Recovering Enterprise Guide configurations

[EStrom1]

I do a fair number of customizations to the screen colors in Enterprise Guide.  Periodically I lose the settings.  Most recently, this occurred when I upgraded to the latest version of EG (usually, this doesn't happen).  In other cases, it happened because I needed to move from one PC to another.

Questions related to this:

• Where are the EG screen color settings stored?
• Is there a preferred method to back these settings up and/or transfer settings from one PC to another?

[heffo]

You can look at the file C:\Users\<Your User name in Windows>\AppData\Roaming\SAS\EnterpriseGuide\<Version Number>\EGOptions.xml

I don't know if there is a formal way to do it, but keeping a copy of that file and replace the original with this copy if you loose your settings is one way to do it.

[EStrom1]

Thanks.

But I'm not sure that this is the correct file that contains the Editor screen colors (Program >> Editor Options... >> Appearance).  The only section of EGOptions.xml that seems to contain color definitions is called <olapFrameProperties>, which looks like this:

<olapFrameProperties><FrameProperties Ver="7.1"><ViewerSynchronization>Synchronized</ViewerSynchronization><RolesSection>Expanded</RolesSection><PerformanceMaxRowsColumnsToProcess>10000</PerformanceMaxRowsColumnsToProcess><PerformanceNumRowsColumnsToRetrieve>100</PerformanceNumRowsColumnsToRetrieve><RowsColumnsShowAll>true</RowsColumnsShowAll><DrillThroughMaxRowsToInclude>100</DrillThroughMaxRowsToInclude><DrillThroughInsertAsObject>false</DrillThroughInsertAsObject><SliceReplacePrevious>false</SliceReplacePrevious><SliceType>Slice</SliceType><NumberOfRowsToScan>500</NumberOfRowsToScan><StylesShowShadings>true</StylesShowShadings><FilterExampleVisible>false</FilterExampleVisible><StylesTheme><Styles Version="1" CurrentStyle="DefaultOlapStyle"><CustomStyle><ViewerStyle Version="1" Name="CustomStyle" Default="false"><GridViewerStyle GridLineColor="178, 178, 178" GridFrameColor="127, 157, 185" UseGradient="false"><AxisTotals BackColor="247, 247, 247" TextColor="Black" UseGradient="false" /><Row BackColor="227, 235, 244" TextColor="Black" LinkColor="51, 51, 153" UseGradient="true"><Gradient MaximumDepth="10" IntensityStep="0.05" InverseTextColor="White" /><AxisTotals UseGradient="false" /></Row><Column BackColor="235, 243, 235" TextColor="Black" LinkColor="51, 51, 153" UseGradient="true"><Gradient MaximumDepth="10" IntensityStep="0.05" InverseTextColor="White" /><AxisTotals UseGradient="false" /></Column><Measure BackColor="255, 248, 227" TextColor="Black" LinkColor="51, 51, 153" UseGradient="false"><AxisTotals UseGradient="false" /></Measure><Data BackColor="White" TextColor="Black" LinkColor="51, 51, 153" UseGradient="false"><Totals BackColor="247, 247, 247" TextColor="Black" UseGradient="false" /><AxisTotals UseGradient="false" /></Data></GridViewerStyle><GraphViewerStyle StyleName="EG_OLAP" /></ViewerStyle></CustomStyle></Styles></StylesTheme></FrameProperties></olapFrameProperties>

What makes me think that this is not the right file: 1) The names of the colors in EGOptions.xml (eg, "AxisTotals BackColor") don't correspond the available settings in Editor options (eg, Comments, Data/CARDS lines, etc), 2) The actual RGB color values in the EGOptions.xml file are not the same values I used in Editor Options, and 3) I set many more colors in Editor Options than are present in the EGOptions.xml file (In Editor Options I set non default colors for 21 areas x 2 for background/foreground = 42 colors). 

[heffo]

Ah, then I get what settings you are talking about. When I changed the default font, just to see if I could find it, I found some settings in the registry under 

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SAS Institute Inc.\Enhanced Editor\BIC_8.1\Editor Settings\.sas\Scheme 

Exporting/importing that with a batch file could be one way to keep the settings intact. But I have not checked if all the other Enhanced Editor settings would be stored there too. 

