Preferences vs. Defaults

There is a somewhat subtle, but important, distinction between preferences and defaults in @RISK. Preferences are specified in the dialogs available in the options available through the Preferences menu of the product. These generally affect the whole product in numerous ways. In contrast, defaults specify the options that should appear the first time a particular function or dialog is used in a new @RISK model.

For example, the first time a new model is opened in @RISK, a default set of simulation settings will be used. These settings include the number of iterations in each simulation, what kind of results to display automatically, etc. These defaults, however, can be modified for the entire application. To change defaults for a particular window, configure the particular window as desired and then select 'Set as Defaults' from the Tools menu of the window (Figure 1, right).

Changes to Preferences

When making changes to preferences, keep in mind that the changes may not always be reflected immediately in all @RISK windows. Some preferences function as defaults for various results and graphs, and thus changes will only affect new results or graphs. Other preference changes take effect immediately. This can be a little confusing, and it make take a little time and experimentation to understand this process.

Reset Preferences and Defaults

This command resets both the preferences and all dialog defaults to their original states when @RISK was first installed.