Before you can start using Prop you must create a new project. The project conserves tailoring information about Prop and program control preferences. The first time Prop is loaded it will automatically display the Project window, if this is the case proceed to step 2 below.

Load the Project window by clicking File > Current/New Project The default project will be offered as a template.

Enter a name for the project in the box labelled Project Name

Specify your working directory in the box labelled Work Directory, if you are unsure of its location use the Browse button to locate a specific folder.

Repeat the above step for the two other directories locating Raw Data and Programs. The Raw data directory should where your raw instrument data is stored; the program directory is the location of the programs you wish to use with Prop. All should be placed in a single folder and not in subdirectories.

Select the instrument you will be using with your set of programs. This name is used by a number of programs in checking data access, and can create confusion if not correct.

Click OK to create the project

By default Prop will create a program list by adding any programs contained in the program directory, eliminating any specified in the optional exclusion file. You can change the way Prop selects programs using the Preferences menu alternatively you can proceed to configure your program list manually.

The instrument name is used to create coresponding environment variables; depending on the instrument chosen Prop sets the variables accordingly, i.e. SAS for small angle scattering instruments, DIF for diffraction instruments etc.

Depending on the programs you have in your program directory and the ones listed in the exclusion file, Prop will look something similar to the image below.

By default Prop automatically creates a list of programs based on what it finds in the program directory. You can manually specify which programs are displayed in the program list by using the Configure Programs Window which is accessed using Options >  Configure Programs. The Program window consists of two lists, one is the program list currently Selected; unselected programs are placed in the Programs Found list. If you are using the default settings then the Programs found list will be empty as Prop will have already added all available programs to the program list.

As well as accessing your list of defined programs from within Prop, you can also access your current working directory. To do this click on the WORK tab at the bottom of the main window. By default Prop displays all files. You can filter the selection using the Preferences window, i.e. you can get prop to display only listing files by setting the preference to *.lis

To return to the Program list simply click on the adjacent PROGRAMS tab.

You can edit your project using the File > Current/New Project menu , or by right clicking in the list of programs window.

There are two ways to load a previously saved project. The first is using the load dialog, shown below. This is accessed from the file menu or by right clicking anywhere within the project window. From the load dialog you specify the name of the project file, excluding the .pro extension, and it's location. Note: this can be done using the Browse button. Double-clicking on a project file in the browser sets both name and directory. Click OK when done and provided both the location and file exists the project will be loaded.

Prop keeps a record of the last 8 projects used. They are listed under the Recent Projects option of the file menu. Simply click on a project to load it.

The file browser may be used whenever you need to specify directory names. It consists of two lists, directories on the left and files on the right contained in the directory named in the box title. You can navigate through directories by double clicking them or by using the Up button to go up a directory. You can also use the Goto button, to go to a specific directory that you specify in the adjacent text box. This is used to change disk volumes, e.g. by typing d:/ in the entry box and clicking the goto button.

If a directory does not exist you can use the create button to create the name. The directory is created within the directory you are currently browsing.

By default when you first open the file browser the current directory will always be your specified work directory.

When you have browsed to the directory you wish to select hit Ok to copy that directory name to the entry box you are working with, hitting cancel leaves its original value.

When browsing a directory for project files, double-clicking on a specific project file returns this and also sets the directory.

Built into Prop are a number of small features designed for advanced or administrator usage.

Environment Variables

Here you can view all the currently assigned environment variables, you can also add your own or edit those already stored.

WARNING! Adding or editing environment variables may affect how Prop and programs function. The default settings can be restored by closing and restarting Prop.

On restarting, Prop will use the system environment variables plus any set in the file env.pro (see below). Modified environment settings are NOT saved in the project. Permanent changes should be added to the env.pro file in the program directory.

INSTRUMENT NAME

The instrument name, if set, is used to create a prefix for the following variables. The group name depends on the type of instrument, at present DIF, INL, TAS or SAS. The match between instrument name and group is in matching length lists at the start of the main routine of prop.tcl. Three environment variables are created automatically by Prop.

Examples from SANS Suite, e.g. D22, matched prefix SAS. The corresponding environment variables created are:

          SAS_DIR              set to current program directory
          SAS_INSTRUMENT   D22 instrument name
          SAS_DATA_PATH        set to raw data directory          

When programs are run they start in the current work directory. These variables greatly simplify access to WINDOWS directories with long names and embedded spaces, but for data access it should be remembered that many ex-unix programs are not built expecting names greater than 50-80 characters in total length.

Certain programs require additional environment variables to function correctly. These can be added manually using the environment variables dialog (above) but in order to conserve them every time prop is run you should define them in a file named env.pro which you must create in your defined program directory. Prop treats data in this file as a list of pairs of variable names and values separated by a space, for example to add two environment variables envar1 and envar2 with the values enval1 enval2 you would use:
envar1 enval1 envar2 enval2
Example env.pro from SANS suite

        SAS_DECOMPRESS zcat
        SAS_CHECK limited    

These indicate that the decompress command for data is zcat, and that the information concerning mismatches between data and treatment programs should not be written out after the first few occurrences.

Exclusion file (excl.pro)
By creating a file named excl.pro in your program directory you can name programs you wish Prop to ignore. The file should consist of a string of program names for exclusion separated by a space. For example to exclude the programs oldversion.exe and notused.bat you would use: 

oldversion.exe notused.bat
Example excl.pro from SANS Suite

          pdqtitle.exe
          pdqpg.exe
          pdqpt.exe
          pchead.exe
          rsas.exe
          zcat.exe
          env.bat

These programs typically take command line arguments, and are utilities called by other members of the suite.

Shell Window:
The shell window allows you to execute commands using the environment currently set by Prop, it can be used simply as a command window to launch programs and carry out simple tasks. For example, typing cmd brings up a DOS command window, retaining all the environment variables set by Prop, and starting in the current work directory

Saving size and location of Graphics window

Once the graphics window has been resized and relocated on the screen these parameters may be saved as the defaults for the future using the Starting options in the help menu of this window.

1. Click on the Reset button; this fills in the default filename
2. Click on the Current button; this fills in the current coordinates
3. Click on the OK button to save these values.

Right Mouse Button Shortcut
Clicking with the right mouse button anywhere within Prop's main window gives quick access to the options found on the file menu.

Load Project

Use of the file browser in Load Projects simplifies finding and re-using existing project files (*.pro) Double clicking on such a file will copy the project name and directory ito the Load Project input boxes, ready to OK.