04. Modifying the Template
Each new calculation you start uses the values defined in your material template. This chapter will make you understand where you can find your template, and how you can edit or add materials to it.
When you launch the program for the very first time, a warning message will pop up telling you that the template file has been set. The initial & default location is:
_ [installation path]\db\UserMaterials.cxml _
To change the location for your template file, which is highly recommended, follow these steps:
- Locate and copy your current UserMaterials.cxml file to the location of your liking.
- In the Carbo Life Calculator go to:
Help -> Settings
- In the following dialog box, use the [...] button to set the path of your template file.
Moving your template file out of the root installation path prevents you from losing any customized materials when you update the software.
One of the key strengths of Carbo Life Calculator is the ability to fully customize, add & optimize the material database. As a user, you are in control of these, as many materials can be set up by your company or can vary between projects. To update your template you have two possibilities.
- You can open the template directly, edit it and save the materials.
- Move or synchronize materials from a project to your template. After you have saved these to the template, all new calculations will henceforward use the updated material library.
The easiest way to update your template is to launch the stand-alone version by double-clicking the CarboLifeCalc.exe in your install dir.
Select “Edit Material Template”
The program now opens the material editor.
Any updates done will now be saved after you press “Accept”.
You might create or update materials on projects that you would like to use or have available on other projects, therefore you want to move these to your template file. This allows you to have these materials in each new calculation and allows you to move them across projects.
With a project open, open the material editor;
In the material editor, once you are happy with the updates or new materials, press “Sync With”
This opens the Sync Materials Window. On the left, the project database is shown, and on the right the database that you want to move materials to. You can select a file from the list, download new ones from our online database, or in this case select “Template”.
Use the Sync buttons to move selected materials to the material template. Once you are happy with the template, press “Save” and your template will update with the new materials.