Pro/ENGINEER Tips & Tricks: System Management

This page is a compilation of tips & tricks related to Pro/ENGINEER. They are not necessarily my own ideas. Use them at your own risk.

System management

Using the Windows /3gb startup switch

     
    The /3gb switch
      
    If you don't know how to use the /3gb switch checkout the following link: More on WindowsXP startup switches.
     
    By default WindowsXP can use 4Gb of virtual address space of which 2Gb is reserved for programs and 2Gb for the Operating system.
    This switch forces x86-based systems to allocate 3 GB of virtual address space to programs and 1 GB to the kernel and to executive components. A program must be designed to take advantage of the additional memory address space. With this switch, user mode programs can access 3 GB of memory instead of the usual 2 GB that Windows allocates to user mode programs.
     
     
    But apparantly the 1Gb limit for the kernel decreases the resources for the Operating system too much.
     
     
    What was the problem?
    When checking out from Intralink you often get error messages like these:
    A file transfer operation failed during check out ....
    [fileserver]:7777:|data1|intralink|vaultpdm|intrlnk_PURCHASE|118661.prt to
    *:*:d:|users|olafc|ILINK3.3|.proi|Molding|ace_sp-xx.prt.4
    Error 4: Internal Error (Trap)
    The error was
    403
    These are hard to reproduce, sometimes you get them sometimes you don't ....
    But in my case they could be reproduced by opening a lot of IE explorer windows connected to an internet url.

    It has to do with the /3gb switch we use at startup of Windows and the combination of a UNIX fileserver and some specific Windows XP Hotfixes.

     

     
    And the solution is:
     
    Use the following switch as well
    /userva
    You can use this switch to customize the amount of memory that is allocated to processes when you use the /3GB switch. This switch permits more page table entry (PTE) kernel memory but still maintains almost 3 GB of process memory space.
    I use the switch with a value of 2900 (/userva=2900) which gives back 172Mb to the kernel.
    Use a lower value if you still get these problems.

    For additional information about how to use the /USERVA switch, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 316739 How to use the /USERVA switch in the Boot.ini file to tune /3GB configurations
     
    For additional information, here another example from the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 823440 You must use the /3GB switch when you install Exchange Server 2003 on a Windows Server 2003-based system
     
    Why these errors only occur with a UNIX fileserver and which WinXP Hotfixes were responsible I didn't bother finding out.
     
     
    The boot.ini file:
    You can add startup switches to your boot.ini file through:
    Start -> Control Panel -> System -> Advanced -> Startup and Recovery Settings -> Edit
    But be carefull editing the file, you might end up with an unbootable system.
     
    I've got the following lines in my boot.ini file:
    multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional W/3Gb limited" /3gb /userva=2900
    multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional W/3Gb" /3gb
    multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect
    multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional [VGA mode]" /basevideo /sos
    The first one is now the default and gives me no errors any more
    The second one is the option which gives the checkout problems.
    The third option is the XP default.
    The fourth option should always be there. It's your escape if one of the other options doesn't work (for instance because you forgot to install the /3gb patch first).
     
     
     
    Let's hope this works for other problematic sites as well .....

     

PTC File Extensions

PTC applications create many sorts of files. Here is a list of known file extensions used by PTC (mainly in Pro/E):

Pro/E File Extensions

Note that some of these extensions are always followed by a numerical extension, which is a version number. A new version of a model is made each time you save it in Pro/E. It just gets a higher numerical extension. By default Pro/E retrieves the highest version of each object. That's also the reason why Pro/E registers the extensions .1 to .999 as a PTC file so that when you open such a file Pro/E tries to open it. Unfortunately this only works for real Pro/E parts.

Prevent Pro/E from crashing while running trail files

If a trail file runs out of sequence, Pro/E will normally crash. In Unix and NT you can prevent this by creating an environment variable named CONTINUE_FROM_OOS (Continue From Out-Of-Sequence) and set it to 1 or TRUE.
On UNIX you can do this by adding the following line to the script which starts Pro/ENGINEER or by adding it to your .login file in your HOME directory: 
setenv CONTINUE_FROM_OOS 1

On Windows-NT you will have to set it somewhere under Control Panel/System/Environment

Prevent overlapping windows

If you are annoyed by all the unnecessary repaints by Pro/E try decreasing your menu_width and/or the size of your main window. If for example your ENVIRONMENT menu is always placed on top of your MAIN WINDOW Pro/E will ALWAYS repaint your MAIN WINDOW when the ENVIRONMENT menu is closed.

