# About Emulator configuration

## Contents

- Overview
- Emulator configuration file
- Command line options
- Selecting an Emulator configuration

## Overview

The main areas where configuration can take place are:

- appearance
- virtual drives

Most configuration settings are held in an Emulator configuration file. Some additional choices can be made through specifying command-line options when launching the Emulator.

## Emulator configuration file

The Emulator configuration settings are held in a configuration file in the `\epoc32\data\` directory. A configuration file can contain commands to define:

- appearance: see Emulator appearance
- virtual drives: see Virtual drives
- pointer device type: see Pointer type
- memory capacity: see Memory capacity

The default configuration file is called `epoc.ini.` To change these defaults, you can:

- edit `epoc.ini`
- create a new configuration file, and tell the Emulator to read its settings from that. This is done through a command line option.

Any configuration file should have associated with it a bitmap file that is used as the fascia (the area with icons that surrounds the emulated window). The file must have the same name as configuration file being used — i.e. the default fascia is `epoc.bmp`. Licensee users can edit the fascia bitmap to present a different machine appearance.

## Command line options

Command line options allow you to specify:

- a configuration file to use: see Selecting an Emulator configuration
- the path of the emulated `c:` drive: see Drive emulation by command-line option

The form of command line options is:

  <program> <option-list> `--`

program | the program you wish to invoke: `epoc` for a graphics shell, or the executable name for a text program
option-list | one or more options in the following form: `-<`option><argument>
option | a single letter specifying the option type
argument | option type-specific argument

Note that the option list must be terminated with two hyphens.

Options and arguments are case sensitive.

## Selecting an Emulator configuration

The Emulator is supplied with various configuration files and fascia bitmaps that set the appearance of the Emulator to the standard screen sizes supported by EPOC Release 5:

- `epoc.ini` (the default) — generic half-VGA device 640 x 240 pixels, for example the format used by the Ericsson Mobile Companion MC 218 as well as the Psion Series 5
- `vga.ini` — VGA device 640 x 480 pixels
- `large.ini` — SVGA size device 800 x 600 pixels

You may select a configuration with the `M` command line option, giving the name of a configuration file as the option argument. For example, the following command runs the Emulator in a large screen mode (note the required trailing minus symbols):

        epoc -Mlarge –-