Atari800MacX Help

Configuration Files


Starting in Version 4.0, Atari800MacX allows the user to save multiple preference setups through the addition of Configuration Files and the management associated with them.

What's in the Configuration Files?

A configuration file (with extension .a8c) is a full copy of the Prefences for Atari800MacX, stored in a different location than the standard file (Home/Library/Preferences/com.atarimac.atari800macx.plist),  It's file format is the same as a standard Apple preferences file (XML), and can be edited by a program that edits preferences files, but be careful, you need to know what you are doing if you try to edit it outside the program.

The configuration file stores all of the settings of the program, which means all of the things that are settable from the Preferences screen (including window sizes and fullscreen), as well as the window positions.

What are they good For?

Have you ever wanted to have different joystick settings for different games you play?  Have a game that requires a language cartridge and a single disk.  Have a Atari programming environment that requires several disks, a cartridge, and special settings.  Have you wanted to be able to access those things with a double click or a menu selection?  Now you can......

How do you save and load them?

On the Preferences Screen there are buttons that allow you to do the Save and Load of configurations directly from that panel.  Changes from Configuration files that are loaded from here are not applied until you exit the Preferences screen.

You can also load and save the files from the control menu, or using Cmd-Shift-S for Save and Cmd-Shift-L for load.

Finally, you can simply double click on the file, and it will start the emulator (if it's not already running), and load all your settings.

How do I specify media to be loaded for the Configuration?

There is a tab of the Preferences screen you may not have used much up to this point.  It is called Boot Media.  The disks, cassettes, and cartridges specified here, in versions prior to 4.0, were loaded when the program started.  Now, when you save a configuration file with entries on this panel, those media files will be loaded when you load the configuration, even if the program is already running (and a coldboot of the Atari will be performed).  There is also a button that loads all of the current media that is loaded into the emulator into the fields on the screen, so that you do not have to select them one by one.  Finally, there is a checkbox that determines if all of the current media is ejected before new media is loaded as part of a configuration.  This checkbox is enabled by default, but you may come up with configurations where you don't want to do that, but instead want to add media to what a user has loaded prior to loading the configuration. If so, simply uncheck the option.