A new GunnShow user has a little bit of first-time set-up they need to do before they can start drawing and exporting networks.

Most GUNNS users keep their gunns/ repository in a Linux environment. GunnShow needs access to files within the gunns/ repo, but GunnShow only runs in MS Windows, since it is a Visio plug-in. So you must map a drive in your Windows environment to your Linux file system. For instance in my example Path Variables below, I have mapped H: in my windows account to my Linux file system home folder.

From the GunnShow toolbar, select Edit Settings as shown here:

Note! new for GunnShow v17.2.1, we’ve added a 5th field — see the External Paths topic below. There are 4 fields you need to fill out — these are paths to locations on your file system that GunnShow needs to operate properly. See here in the GunnShow User’s Guide (JSC only) for some info on where these should point.

Additionally, see below for an example of my setup. The first one should already be pointing to your WINHOME+AppData\ folder — we recommend you keep that — don’t worry if that location doesn’t actually exist because it doesn’t seem to matter. The last 3 point to specific locations in my gunns repo directory: you should use the same locations relative to your directory (you may have a different drive mapped instead of H:, and a different location of gunns relative to H:, etc.)

Edit Settings window (pre v17.2.1):

You should only have to set this up once, but you can always change it later if you’ve moved your repo location, etc… just select Edit Settings again.

Click the Apply button to save your changes. Now you’re ready to begin making GunnShow drawings!

Starting with GunnShow v17.2.1, there is a 5th Path field called GsExternalModelPaths, and we’ve modified the layout of the settings window.

On first starting GunnShow after the new version is installed, you’ll get a one-time pop-up notification that GunnShow is automatically adding this new field to your configuration settings. Click Ok. You may have to close and reopen your drawing or Visio to get the GunnShow menu ribbon to fully re-populate.

Here is the new layout of the Edit Settings window (v17.2.1):

This new field allows GunnShow to look for shape data XML files for links and spotters in other folders besides gunnshow/ShapeDataXml. This works the same way as the $PATH or $CFLAGS variables work to define a set of absolute paths from which an OS can execute programs or code compilers to find included files. This feature will be covered in more detail in Create new link shapes.

The settings window allows you to add multiple absolute paths to this field:

• Just click on the field and follow the pop-up instructions.
• You can append a path to the current list, remove the last path or remove all paths.
• This feature is optional and the default value, which is blank, is a valid option.

You can also edit this field by hand in the GsConfig.xml file, which is found in the folder indicated by the GsWindowsHome Path Variable. However, use caution as mistakes in this file can break GunnShow. Before editing, we suggest making a backup copy just in case.