Configuration templates are chained together in a series, each accessing all the settings in the next, plus all the settings in all other templates farther up the chain. If a given setting appears in more than one template in a chain, the instance of that setting closest to your project configuration file takes precedence over any that are farther away.
Each project configuration file references an output-type-specific local configuration file. This editable local configuration file in turn references its system counterpart, which references the next editable local configuration file in the chain, and so forth.
For example, the MS Word starting project configuration file _d2rtf.ini references this chain of general configuration templates and files:
_d2rtf.ini -> local_d2rtf_config.ini-> d2rtf_config.ini -> local_d2g_config.ini -> d2g_config.ini -> local_omsys.ini -> omsys.ini
The HTML starting project configuration file references this chain:
_d2html.ini -> local_d2htm_config.ini -> d2htm_config.ini -> local_d2g_config.ini -> d2g_config.ini -> local_omsys.ini -> omsys.ini
Some chains are longer. For example, for OmniHelp output, the chain looks like this:
_d2omnihelp.ini -> local_d2omnihelp_config.ini -> d2omnihelp_config.ini -> local_d2help_config.ini -> d2help_config.ini -> local_d2htm_config.ini -> d2htm_config.ini -> local_d2g_config.ini -> d2g_config.ini -> local_omsys.ini -> omsys.ini
All general configuration chains go through either d2htm_config.ini (for HTML or XML output) or d2rtf_config.ini (for Word or WinHelp output). These two configuration templates reference the format and macro configuration files and templates, through side chains. Therefore, as long as your project configuration file references one of the output-specific configuration files, you do not have to include settings in your project configuration file to reference those other files.