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After you have had
a play round with Matrix then a first important task is to personalize
your Local Materials file.
The Local Materials
database contains copies only of materials stored in other
databases in the Raw Materials folder.
These materials are
collected into the Local Materials database for convenience so that you
have your most used materials all together for easy access.
Matrix is delivered
with a Local Materials database but it may not contain the materials you
personally would like it to contain. It is likely that you would only
need to change some or all of the feldspars and the clays to personalize
Matrix's Local Materials.
Personalizing
Your Local Materials Database
In this example you
will replace Australian Potash Feldspar in the Local Materials
database with Custer Feldspar. This process involves:
- checking the contents
of the database
- deleting the materials
you do not want
- locating the materials
you do want in other databases in the Raw Materials folder
- coping each material
you do want into the Local Materials Database.
- this process should
be repeated until all of the materials in the Local Materials database
are ones you would commonly want access to for building or changing
your recipes.
After booting Matrix
go to the Raw Materials environment by clicking on the Raw
Materials tab.
Fig
1 The Raw Materials Environment |
The Local Materials
file is always open when Matrix is booted so the list of materials
shown is the contents of that file.
You can scroll
through the list by either clicking on the material name or using
the up/down arrow buttons on your keyboard.
Each materials
formula and other details will be displayed as you scroll thorough
the database giving you the opportunity to determine whether you
want that material in the list.
Remember
the materials in this list are copies only of materials also stored
in other databases in your raw materials folder.
Deleting
a materials from this list does not remove the material from other
databases.
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Deleting
a Material From the List
- select the material
by clicking on it's name in the list or scrolling to it.
- click the Delete
Selected Material button.
Fig
2 Delete Material Warning Dialog |
This warning
is not strictly accurate for the Local Materials database as the
materials in the list are also stored in other databases.
When a recipe
is loaded from disc Matrix will search all databases to locate data
for each of the materials in the recipe starting with Local Materials.
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The above warning
appears.
- Select Yes
to remove the material.
Fig 3 Confirm
Material Deletion Dialog
- Select Yes
again to delete the material from the Local Materials databases.
Placing
Your Own Materials Into the Local Materials Database
You now have to find
the materials you want in other databases in the Raw Materials folder
and copy them into the Local Materials list.
- find and click
the Change button in the Materials
Databases panel of the Raw Materials environment (see Fig.1 above)
Fig
4 Opening Another Raw Material Database |
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The dialog shown in
Fig.4 opens to show the contents of Matrix's Raw Materials folder. All
the Raw Material databases supplied with Matrix are listed. Double clicking
on a database in this list will load its contents into the Raw Materials
list box.
We want to locate
Custer Feldspar so it is likely to be contained in the file called Feldspars-A-Z.rmt
- double click the
Feldspars-A-Z.rmt file
Fig
5 Copying Custer Feldspar to the Local Materials database |
Among the 80
materials in this database of feldspars you can locate Custer Feldspar.
Note there are
three references to Custer Feldspar. This is not unusual with such
materials which are mined. In the past such materials may have varied
in their analysis. These days the mined material may be blended
with other materials in order to maintain consistency.
You may have
a recent analysis of a material such as Custer Feldspar in which
case the data entered in Matrix could be adjusted (edited) to update
it.
Keeping material
files up-to-date is an important task for users of any glaze calculation
software.
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This information
window confirms that Custer Feldspar has been copied into the Local
Materials database.
If you reopen
the Local Materials database in the Raw Materials environment you
will see it listed there.
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You should repeat
this process replacing all unwanted materials with materials you would
commonly use in your glaze practice.
A second method for
copying materials from one database to another is described in Using
the File Manager
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