User interface properties

mizunooto

As a new user of, shall we say, advanced years, I'm finding the RM Studio user interface a little difficult, visually. The fonts used are small and not very reader-friendly, and although I can change the zoom level on the Process window, I can't do anything about the other windows such as Repository. I can change the font face in Settings but they are all pretty much the same size. I've checked for obvious things in the settings files but nothing seems appropriate.

Also, a minor point maybe, all the data and process items in my repositories are listed with US-format timestamps (m-d-yy) and there seems to be no way to convert these to the formats used everywhere else in the world.

Any ideas on how to make this better, if possible?

sgenzer

hello @mizunooto - I sympathize with your "advanced years" eyes as I write this with my "advanced eyes" glasses.    I don't know of a quick fix for the font size but will check out some options.  Are you on a Mac or PC?

 

Scott

sgenzer

hello again @mizunooto - yes no way currently to change either of those easily.  There are some unofficial fixes, though, that I have done in the past:

 

Font size: 1) change your screen resolution (particularly if you have RM running on a second monitor so you don't mess up the rest of your world); 2) if you are on a Mac, you can go to System Preferences -> Accessibility and play with the Display settings (e.g. Zoom).

 

Date Time formatting: create an attribute which is simply your date time attribute converted to a text string in the format you like.  Something like this:

 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><process version="7.6.001">
  <context>
    <input/>
    <output/>
    <macros/>
  </context>
  <operator activated="true" class="process" compatibility="7.6.001" expanded="true" name="Process">
    <process expanded="true">
      <operator activated="true" class="operator_toolbox:generate_date_series" compatibility="0.5.000" expanded="true" height="68" name="Generate Date Series" width="90" x="45" y="34">
        <parameter key="startdate" value="2012-01-01 00:00:00"/>
        <parameter key="enddate" value="2013-01-01 00:00:00"/>
        <parameter key="interval" value="1"/>
        <parameter key="intervaltype" value="DAY"/>
      </operator>
      <operator activated="true" class="generate_attributes" compatibility="7.6.001" expanded="true" height="82" name="Generate Attributes" width="90" x="179" y="34">
        <list key="function_descriptions">
          <parameter key="DateEuropeanFormat" value="date_str_custom(Date,&quot;yyyy.MM.dd HH:mm:ss Z&quot;)"/>
        </list>
      </operator>
      <connect from_op="Generate Date Series" from_port="output" to_op="Generate Attributes" to_port="example set input"/>
      <connect from_op="Generate Attributes" from_port="example set output" to_port="result 1"/>
      <portSpacing port="source_input 1" spacing="0"/>
      <portSpacing port="sink_result 1" spacing="0"/>
      <portSpacing port="sink_result 2" spacing="0"/>
    </process>
  </operator>
</process>

Scott

mizunooto

Hi Scott and thanks for your suggestions. I'm on a PC running Windows 7.

For the XML snippet, where would I put this? The problem isn't date/time formatting in the process as such, but in the sidebar, as shown below. The dates and versions seem to be generated by the repository itself.

 

sgenzer

so one of the beauties of RapidMiner is the ease of sharing processes.  All processes you build in the process canvas are actually simultaneously being built in XML format "behind the scenes". If you are in the default view in the Design pane, go to View -> Show Panel -> XML.  You will see your process as it stands in XML format.   If you want to see my process instead of yours, save your process first, go to the XML pane and delete all that code, then paste in mine.  Go back to the process canvas and you should see my process.  

 

As for the Date/Time in the sidebar, yes unfortunately that's the way it is.  No way currently to change it BUT you can certainly just name the example set in the repository anything you want, and it will be larger too.    There are other sneaky ways to name example sets as timestamps automatically via macros...I can show this to you in another process if you like.

Scott