So you should try to make Pro/E place the ENVIRONMENT menu to the right of your MAIN menu.

First of all set the menus to RIGHT and thermo-scale position to NO_WINDOW_OVERLAP.

Then decrease your main window scale and/or your menu_width in small steps until the ENVIRONMENT is placed to the right. 

MENU_HORIZONTAL_HINT RIGHT
THERMO_POSITION_HINT NO_WINDOW_OVERLAP
WINDOWS_SCALE 0.98
SET_MENU_WIDTH 13

When I am working with a large assembly sometimes I still have some window overlap. For instance: if I perform #info; #measure; #distance; #from plane; #sel by menu; #part_name; #datum; #name, the last menu is often partly placed over the main window which will result in an extra repaint.

I can prevent this when I decrease my main window even more by dragging the right border a little bit to the left.

Adding menu buttons

You can add extra menus to the default menus created by Pro/E. See the documentation for the correct syntax. The example below first adds an empty button so the user knows all buttons further down are not standard. The shown button calls a mapkey called 'micp'. 
@setbutton Misc =============================== "" ""
@setbutton Misc Change#Pr#Dir "%micp" "Change dir to previous directory."
Note that this mapkey is read during startup of Pro/E. So if you change the mapkey by reloading the config.pro the change will not be reflected in the button. You will have to restart Pro/E.

You can also use UNIX variables like $HOME in your menu_def.pro file.

If you want to execute external commands from within Pro/E you can only add these to the UTILITIES menu (from the MISC menu). The example to the right shows the buttons I added for my
OCUS utilities.

External programs that do not run in the background can be forced to the background if you start them with the '&' commandline parameter. Otherwise Pro/E will wait until the command has finished.

Example: 

@setbutton_exec UTILITIES X-term "xterm &"

Keyboard macros

Keyboard macros (mapkeys) can help you to speed up the use of Pro/E. You can quickly go to a certain menu pick without clicking. You can perform large tasks automatically with one key (like creating standard views, or plotting). You can type ahead so you don't have to wait until Pro/E shows you the menu.

You must be familiar with the Pro/E commands and with your keyboard. When creating mapkeys try to follow a defined set of rules. The mapkeys defined in the OCUS archive (approx. 600) are created with the following naming conventions:

  • Use the first letter of the menu commands to create a key. (e.g.: #view #cosmetic #shade = 'vcs').
  • Duplicate the last letter of the mapkey to create the default key. (e.g.: 'ii' goes to the default #info menu; 'im' goes to the #info #measure menu; 'if' goes to the #info #feature menu, ...)
  • Maximum length: 4 or 5 characters.
  • Nominal length: 2 or 3 characters
  • Internal mapkeys begin with a point and are not for general use. They are usually created to avoid too long lines.
  • Change dir mapkeys begin with a *.

NOTE

  • Short mapkeys are comprehensive, but rule out to many other mapkeys.
    Example:
    if 'z' is used for zoom in, which letter would you use for zoom out? 'o'?
    if 'fc' is used for #feature #create, which letters would you use for #feature #create #protrusion?
    So this is why the last letter is duplicated to go to the main menu (rule nr. 2)
  • Most mapkey's begin with a number of different kinds of done-returns so the mapkey first goes to the top-level menu (see: mapkey '.dr').
  • Avoid special characters like '^/<>
  • Do not exceed a line length of 80 characters.
  • To use another mapkey in a mapkey (nesting) use the '%' sign.
    NOTICE: The maximum nesting level is 6 !
  • Some mapkeys start a trail file. Make sure you set the environment variable CONTINUE_FROM_OOS to 1 (setenv CONTINUE_FROM_OOS 1). This will prevent Pro/E from crashing after a "trial file out of sequence" error.
  • Use the script chck_config.pro to check for conflicting and duplicate mapkeys.

