General environment variables

ALIAS_ALT_FONTDIR (Windows only)

The location the user can place alternate font files for use in their Alias session.

Parameters: a valid path to a directory

Default: none

Windows compatibility: Yes

ALIAS_ALT_HELP

The location of the Help directory containing the online help files .

Default (Windows): C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Alias[version no.]\Help

Windows compatibility: Yes

When installing Alias you will have to choose where to install the online Help documentation. You have the option to install it locally or on a web server. This involves updating the ALIAS_ALT_HELP variable. To accomplish this complete the following steps:

  1. Exit Alias if it is currently running.
  2. Set the ALIAS_ALT_HELP environment variable to the location that you copied the online documentation to.

    If ALIAS_ALT_HELP is not set, Alias uses the registry value created when documentation was installed from CD.

    Platform Procedure
    Windows
    1. In the Start > Settings > Control Panel > System window, select the Environment tab.
    2. In the Variable field, type: 
      ALIAS_ALT_HELP
    3. In the Value field, type the directory path to the online documentation, (for example, D:\OnlineDocs).
    4. Click OK.
  3. Restart Alias.
ALIAS_FORCE_DEFAULT_ENVIRON

Sets a default environment in Alias upon start-up. Alias loads files from the distribution area.

ALIAS_HPGL_CFG

The location of the plotter configuration file hp_gl.cfg.

Parameters: a valid path to a file

Default: $ALIAS_LOCATION/sys/install/hp_gl.cfg

Windows compatibility: Yes

ALIAS_LICENSE

Sets your system to automatically invoke a particular Alias product. Use this variable only if you understand licensing and are sure you don’t want access to any other products.

Parameters: as (Automotive), ss (Surface), ds (Design)

To disable this variable for Mac:

  • If you see the environment variable is defined, type:
    Note:

    If ALIAS_LICENSE is set in a .login file or equivalent you should remove the environment variable so that it does not get redefined the next time you log in.

To disable this variable for Windows:

  • From Start > Settings > Control Panel > System, click on the Environment tab.
  • Look for the ALIAS_LICENSE variable. If you see that it is set, delete it by highlighting it and clicking the Delete button.
ALIAS_LOGO

Overrides the Standard Alias Splash screen with an alternate image (specified by the absolute path to the image).

Parameters: a valid path to a file

Default: none

Windows compatibility: Yes

ALIAS_PREFS_LOCATION

Location of Alias Preference files.

Parameters: a valid path

Default (Windows 7 and 8): C:\Users\[userid]\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\Alias\UserPrefs [version no.]

The preferences files can be set to something other than the default, which is useful if:

  • a user wants common preferences across several machines
  • all user preferences for a design work group are stored in a common location
  • a user stores preferences on a USB flash (keychain) drive.
ALIAS_PROJECT (obsolete)

Setting this variable has no effect on the Alias executable; however, in the default .cshrc file distributed by Alias|Wavefront, it is set to the value of ALIAS_DEFAULT_PROJECT from the .AliasPrefs file, and is referenced in UNIX command aliases defined by that .cshrc file.

Parameters: a valid project file name

Default: demo

ALIAS_WORKENV

The location that becomes the current working directory on execution of Alias (that is, the directory above the user_data directory that the user wishes to use with Alias).

Parameters: a valid path to a directory

Default (Windows 7): C:\Users\[userid]\My Documents

Default (Windows 8): C:\Documents and Settings\[userid]\My Documents

ALIAS_ENABLE_16XAA

If this variable is set to 1, the 16x setting becomes available for the Hardware Anti-Aliasing option (in the WindowsDisplay > Anti-Alias tools).

Note that you may experience graphics performance issues with this setting.

Parent topic: Variable descriptions