INI Settings
Contents
INI Settings for TView
Many of TView’s default settings are established in a “tview.ini” file which is in the same directory as the tview.exe executable. If this “tview.ini” file does not exist when TView is launched, then TView will attempt to create it. In a network environment, we strongly suggest that these paths be defined at the time of installation. Here is a guide to the settings in the “tview.ini” file that should be established at the time of installation:
Item |
How it's used |
|
id= |
TView sets this item to the 6-digit code entered when TView is launched the first time. This ID number permits use of the system, sets features for your company and displays the company name on reports. If a system administrator has already provided a TVIEW.INI file with this code present, the user will not be asked for it. |
Required |
printscale= |
This is usually set to "Proportional", but if printing fails, try setting this to "None". A third option is "PrintToFit". |
|
proxy=no proxyserver= proxyport= |
Use these if a proxy is necessary to allow TView to access a remote FTP site or a remote MySQL database. If so, set "proxy=" to "yes", and supply the necessary information for proxyserver and proxyport. |
Optional |
save= |
Use this to define a path where plansheets for an individual user will be saved (“.TVW” documents). These are the grid-like documents that planners use to evaluate television plans. This may be a local path (e.g., “C:\”), or some shortcut to a network server, or whatever else best suits your environment. |
Optional |
scripts= |
Similar to the above, use this to define a path where scripts for an individual user will be saved (“.TVS” documents). This path can be the same as the path defined in “save=”. |
Optional |
tvd= |
Set this to a path pointing to a directory that is readable by ALL users. This is used to store TVD databases that are to be shared by many users. For example, a new “Spring 2011” database could be created centrally, and then made available to all users. (That will save a lot of time as well, by encouraging re-use!) When users start a new plansheet, they will see this location when they choose "Common Databases". (Note! If this field already has a path set, be careful that your changes don't keep your users from seeing TVD files they are using now.) |
Highly Recommended |
tvdlocal= |
Set this to a path where the “television databases” (“.TVD”) created by individual users should be saved. When a planner defines dayparts and other television options, TView collects all of the relevant audience data and stores it in a TVD file. When users start a new plansheet, they will see this location when they choose "My Databases". (Note! If this field already has a path set, be careful that your changes don't keep your users from seeing TVD files they are using now.) |
Highly Recommended |
tvddefault= |
This is a path to a specific TVD database file that can be set as a default for use by all users. If used, this highlights that one file in the list of available TVDs. |
Optional |
tvdgroup1name= tvdgroup1path= tvdgroup2name= tvdgroup2path= tvdgroup3name= tvdgroup3path= |
These provide up to three additional named locations for TVD databases. For example, a program distributor might set up separate areas for "Program Research" and "sales Research". |
Optional |
weekly_us_nielsen_all_minute= weekly_us_nielsen_min_minute= weekly_canada_bbm= weekly_ibope= |
For the source to which your subscribe, set a path pointing to the weekly “.DAT” files. This should be a directory that is accessible by all users. If you subscribe to multiple data streams, you can put them in separate folders or in the same folder if you wish. |
Required |
weekly= |
No longer used. Instead, use the separate paths by data sources, shown in the previous line, |
No longer used. |
weeklysupplier= |
This is not a path, but rather a single uppercase character, which denotes the data supplier that is the most common one used. Here are the choices currently available: N: U.S. Nielsen, Mid-Minute data L: U.S. Nielsen, All-Minute data B: BBM (Canada) I: IBOPE For example, if your principal data source is U.S. Nielsen All-Minute Data, this line in the tview.ini should be: weeklysupplier =L |
Highly Recommended |
import_eztab=1 import_memri=1 import_imsmodal=1 |
TView is able to import schedules from several other systems, including New Age's "EzTab", MRI's MEMRI, and IMS' Modal. But it's confusing to users if you do not actually use those systems. Set the value to 1 if you want the appropriate command to be visible, or 0 if you don't. |
Optional |
data=F:\...\WebData\ vehicles=F:\...\WBV\ |
TView supports Nielsen's web fusion data. Set these paths to appropriate locations if you use that data. |
Optional |
tips=yes |
Shall the users occasionally see a handy "tip of the day"? |
Optional |
Media Planning Preferences
Several items in the TVIEW.INI file set defaults for preferences that are directly related to actual media planning and analysis:
decimals=1 |
Provides initial default for new plansheets for the number of decimals to be shown in reach results. Whenever a change is made on the Settings tab for the number of decimals, the new setting is saved to the user's PC's system registry, which is used thereafter on that particular computer when creating new plansheets. |
cumemaxdefault=All |
When using Nielsen's Mid-Minute data, this sets how many and which minutes should be accumulated to produce a cume maximum. Nowadays, we simply recommend that this be set to "All", meaning all minutes should be used. |
dvrdefault=L3 |
When using Nielsen's All-Minute data, this sets the time within a home viewer must watch a recorded program for it to be counted. The evolving industry standard is "Live+3", which is entered here as "L3". |
Online (Web) Advertising
TView supports U.S. Nielsen's television-online fusion data. For all the juicy details, see Planning for Online Advertising.
