any amount of whitespace allowed before and after the equal sign.
The possible keywords that may be entered here are:
- BABEL = <filename>
The name (including complete path) of the babel program
executable, which is used to convert various molecular file formats to
PDB files which may be read by VMD.
See section §
This parameter should not be used; instead, use environment variable
VMDBABELBIN (see
section §)
- DISPLAY = <WIN | CAVE | TEXT>
The type of display device which VMD should use initially. This can
be set to either WIN, CAVE, or TEXT. By default,
this is WIN. It can be overridden with the -dispdev
command line option.
- HTMLVIEWER = <filename>
The name of the HTML browser which should be used to display HTML
files (such as the VMD on-line help file). Typical examples are
Mosaic or Netscape; by default this is Netscape.
- SCRDIST = <value>
The distance, in `world' coordinates, from the origin to the display
screen. If this is zero, the origin of the coordinate system in which
molecules are drawn coincides with the center of the display. If it
is < 0, the origin is located between the viewer and the screen,
while if it is > 0, the screen is located closer to the viewer than
the origin. A value < 0 puts any stereo image in front of the
screen, aiding the three-dimensional effect; a value > 0 results in a
stereo image that is behind the screen, a less dramatic (but easier to
see, for some people) stereo effect when stereo display is used.
Figure 3.17 describes the relationship between this
parameter and the world coordinate space.
- SCRHEIGHT = <value>
This parameter, with SCRDIST, defines the size and distance of
the display screen. SCRHEIGHT is the default value for the
screen height, which is the vertical size of the display screen in
`world' coordinates. Each molecule is initially scaled and translated
to fit within a 2 x 2 x 2 box centered at the origin; so the height of
the screen helps determine how large the molecule appears initially.
If VMD is being displayed on a workstation monitor only, it is best
not to change this value from the default setting. This parameter is
used mainly to configure the VMD display to the dimensions and
position of a large-screen display, such as a projector, that may be
used as a stereo display. As for SCRDIST, figure
3.17 describes the relationship between this parameter
and the world coordinate space.
- SCRPOS = <xpos> <ypos>
The position of the lower-left corner of the window used to display
images, if the display type is WIN. Both xpos and
ypos are in pixels. If they are not specified, and are not given as
command-line options, the window will have to be interactively placed
with the mouse.
- SCRSIZE = <xsize> <ysize>
The size of the window used to display images, if the display type is
WIN. Both xpos and ypos are in pixels. If they are
not specified, and are not given as command-line options, the window
will have to be interactively sized with the mouse.
- TITLE = <ON | OFF>
A flag indicating whether to display the VMD title in the main
display when the program starts. This can have the value of ON
or OFF. By default, TITLE is set to be ON. If the
title is turned on, it will remain displayed until a molecule is
loaded, after which it will be hidden from view. This can also be set
with the command line option -nt.
Here is an example of an initialization file:
display = win
title = on
scrheight = 6.0
scrdist = -2.0
scrpos = 596 190
scrsize = 669 834
Next: 17.3.4 .vmdrc File
Up: 17.3 Startup Files
Previous: 17.3.2 User Script Files
Sergei Izrailev
Fri Jul 25 17:07:27 CDT 1997