No. 672

Utilities to Export and Import Registry Settings on the Windows Platform

IWBNI there were utilities that could be used to export and import all settings that are stored in the registry for Finale on the Windows platform. Note: On the Windows platform, settings that pertain to the state of the palettes and toolbars, and the list of recently opened files are stored in the registry.

This feature would be useful for those who use Finale on more than one computer and would like to have the same configuration on each computer. As it is now, the information that is stored in the registry may be exported from an installation on a given computer and imported to an installation on another computer by following these steps (Note: One should be extremely careful when making any changes to the Windows registry. These steps should not be performed by anyone who is completely unfamiliar with the Windows registry or is uncomfortable with making such changes.):

  1. Run the program regedit.exe on the computer from which settings are to be exported.

    2.  
  2. Use the regedit program to locate and select the registry key with the name HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Coda.

    3.  
  3. Select the menu item Registry>Export Registry File on the program regedit to save all data within the selected key to the registry.

    4.  
  4. Copy the saved file to the computer into which the settings are to be imported.

    5.  
  5. Run the program regedit.exe on the computer into which the settings are to be imported.

    6.  
  6. Select the menu item Registry>Import Registry File on the program regedit and select the file that has been copied.
This could be implemented by adding a submenu item called Settings to the File menu. This submenu could contain menu items called Export Settings and Import Settings.

Note: On the Windows platform, only a small portion of the program settings (as opposed to document settings) are stored in the registry. Other program settings such as colors and speedy entry key definitions are stored in the file finale.ini and finmidi.ini. The implementation proposed here in this suggestion could be extended so that all settings (i.e. settings stored in the registry and in INI files) could be exported to a single file which could be copied to, and imported into another installation.



Created: July 27, 2000
Last Updated: July 27, 2000
Version: Finale 2000b