[EStrom1]

Thanks.

This seems like it should be the right place, but I can't find screen color settings. 

Under Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SAS Institute Inc.\Enhanced Editor\BIC_8.1\Editor Settings\.sas\Scheme, all I see are settings for FontName and FontSize.  Nothing for screen colors.  I cruised around at surrounding nodes in the registry associated with SAS and I didn't see anything that looked like screen colors.  

[SASKiwi]

SAS Tech Support can help you here. I suggest you open a track.

[EStrom1]

Thanks.  I did contact SAS technical support and they set me straight.  The feedback here was very close, but the correct registry node is under BIC_7.1, not BIC_8.1. 

The applicable registry nodes are here:

> Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SAS Institute Inc.\Enhanced Editor\BIC_7.1\Editor Settings\.sas\Scheme

> Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SAS Institute Inc.\Enhanced Editor\BIC_7.1\Editor Settings\.sas\Schemes

The first one (...\"Scheme") appears to contain the default editor settings whereas the second one one (...\"Schemes") has separate sub-nodes for each scheme that you create in EG under: Program >> Editor Options... >> Appearance.

SAS tech support gave me a very good summary of how to export and import these registry settings, so I am pasting here in case it is useful to someone who reads this post in the future:

Now, because this is saved in the Windows Registry, the only way to back it up is to export the scheme information to a .reg file, put it in a safe location, and then import that scheme into the Windows Registry on a different computer.  In the Windows Registry, navigate to the location where the schemes are stored, right click on the scheme folder and select Export. to save out this information into a registry file.  Then when you get your new computer you can import this file back into the correct location in the Windows Registry.  

**Please note, please make sure you have a backup of your Windows Registry before doing any thing as sometimes changes in the registry can render your system unusable.

Here are some steps to export your color scheme and import into your new machine.

First let's export the color scheme:

     a. Close all open SAS Enterprise Guide windows.

     b. Select Start -> Run, or Start -> (All) Programs -> Accessories ->

    c. Type: regedit

     d. Click OK.

     e. Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SAS Institute Inc.\Enhanced Editor\BIC_7.1\Editor Settings\.sas\Schemes\

     f. Select the desired scheme name folder

     g. Right mouse click on the scheme name and choose Export.

     h. Save to the desired folder, and supply a name. Note that the file extension .reg is added by default.

     i. Select OK.

     j. Select File -> Exit.

Now, place that .reg file in a safe location where it can be moved to your new computer.  Once you get your new computer, then follow these steps to Import it into the new registry

On another machine, import the file containing the new scheme by doing the following:  

     a. Review warning above.

     b. Select Start -> Run, or Start -> (All) Programs -> Accessories -> Run.

     c. Type: regedit

     d. Click OK.

     e. Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SAS Institute Inc.\Enhanced Editor\BIC_7.1\Editor Settings\.sas\Schemes\

     f. Click File -> Import.

     g. Navigate to the .reg file containing the new scheme, and select Open.

     h. If successful, a message box indicates that the key and values have been successfully added to the registry. Click OK.

     i. Select File -> Exit.

Now start SAS Enterprise Guide on your new computer, to into Tools->Options->SAS Programs->Editor Options..->Appearance tab.  Select the down arrow next the Scheme field and you should see your saved color scheme.

[CaseySmith]

EG 7.15 HF8 surfaced this problem...

EG 7.15 (prior to HF8) was incorrectly storing editor settings in this 8.1 registry location (as you noted):

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SAS Institute Inc.\Enhanced Editor\BIC_8.1

(should have been BIC_7.1)

7.15 HF8 updated EG 7.15 to use this corrected location instead:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SAS Institute Inc.\Enhanced Editor\BIC_7.1

However, that means any editor customizations that you made prior to that are still in the BIC_8.1 registry location instead of the BIC_7.1 registry location (where 7.15 HF8 is now looking).  The easiest way to get your customizations back is to "copy" the registry settings from BIC_8.1 to BIC_7.1 via the export/import instructions Tech Support provided to @EStrom1.

Casey