..
    This file is licensed under the
    Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY-4.0)
    Copyright 2023 - 2024, Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon
    SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-4.0

.. _global_settings_window:

The Global settings window
==========================

The *Global settings window* allows the user to set system Parameters which
control multiprocessing, memory management and performance.

.. image:: images/global_settings_overview.png
    :align: center

Using the :py:data:`Restore defaults` button will change all settings back to 
their default values.

Settings
--------

.. list-table::
    :widths: 25 75
    :header-rows: 1
    :class: tight-table
    
    * - Parameter 
      - Description
    * - Number of MP workers
      - The number of parallel processes which perform the calculations. Due
        to the inherent parallelization of integration in pyFAI and due to 
        disk read access interference for too many processes, the number should
        not be set too high. However, depending on system resources and the 
        type of workflow, a larger number of workers might speed up certain
        processing tasks.
    * - Buffer dataframe limit
      - This Parameter determines the size of the buffer. The buffer will be
        created to hold the specified number of data frames, irrespective of 
        their size, as long as the size is within the accepted memory management
        size. The buffer must be able to hold at least one dataframe per 
        multiprocessing worker.
    * - Shared buffer size limit
      - The maximum size of the memory buffer in MB. This setting is used to 
        enforce that pydidas does not create buffers which interfere with the
        operating system.
    * - Maximum image size
      - An enforced maximum image size in megapixel to limit the RAM usage.
    * - Plot update time
      - The time delay between any plot updates in the pydidas GUI (in seconds).