The configuration file N_AES.CNF that N.AES reads in and evaluates at system startup contains the user-definable settings (CNF variables) and commands (CNF commands).
Please do not get frightened by the wide variety of setting options! The bundled configuration file contains standard values for the individual variables and should be able to be used by you at first without changes. Once you have become a little familiar with N.AES, you can alter various settings at a later time to suit your taste.
The configuration file is not retained in memory at run-time but just evaluated once at the start, after which the memory it occupies is released. Hence one need not (and should not) economize with comments here.
A comment is introduced by a '#' character at the start of a line and continues to the end of this line. Everything contained in such a comment line will be ignored when evaluating the configuration file. Equally, any empty lines will be skipped during evaluation.
The specifications possible in the configuration file may be divided into three groups:
With the aid of the CNF variables the global operating parameters of N.AES are set, which cannot be altered at run-time at present. For example, with the help of these variables one can specify the size of the icon windows.
The CNF commands are executed shortly after the reading in of the configuration file and take effect immediately. Thus with the help of these commands one can launch programs or set the environmental variables.
The CNF debug variables have a meaning only in a special N.AES version, which is not a part of the normal distribution.
Note about the variables: Please proceed with particular care when altering settings that affect the system (sstacksize, mpipesize, qsbchars, ...). Values that are too small or too large may give rise to unwanted effects, or even to faulty behaviour of N.AES.