Configuration

In order to make PyDM a flexible tool a couple of Environment Variables are used for configuration and customization.

The following table describe the environment variable as well as its usage and default values.

Variable	What is it used for?
PYDM_DEFAULT_PROTOCOL	The default protocol to be used when specifing channels. This option eliminates the need for users to specify the protocol for a given Data Plugin. E.g.: ca. Default: None
PYDM_DOCS_URL	This variable point to the base URL for the documentation. Default: https://slaclab.github.io/pydm
PYDM_ARCHIVER_URL	This is the base URL for the Archiver Appliance Data Plugin it is concatenated with /retrieval/data/getData to generate the retrieval URL. Default: http://lcls-archapp.slac.stanford.edu
PYDM_EPICS_LIB	Which library to use for Channel Access (ca://) data plugin. PyDM offers two options: PYCA and PYEPICS. Default: PYEPICS
PYDM_PATH	Path to pydm executable for child processes, such as new windows. It will only be used if pydm is not found in the standard $PATH. Default: None
PYDM_DISPLAYS_PATH	Path(s) in which PyDM should look for .ui, .py, and .adl files when they are not found. If more than one path is specified, separate with : on linux or ; on Windows. Note: This is not a recursive search. Default: None
PYDM_DATA_PLUGINS_PATH	Path in which PyDM should look for Data Plugins to be loaded. Default: None
PYDM_TOOLS_PATH	Path in which PyDM should look for External Tools to be loaded. Default: None
PYDM_HOME_FILE	Path to a PyDM display file to use as the home display in the navigation bar. Will be returned to when the user clicks on the home button. If not set, the first display opened will be used as the home display. If the command line option --homefile is set, that will take precedence over this environment variable.
PYDM_STRING_ENCODING	The string encoding to be used when converting arrays to strings. Default: utf-8
PYDM_STYLESHEET	Path to the QSS files defining the global stylesheets for the PyDM application. When used, it will override the default look. If using multiple files they must be separated by the path separator. Only files are supported, not directories. On this list, like a PATH variable, the first elements will take precedence over others. E.g.: /path_to/my_style_1.qss:/path_to/other/my_other_style.qss Default: None
PYDM_STYLESHEET_INCLUDE_DEFAULT	Whether or not to include the PyDM Default stylesheet along with customized files. Note that the PyDM default stylesheet will have lower precedence compared to files specified at PYDM_STYLESHEET Default: False
PYDM_DESIGNER_ONLINE	This flag enables receiving live data in Qt Designer. If disabled, channels will not be connected to in Qt Designer. Default: None