Noxturnal 3.2 - Centralized Settings

A new mechanism for centralizing settings has been introduced in Noxturnal 3.2. Below is a document which explain the centralization process in  details and how this can be set up for all users on a computer and how settings can be centrally modified by using the administration mode.

 Overview

This knowledge base article describes how the settings location system in noxturnal works and how to centralize settings on a network. Another feature is Noxturnal is to manage default settings through an administration mode which is also covered in this article.

 Settings Locations 

In Noxturnal 3.2+ the user has an option to change where the configuration databases are stored for Noxturnal. The location settings can be accessed through the Tools->Options dialog under the

Settings Locations tab page:

 

• Default Settings – path to where the default configuration database is stored 

• User Settings – path to where the user settings database is stored 

• Recording Library – path to where the recording library database is stored 

• Apply changes for all users – stores the settings locations for all users on the local machine. Each user that log onto this machine will use the settings locations specified. This option is only available if the user is an administrator (or has write access to the HKEY_LOCALMACHINE in the registry). Settings locations saved with this option on will override all local user settings options. 

• Allow users to change locations – Check this option to allow user that have write access to the HKEY_LOCALMACHINE in the registry to make changes. Un-check this option to only allow administrators to edit the settings locations.

• Reset to default – By selecting this option the settings locations are restored to the default This option is not available if “Allow users to change location” option is checked off. 

Note that environment variables such as %APPDATA% and %USERNAME% are supported. Please note that there are differences in the availability of these environment variables based on the windows OS version. See select the following link for more information on environment variables in the Windows operating system (link). 

Change settings location to use roaming profiles 

Roaming profiles are a part of the Windows domain architecture. Roaming profiles as the name indicated allows users to maintain settings between logging onto different computers in the same domain. To change the settings from being stored locally for the current user to a roaming profile do the following: 

1. Open the Tools->Options dialog and select the Settings Location tab page 
2. Change the User Settings to “%APPDATA%\Nox Medical\Noxturnal” 
3. (optional) Check the Apply changes for all users to make this change available for all users. 

Change settings locations to use a network drive 

Noxturnal can use a network drive to store the default and user configuration databases. This is the preferred way to share default settings centrally on a network. To change the default settings to be centralized on a network do the following: 

1. Open the Tools->Options dialog and select the Settings Location tab page 
2. Change the Default Settings to “\\[server]\[path to settings]” (e.g. “\\server\Settings\Noxturnal”) 
3. (optional) If local user settings are to be stored centrally as well change the User Settings to “\\[server]\[path to settings]\%USERNAME%” 
4. (optional) Check the Apply changes for all users to make this change available for all users. 

By using the environment variable %USERNAME% each user setting is stored centrally on a server. It is preferable to use the roaming profiles is applicable. 

NOTE! All folders that are being referenced must already exist on the server. Noxturnal does not create these folders automatically. 

NOTE! For the new Default Settings location to work properly the Noxturnal.[language].ndb file shall be copied from the installation folder into the newly created default settings folder.  

Management Configuration 

In Noxturnal 3.2+ there is a built in option to edit default settings through the Noxturnal user interface. To edit default configuration start Noxturnal with the /admin switch and run the application as administrator. 

The simplest way to get into the administration mode is to create a new shortcut to the Noxturnal application. Follow the steps below to setup up a shortcut to the administration mode. 

In the windows desktop locate the Noxturnal shortcut

        

Copy and paste the shortcut, and then rename is to Noxturnal – Admin Mode

       

Right click on the new shortcut and select Properties from the context menu. Append the admin switch to the end of the Target: text field and select OK

To start Noxturnal in administration mode, right click on the Noxturnal – Admin Mode and select Run as Administrator

Noxturnal will now start up in admin mode.

To verify that Noxturnal is in administration view the application name. It should state “(Admin Mode)

 

All changes made to Noxturnal configuration are not saved into the default settings database. In this mode the following configurations can be changed: 

• Report Templates 

• Analysis Protocols 

• Data Locations (“My Recordings” data locations is not saved while in this mode) 

• Sheet Layouts 

• Tools Options, all settings except for settings Locations which are save to the local machine registry 

• Signal Types and Groups 

• Event Types and Groups 

• Signal and Event Mappings for all file formats 

• Shortcut keys 

When management is done simply start Noxturnal without the /admin switch and the application will startup normally. 

Recording Library 

In Noxturnal 3.2+ there is an option to place the recording library at a different location. It is not recommended that the library be placed in a network folder. The library can be shared on a computer where a single user is working but it is still recommended that each user has its own recording library. 

The Windows Registry 

The settings locations are stored in the Windows registry. The registry is a database designed to be a generic storage of settings for Windows applications. In the registry there are folder like structures called keys which house settings based on user access level and function. For Noxturnal the HKEY_CURRENT_USER and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE are used to store the location properties. To store location properties under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, elevated access rights are required, preferably and administration access. 

If the option “Apply changes for all users” is selected all properties are stored under the 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Nox Medical/Noxturnal 

If the option “Apply changes for all users” is not selected all properties are stored under the 

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/SOFTWARE/Nox Medical/Noxturnal 

The properties used to set the default, user and recording library locations are: 

• AllUsersLocation – stores the default settings location 

• UserLocation – stores the user settings location 

• RecordingLibraryLocation – stored the recording library database location 

• UseAllUserSettingsOnly – stores the “Apply changes for all users” This value is 0x00000000 when off and 0x00000001 when on. 

• UserCanModifyLocations – stores the “Allow users to change locations” This value is 0x00000000 when off and 0x00000001 when on. 

A simple trick to move settings location properties between computers is to export the values in a registry script. Then on a different computer, log on as administrator and double click the exported script. This will import the registry values for this computer and gives the option to quickly set up all computers on a network. 

To export the required registry script, run the windows registry editor, by opening the Run dialog and typing in regedit. This will open the registry editor. Browse to the 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Nox Medical/Noxturnal and CTRL+Click all the properties listed above (see image below), selecting them all. 

For further information please contact support@noxmedical.com

 

 

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