Toggling Mapkeys

You can create toggle mapkeys by letting the mapkey read in a small config.pro file in which the mapkey itself is redefined:

Suppose you want the F6 button to toggle the explode, then you only need to create the two following config.pro files:

put this in explode.pro: 


mapkey $F6 ~ Activate `main_dlg_cur` `View.psh_view_explode`;\
	~ Activate `main_dlg_cur` `psh_util_load_config`;\
	~ Activate `file_open` `Inputname` \
	`[full path]/unexplode.pro`
put this in unexplode.pro: 

mapkey $F6 ~ Activate `main_dlg_cur` `View.psh_view_unexplode`;\
	~ Activate `main_dlg_cur` `psh_util_load_config`;\
	~ Activate `file_open` `Inputname` \
	`[full path]/explode.pro`

In your startup config.pro add the first mapkey as well, assuming you want to explode your assy's the first time you run F6.

One drawback, If you manually explode or unexplode between running F6 it will not work the next time you run F6, you will have to press F6 again.

By the way, The following model tree mapkey toggles by default. The mapkey is designed to set the model tree on (that's the '1' in there), but the 1 is ignored when you run the mapkey in Pro/E: 


mapkey $F8 ~ Activate `main_dlg_cur` `ProCmdEnvModelTree.mdisp` 1

Usefull mapkey applications

Below are some examples of applications for mapkeys. These mapkeys can be found in the config.pro of my OCUS archive.

  • mapkey vi => Large mapkey which creates standard views. Use mapkeys like vt, vr and vf to retrieve the top, right and front view (vi stands for 'views initialize').
  • mapkey nn => performs multiple #next to put you at the end of the selection list
    Very handy when selecting a datum plane and Pro/E sees all surfaces first: using nn puts you at the end of the list where the datum planes are. Or when you want to select the last surface and you don't want to switch views. Or in drawing mode when you want to select an axis to dimension to and Pro/E sees all sorts of geometry lines first: the axis is always at the end of the list.
  • mapkeys mx, xn, xp, xh, xd, xa => To modify a X-hatching (mx). Next (xn), Previous(xp), Half (xh), Double (xd), Angle 135 (xa). Especially handy when modifying assembly x-sections. Use these mapkeys to roll through the various members and modifying them. Keep your left hand over the x and use the right hand to select the second character.
  • mapkey dd => performs all sorts of done's, enter value, and the like. Using this mapkey avoids accidentally pressing quit. I also use the mapkeys dr (done/return), de (done-return), do (Okay or confirm) and dx (all kinds of done-returns) a lot.
  • mapkey fte => Family Table Edit. Puts you right in the family table editor.
  • mapkey rler => Relations Edit Relations. The same as above, but then for relations.
  • mapkey fcdp => Feature Create Datum Plane (fcda for axis).
  • mapkey sur => Setup Retrieve. To retrieve the drawing setup file.
  • mapkey suid => Large mapkey to create standard parameters with default values. Use mapkey suim to modify these parameters.
  • mapkey rip => Retrieve; part; in session. See also all other retrieve mapkeys. I use the mapkeys ra, rd and rp really a lot to switch between my assemblies, drawings and parts. See also the tip A FAST Retrieve In Session button
  • mapkey imd => Info; Measure; Distance.
  • mapkey rh => Regenerate Hard: a forced regenerate by doing: #info; #regen info #beginning #quit. mapkey re is normal regenerate and mapkey rr is a soft regenerate which also can be used in sketcher mode.
  • mapkey gn => performs only one action: generic. Is still very usefull when you retrieve a large generic assembly: Type ra (retrieve assembly); assembly name; gn (generic) and go get a cup of coffee. When you get back the generic assembly is on your screen.
  • mapkey dbb => Dbms Backup. All dbms mapkeys begin with db, but for security reasons there is NO mapkey dbd (Dbms; Delete all).
  • mapkey oi => Component; Assemble; In session. All component mapkeys begin with o.

Add functionality to your Shift-Functionkeys

A lot of users already know you can create mapkeys for your functionkeys. 
Examples: mapkey $F1 #view;#pan/zoom;#zoom in
	mapkey $F2 #misc;#load config;all_datums_on.pro

Here is a method to enhance this feature by adding functionality to your Shift-Functionkeys.