These items in the INI file specify locations for that data:
[WEB] data= |
This is the location for this monthly data. If there is no path specified for the "data" (that is, there is nothing after "data=") then TView expects that the data will be in a folder named "WebData" contained in the same folder as the TView application file tview.exe. Nielsen fusion data is updated monthly. Each month of data goes into its own folder. These folders have names like “0810”, where the first two digits indicate the year and the last two digits indicate the month. |
[WEB] wbv= |
This is where TView saves all of this collected information on requested web vehicles. If there is no path specified (that is, there is nothing after "wbv="), then TView creates a WBV folder in the same location as the tview.exe and puts the data there. |
Custom Color Schemes
You can adapt TView to your own company “theme” colors. Using a variety of items in the INI file, TView can be instructed to add your choice of colors to certain panels and items. This is done with a series of entries in the [LAYOUT] section of the TVIEW.INI file. Here are the entries, and what they affect in the program:
topstripcolor= |
the thin strip at the top that shows the database |
panelcolor= |
misc panels on Details and Switchpitch |
morepanelcolor= |
some more panels, especially on the main Table tab |
emphasiscolor= |
about, what to so, and script completed dialogs |
statuscolor= |
the strip on the very bottom |
titlebarcolor= |
|
maintitlebarcolor= |
|
gridheight=20 |
This sets the height (in pixels) of each row in the main Table |
For example, to color the strip on the top that has the database name in a vivid teal, do this:
topstripcolor=clTeal
If any entry is blank (that is, it ends with the “=”), the internal default colors are taken.
There are two types of named color constants. There are names for explicit colors, such as “clRed” and “clAqua”. In addition there are names for whatever colors are in use for certain standard Windows components. This is handy because the actual color that winds up being used used varies to match whatever the Windows theme in place is using. Here are all of the named constants, for explicit colors and for Windows components:
Explicit colors |
Windows codes |
clWhite clBlack clMaroon clGreen clOlive clNavy clPurple clTeal clGray clSilver clRed clLime clYellow clBlue clFuchsia clAqua clLtGray clDkGray |
clScrollBar clBackground clActiveCaption clInactiveCaption clMenu clWindow clWindowFrame clMenuText clWindowText clCaptionText clActiveBorder clInactiveBorder clAppWorkSpace clHighlight clHighlightText clBtnFace clBtnShadow clGrayText clBtnText clInactiveCaptionText clBtnHighlight cl3DDkShadow cl3DLight clInfoText clInfoBk |
In addition, you can also use numeric values to match any color. This makes it possible to precisely match your own corporate colors or identity rules.
We would be more than happy to assist you in finding the correct numeric codes to match your custom colors. Give us a call.
But if you want a head start, and are familiar with RGB codes, here’s the scoop. The numeric constants used are hexadecimal values, starting with "$00" (that's a dollar sign, and two zeroes, NOT the letter "O"). Then there are three pairs of hex digits, which if you remember from that unit of high school math that nobody ever thought could possibly be useful, go from "0" on up to "F", like this: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F. Note that the only letters ever used are A, B, C, D, E, F. If you see "0", that's a zero and never the letter "O".
So, what you wind up with is something that looks like this:
$00FF30C0
The first pair of hex digits (after the "$00") defines how much BLUE to use.
The next pair of hex digits defines how much GREEN to use.
The final pair of hex digits defines how much RED to use.
Here are some examples:
$00000000 -- this is pure black, everything is off, turned to zero
$00FFFFFF -- this is pure white (all colors at highest level, FF)
$00FF0000 -- pure blue
$0000FF00 -- pure green
$000000FF -- pure red
$00FF00FF -- magenta, which is red and blue at full value, and no green
$00FFC0FF -- a pinkish color, by taking magenta and boosting the green. If we boosted green on up to FF, the color would get lighter and lighter until we had white.
Most computer graphics programs from Graphics Converter on to PhotoShop have tools that allow you to experiment with these color codes. Note that sometimes the sequence of color digits in other programs is different: RGB (red, green, blue) instead of BGR.
If you need any further assistance in customizing TView to match a corporate identity, give us a call. We also are able to “build in” your completed color design to ensure that it looks good even without the INI changes.