Materials Editor#
From INSUL Version 7, INSUL includes a built-in Materials Editor. In addition to editing well-established materials properties from the editor, a number of additional features have been added:
Lists from one or several regions can be selected at the same time for use in INSUL, providing access to materials files specific to a local region or across dozens of regions at once.
Customised materials lists can be created in INSUL to store information for specific materials and arrangements. The customized files are saved separately from the INSUL list and can be backed up and restored using the INSUL Materials Editor. Custom materials show as blue in drop-down boxes to distinguish them from INSUL's materials (shown as black in drop-down boxes).
Colour and Texture
Colour can now be set and adjusted for all materials including insulation materials, glazing, floor covers and absorptive insulation. In addition, a brush pattern can also be saved, such as hatching, cross-hatching and striping.
The Materials Editor can be used to editor properties for any of INSUL's sound insulation materials as well as its lists for Profiles, Glazing, Floor Covers and Absorptive materials.
Info
The Materials Editor saves the materials lists as XML files. The location of these files depends on the version of Windows.
Importantly, INSUL saves two different types of lists:
- INSUL lists
- User lists
Note
Updates of INSUL may overwrite the INSUL database but in general, will not overwrite the user's databases.
INSUL lists#
The INSUL lists (maintained by INSUL developers) contain all the materials available, for all Countries and Regions. It is possible to select a different region, or a combination of regions to show a different set of lists in INSUL. In general, INSUL lists are locked and are not available for editing. From time to time, the INSUL lists will be revised during a version update of INSUL.
User lists#
In addition, to the built-in database of INSUL Materials Lists, it is possible to add custom items to User lists.
Custom items can be added to User lists using the Materials Editor. The Materials Editor saves User lists as XML files. The location of the XML files varies with different versions of Windows:
While the INSUL lists are generally locked from editing, User lists are available to add to and adjust and, if necessary, place under a user lock. If adding new materials using the Materials Editor it is recommended to use the User lists rather than the INSUL lists.
In general, new releases or INSUL versions will not overwrite these files and users can maintain their own customised materials which are then available from the drop-down lists to use.
Tip
Note the users custom materials are shown in a blue font in drop-down boxes to distinguish them from the built-in standard INSUL databases for which the font colour is black.
Location of user and INSUL materials or databases#
Custom database
By default, INSUL installs the custom database to the user's folder
[APPDATAFOLDER]Marshall Day Acoustics/Insul90/materials
In Windows 7 this resolves as
C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Roaming\Marshall Day Acoustics\Insul90\materials
(where xxx is the username). The user should have (and needs) read/write access to this folder.
In Windows 10 this is the path
C:\Users\***\AppData\Roaming
(where *** is the user's login name)
Main INSUL database
The main INSUL databases are located at
[COMMONAPPDATAFOLDER]Marshall Day Acoustics\Insul90\materials
In Windows 7 this resolves as
C:\ProgramData\Marshall Day Acoustics\Insul90\materials.
In Windows 10 this is the path
C:\Program Data
Info
The main databases (which the user should not edit) are installed to
[CommonAppData]
which in Windows 7 and 10 is
C:\Program Data
The user databases (which the user can modify and which INSUL new releases do not usually modify) to
[AppData]
which in Windows 7 and 10 is
C:\Users\***\AppData\Roaming
(where *** is the user's login name).
Access#
Again the user needs read/write access to this folder. In version 8 these read/write access rights are set at installation time.
If there is more than one user of a computer then each must have INSUL installed under their user account, or alternatively, the user database location needs to be set to a mutually accessible folder (This is done in the setup window).
Importing & exporting materials#
It is also possible to export material to an external .xml file which can then be emailed to another user and imported into their user list.