initialization script

Your initialization script is a normal Praat script that is run as soon as you start Praat.

On Unix or macOS, you create an initialization script by creating a file named praat-startUp in the folder /usr/local, or putting a file .praat-user-startUp or praat-user-startUp in your home folder (if you rename the Praat executable, these names have to change as well).

If you have more than one of these files, they are run in the above order.

On Windows, you create an initialization script by creating a file named praat-user-startUp in your home folder, which could be C:\Users\Miep if you are Miep.

If you have both of these files, they are run in the above order.

Example

If you like to be greeted by your husband when Praat starts up, you could put the following lines in your initialization script:

    if windows
        Read from file: "C:\Users\Miep\helloMiep.wav"
    elsif macintosh
        Read from file: "/Users/miep/helloMiep.wav"
    else
        Read from file: "/home/miep/helloMiep.wav"
    endif
    Play
    Remove

What not to use an initialization script for

You could set preferences like the default font in your initialization script, but these will be automatically remembered between invocations of Praat anyway (in your preferences file), so this would often be superfluous, or indeed confusing.

For installing sets of menu commands at start-up you will probably prefer to use plug-ins rather than a single start-up file.

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