HELiOS Preview Configuration

The preview concept of the HELiOS Desktop in conjunction with interfaces to other software is currently being redesigned and optimised. Therefore, the topics of this chapter may contain information that refer to older versions and, while still valid, do not consider, for example, the current version of the hel_preview.ini system file.

In the HELiOS Desktop and in the detail views of Documents and Articles, a Graphics window is available enabling you to display previews of files.

The representation of the graphic, no matter whether simple Bitmap or complex 3-D representation with control objects, takes often place via external software components. By default, file formats registered in the operating system are displayed, e.g. Office documents via MS Office, PDF files via the Adobe Acrobat Reader, etc.

In older HELiOS versions a configuration of system files was required, which is now only necessary in special cases. This is done via the hel_preview.ini file (located in the sys directory of your HELiOS or HiCAD installation) and various DLLs for the corresponding file formats.

Please note:

Since cases can occur where it is preferable to print directly from the CAD application and not via the HiCAD Viewer or the Viewer features (e.g. because particular data may be excluded from printouts when printing takes place via the Viewer, which may cause additional work in the Production department), the Print option can be deactivated if desired.

For this to happen, you need to set the Registry key DisablePrint at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ISD Software und Systeme\HiCAD Viewer to "1" in your system.

Buttons or context menu items in the GUI of the HiCAD Viewer (Drawing > File > Print) or the Viewer features of HELiOS will then be greyed out and can no longer be used.

If the Registry key does not exist or if it set to "0", printing is possible.

Installation and Configuration of the DLLs