First you will have to tell your UNIX system to add foreign characters to your Shift-Functionkeys. You can do this with the xmodmap command, which can be found on the directory /usr/bin/X11 (SGI,HP). Show your current configuration with the following command:

	% xmodmap -pke | grep " = F[0-9]"
The output may look like this:
 
	keycode 15 = F1
	keycode 23 = F2
	keycode 31 = F3
	...
By using the -pke option the output generated is a command which can be given to xmodmap:
 
	keycode &ltCODE> = &ltKEY1> &ltKEY2> &ltKEY3> &ltKEY4>
in which &ltKEY1> is the character that's being executed when you press the key defined by the given &ltCODE&gt. &ltKEY2> is the character when you press the same key while pressing Shift. &ltKEY3> with Meta pressed and &ltKEY4> with Shift-Meta pressed.

The example output above shows there is not yet any functionality given to Shift-, Meta-, or Shift-Meta-Functionkeys. This means that for all these cases the character executed is the same as the standard (&ltKEY1>) character.

Now we can start defining new characters to the Shift-Functionkeys. Do NOT define characters already in use by other keys on your keyboard. This may cause erronous results.

Choose foreign characters which might be of use to you. This is especially interesting for European users. You could use characters like à , á , â , ã , ä , å , ½ , ¼ , © or ® . This way you can enter these characters directly into a NOTE by pressing the corresponding Shift-Functionkey.
I am using the following commands to set my Functionkeys:

	% xmodmap -e "keycode 15 = F1 agrave"
	% xmodmap -e "keycode 23 = F2 aacute"
	% xmodmap -e "keycode 31 = F3 egrave"
	% xmodmap -e "keycode 39 = F4 eacute"
	% xmodmap -e "keycode 47 = F5 ediaeresis"
	% xmodmap -e "keycode 55 = F6 ecircumflex"
	% xmodmap -e "keycode 63 = F7 idiaeresis"
	% xmodmap -e "keycode 71 = F8 odiaeresis"
	% xmodmap -e "keycode 79 = F9 udiaeresis"
	% xmodmap -e "keycode 87 = F10 ucircumflex"
	% xmodmap -e "keycode 94 = F11 ssharp"
	% xmodmap -e "keycode 102 = F12 mu"

NOTE: Silicon Graphics supports names for each character. I don't know if this is SGI specific or not. See the link below to the PTC site for information on how to enter characters with their "Hexedecimal ISO 8859-1 (Latin_1) Code" There might also be some differences in the keycodes for each functionkey. Check with xmodmap -pke

The following characters are now assigned to my Shift-Functionkeys where the second column is the character you get with Caps Lock on:

	Shift-F1 - à À 

	Shift-F2 - á Á 

	Shift-F3 - è È 

	Shift-F4 - é É 

	Shift-F5 - ë Ë 

	Shift-F6 - ê Ê 

	Shift-F7 - ï Ï 

	Shift-F8 - ö Ö 

	Shift-F9 - ü Ü 

	Shift-F10 - û Û 

	Shift-F11 - ß ß 

	Shift-F12 - µ µ

This is not Pro/ENGINEER specific, so these characters are now available through your Shift-Functionkeys with every software you use on your system. This is a great advantage (you can use them in your favourite editor), but could also cause problems if you use software which also use these Shift-Functionkeys. So take care, using this technique.

The xmodmap commands are automatically performed at login by collecting them in a file in your HOME directory called .xmodmaprc and adding the following line to your .login file:

	xmodmap .xmodmaprc

If you want to find out more about this technique go to the Internet site of Parametric Technology: http://www.ptc.com and follow the link to Customer Support. Fill in the form and then go to the following link:

	http://www.ptc.com/cs/howto/not_rema/not_rema.htm

The final step consists of creating the mapkeys for your Shift-Functionkeys. This is identical to normal keys but now use the characters to which your Shift-Functionkeys are mapped. 

Examples: mapkey à #view;#pan/zoom;#previous
	mapkey á #misc;#load config;all_datums_off.pro

Note that you can get some structure in your Functionkeys by carefully choosing their functionality: 

	o put ZOOM IN under F1 and ZOOM PREVIOUS under Shift-F1
	o put DATUMS ON under F2 and DATUMS OFF under Shift-F2
	etc.

Remote installing Pro/E

When installing Pro/E from a remote mounted CDROM drive the setup script ptcsetup.csh often crashes with a bus errors if I run it directly from the mounted /CDROM directory (with the CDROM mounted on a remote machine).

