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FilePathConventions.md

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EMsoft File Path Conventions

Starting with version 4.3, EMsoft can be configured in three different ways with respect to where output files will be stored: using a configuration file, using environment variables, or using absolute paths. Which mode the user selects depends mostly on personal preference; in some cases, when using scripts to execute sequences of EMsoft programs, it may be easier to use environment variables instead of the JSON configuration file.

Using a configuration file

This is described in detail in the wiki help page on Package Configuration. Basically, the confguration file is a JSON file that contains definitions for a number of file paths, namely:

  • EMsoftpathname
  • EMXtalFolderpathname
  • EMdatapathname
  • EMtmppathname
  • EMsoftLibraryLocation

The content of the EMdatapathname variable is then prepended to all file names enetered in name list files.

Using environment variables

The user can choose not to create a configuration file (or disable an existing configuration file by temporarily renaming it) and instead use environment variables, for instance in a .cshrc file on UNIX systems or in a shell script. The following variables can be defined (all in upper case):

  • EMSOFTPATHNAME
  • EMXTALFOLDERPATHNAME
  • EMDATAPATHNAME
  • EMTMPNAME
  • EMSOFTLIBRARYLOCATION
  • USERNAME
  • USERLOCATION
  • USEREMAIL

In a .cshrc file, the entries would be like this:

setenv EMDATAPATHNAME /Users/username/Files/EMdata

In this mode, EMsoft programs will prepend the correct path to all file names entered via .nml name list files, in exactly the same way as is done when using a configuration JSON file.

Using absolute paths

If the user only sets the EMSOFTPATHNAME environment variable (which is always necessary for proper execution of the programs) and leaves all other path variables undefined, then every file produced by an EMsoft program, including the crystal structure files and any temporary files, will be stored in the folder from which the program is executed, unless the user specifies an absolute path. This is the standard UNIX convention for file paths and should be familiar to most users.