DXLab Launcher: Saving and Restoring Registry Settings

DXLab Launcher Online Help Contents

 

In conformance with Windows programming standards, DXLab applications store their settings in the Windows Registry. Such settings persist between operating sessions, and also survive the installation of both full releases and development releases. There are several reasons to save a DXLab's registry settings to a file:

  1. for archival storage, to be restored in the event of hardware or operating system failure

  2. to copy settings from one PC to another

  3. to establish multiple "operating configurations" and rapidly switch between them

Saving and restoring DXLab application settings with workspaces

The Launcher lets you save the settings of all specified DXLab applications into a workspace - a folder in the Launcher's Workspaces folder; each application's settings are stored within the workspace folder in an appropriately named file whose suffix is .reg. You can activate a workspace: restore the registry settings from each  .reg file contained in that workspace. The Launcher's Workspace window displays a list of available workspaces; letting the mouse cursor hover over a workspace in this list will display a popup window showing the names of DXLab applications for which settings are stored in that workspace.  To display the Workspace window, click the Configuration window's Workspaces button; the following functions are available:

New prompts you to specify a workspace name, and then creates the workspace
  • since workspaces are folders, workspace names must conform to the rules for folder names
Activate restores registry settings from each .reg file contained in the selected workspace

  • most DXLab applications only check their registry settings on startup

  • its a good idea to terminate all running DXLab applications except the Launcher before invoking this function; otherwise, currently running DXLab applications could overwrite the restored registry settings when you later terminate those applications
Update saves the registry settings of all specified DXLab applications into .reg files in the selected workspace, over-writing any existing files in that workspace
  • settings are saved for each DXLab application with a valid Program Path in the Configuration window's DXLab Applications panel
Delete deletes the selected workspace

If no workspace is selected, the Activate, Update, and Delete buttons will be disabled (grayed out); to select a workspace, click on its entry in the Workspace List.

For the purpose of backup and recovery, its recommended that you specify pathnames for all of your DXLab applications in the Configuration window's DXLab Applications panel; create a New workspace, and then Update this workspace. Backing up the Launcher's Workspaces folder (and its sub-folders) will make it easy to later recover, should your PC subsequently suffer hardware or software problems, or should you wish to install DXLab on another PC and have it use identical settings. Important note: if using Windows Explorer to navigate the Launcher's Workspaces folder and its sub-folders, do not double click on a .reg file unless you want that file's settings immediately loaded into the Windows registry!

To establish multiple operating configurations,

  1. setup your DXLab applications for the first configuration

  2. create a new workspace with an appropriate name, and select the newly-created workspace

  3. click the Workspace window's Update button

  4. if more configurations remain, setup your DXLab applications for the next configuration, and proceed to step 2

To switch from one operating configuration to another

  1. terminate all running DXLab applications except the Launcher; the Launcher's Terminate button is a convenient way to do this

  2. select the workspace representing the desired configuration

  3. click the Workspace window's Activate button

Saving, clearing, and restoring Windows Registry settings for individual DXLab applications

The Registry Settings panel in the DXLab Launcher's Configuration window provides buttons that enable you to save a DXLab application's registry settings to a file of your choice, or load an application's registry settings from a file of your choice; the Windows standard .reg extension is used in both cases. When invoking either the Save or Load function, its recommended that the associated DXLab application not be running.

Important note: If you save a DXLab application's registry settings to a file and later wish to visually examine the contents of that file, do not invoke the Windows Explorer and double-click on the file. Rather than display the file's contents in Notepad, as happens when you double-click on a .txt file, double-clicking on a .reg file updates the Windows registry with the contents of the file -- just as if you'd performed the Launcher's Load function. To view the contents of a .reg file, start Notepad (or the editor of your choice) manually, and then File:Open the .reg file.

The Registry Settings panel also enables you to delete all of a DXLab application's Windows Registry settings; to do so,  depress the CTRL key while clicking the associated Ld button. Before invoking this function, saving the application's registry settings to a file by clicking the Sv button is recommended.