A workaround for this problem is:

Copy the ptcsetup.csh script to your local machine and run it with the remote nodename as a parameter:

# cd /tmp
# rcp [remote_node]:/CDROM/ptcsetup.csh .
# ./ptcsetup.csh [remote_node]:/CDROM
According to PTC this is a much more reliable method.

Creating a backup tape for FAST restore

Every system administrators knows he should perform a backup at least ones a day. They run the backup script during the night, because it might take a very long time to put everything on tape if you perform a full backup.

I prefer to create a FULL backup each night, because this makes it easier to restore the full disk if I need it. With incremental backups (which some sys. adm. use) you need to restore the last full backup and then restore all subsequent incremental backups.

The problem with a full backup is it might take a VERY long time to restore just a single file which is at the end of the tape.

To prevent this problem I create a backup tape with a lot of different partitions so if I need to restore a specific file I will have to find the partition this file is on and then forward wind the tape to this partition. Winding a tape is MUCH faster than reading it.

This is an example of a backup script which you can run during the night. It creates a seperate partition for each directory found under /usr/people. See the manual page for the crontab command for more information on running commands during the night. 

#!/bin/sh
# Reset partition counter
part_cnt=1
# Make sure tape is at the beginning
(mt rewind >> /dev/null) 2>> /dev/null
# Remove outputfile if it exists
if test -f outputfile; then rm -f outputfile; fi
# backup each directory in /usr/people
for DIR in `ls -l /usr/people | grep '^d' | awk '{print $NF}'`
do
	echo "***** Partition $part_cnt ***** Adding /usr/people/$DIR ***** `date`" >> outputfile
	(/sbin/tar cvf /dev/nrtape /usr/people/$DIR >> outputfile) 2>> outputfile
	set part_cnt=`expr $part_cnt + 1`
done
# Rewind the tape
(mt rewind >> /dev/null) 2>> /dev/null
To restore a file from this tape you need to look in the outputfile first and find the partition number where this file can be found (each new partition starts with "***** Partition").
Now you have to move the tape forward to this partition. If you insert a tape it is positioned at the beginning of the first partition. So if you need to go to the second partition you will have to skip one partition.
Use the following command to do this. Note that you will have to use the NO REWIND device otherwise the system will rewind the tape after the forward step. 
% mt -f /dev/nrtape fsf 1
% tar xv /usr/people/user1/file
By the way, if the amount of data does not fit on your tape you might consider using the bru utility instead of tar. bru allows you to compress your data (with the -Z option; see also the manual page of bru)

A FAST Retrieve In Session button

When you want to retrieve a model in session, but you are working in a directory with a large number of files, Pro/ENGINEER will take a long time to produce the Search/Retrieve list. Once this is done, you can click the in session button.

The following speeds up this process:
Create a directory that always remains empty (e.g.. /usr/tmp/empty) and force Pro/ENGINEER to look in this directory by using the RETRIEVE button and typing this directory and a wildcard.
For example: #mode; #part; #retrieve; /usr/tmp/empty/*; #in session. This will produce a list of all parts in session in a very short time even if you are working in a very large directory. You can stay in your working directory and only once need to create an empty directory.
Create the empty directory (% mkdir /usr/tmp/empty) and add the following lines to the menu_def.pro file in your Pro/ENGINEER startup directory:

@setbutton ENTER Retrieve#In#Session \
"#retrieve;/usr/tmp/empty/*;#in session" \
"Retrieve object in session of current type."
That's all there is to it!

Create mapkeys like below to work even faster: 
mapkey rip #mode:#part;#Retrieve In Session
mapkey ria #mode:#assembly;#Retrieve In Session
mapkey rid #mode:#drawing;#Retrieve In Session.

Compressing a large Pro/E file

If you want to send a LARGE Pro/E model through a medium which is slow or which does not have all that much space, there are several ways to compress the Pro/E model.

Limiting core dump sizes

When Pro/E crashes on UNIX sytems, it is normal practice for UNIX to write the RAM memory to disk to a file named core. This can be very annoying, especially on systems with a lot of RAM, because it takes up a lot of disk space, but most of all because it can take minutes to write the file. Most of us are not interested in these files anyway and throw them away immediately after they are created.

You can prevent this to happen by limiting the core dump size to 0 bytes.

If your default shell is the csh you can do this by adding the following line to your .cshrc file:

limit coredumpsize 0

If your default shell is the ksh or bsh you can do this by adding the following line to your .profile file:

ulimit -c 0

TAR tape problems

Reading tapes written on other tape drives can be a problem (mildly spoken). Here are some tips that might help you:

Check out Brian Keene's Tape Reading Troubleshooting Guide

First of all make sure you use tapes with the same density (DDS I vs. DDS II)
SGI

After upgrading from Silicon Graphics IRIX 5.3 to IRIX 6.2 you might encounter problems with your tape drive if you don't have an "authentic" SGI drive. If this is the case you need to change some of the command lines in the /var/sysgen/master.d/scsi file. Make a backup copy before you attempt this change.

If your drive is a DDS-2 Drive look for the following line:
{DATTAPE, TPDAT, 7, 12, "ARCHIVE", Python 01931" /*DDS2*/, 0,0, {0},

Change it to:
{DATTAPE, TPDAT, 7, 6, "ARCHIVE", Python" /*DDS2*/, 0,0, {0},

If your drive is a DDS-1 Drive look for the following line:
{DATTAPE, TPDAT, 7, 12, "ARCHIVE", Python 25601" /*DDS1*/, 0,0, {0},

Change it to:
{DATTAPE, TPDAT, 7, 6, "ARCHIVE", Python" /*DDS1*/, 0,0, {0},

Then reconfigure the UNIX kernel by typing in: autoconfig
reboot

These changes are necessary because the old lines are specific to the drives attached. The new lines are not. IRIX 6.2 performs a check on specific models of Archive DAT drives in order to support DDS2 drives better but this prevents other models from working. This modification removes the model number matching requirement.

HP

HP needs DAT-tapes with a blocking size of 20. To create a tape for HP use the command:

% tar cvbf 20 /dev/tape files

On HP if you need to read a tape with a different blocking size you could try one of the following commands:

% dd if=/dev/tape ibs=512b of=- obs=20b | tar xvf -

or

% dd if=/dev/tape ibs=512b obs=20b | tar xvfb - 20
SUN

SUN needs tapes in the non-byte swapped format. To create a tape for SUN use the command with the ns device in your /dev/rmt directory (example below is SCSI device 7 on controller 1):

% tar cvf /dev/rmt/tps1d7ns files On SUN if you need te read a byte-swapped tape you could try one of the following commands:

% dd if=/dev/rmt0 conv=swab | tar -xvf -

or

% dd if=/dev/tape ibs=512b obs=20b | tar xvfb - 20
Windows NT
Go to http://www.filepile.com and search for "tar", there is a Windows NT utility program there that will allow you to read Unix written TAR formatted tapes.

Free Windows NT Purge utility by Spekan

In my OCUS utilities there is a neat purge utility. Unfortunately it will not run on NT. Windows-NT users might want to take a look at the free purge utility by Spekan.

Changing options set through plotter configuration files

When you specify a plotter option in a PCF file (plotter configuration file), it overrides the default, but at the same time some options also lock the option (like landscape_plotting or plot_label).

However, if you append the keyword "default" onto the end of a line in your PCF file, it will simply change the default, and still allow the user to choose other options. E.G.: plot_label yes default

Color maps

A color.map file is a color configuration file which can be saved and retrieved. It is automatically read upon startup if the file is in your startup directory or if you have set the config.pro option: PRO_COLORMAP_PATH (don't add color.map, just set it to the directory path).

A color map file consists of the following fields (taken form the web oct. 6, 1999): 


FIELDS:
[red%] [green%] [blue%] [ambient] [diffuse] [intensity] [shininess]
[highlight_red%] [highlight_green%] [highlight_blue%]
[transparency] [?reflection?] [bump] [decal] [?] [threshold]
[?texture_map_filename?] [?bump_map_filename?] [?decal_map_filename?]
SAMPLE:
0.000 0.000 0.000 0.900 0.900 0.800 0.500 1.000 1.000 1.000
0.000 0.250 0.500 1.000 0 90
NO_TEXTURE NO_TEXTURE NO_TEXTURE
You can download a sample colormap file (from NASA) here. Set the config.pro options NUMBER_USER_COLORS and NUMBER_WIREFRAME_COLORS to 120 to be able to select more than the default 20 colors.

Olaf Corten © 1995-2006