geode-docs/reference/topics/chapter_overview_regionshortcuts.html.md.erb

---
title:  Region Shortcuts
---

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This topic describes the various region shortcuts you can use to configure <%=vars.product_name%> regions.

Region shortcuts are groupings of pre-configured attributes that define the characteristics of a region. You can use a region shortcut as a starting point when configuring regions and you can add additional configurations to customize your application. To reference a region shortcut in a <%=vars.product_name%> `cache.xml` file, use the `refid` attribute of the `<region>` element. For example:

``` pre
<region name="myRegion" refid="PARTITION_REDUNDANT"/>
```

You can override the default values and add additional configurations within a `<region-attributes>` element of the `cache.xml` file. For example, the following configuration overrides the <span class="keyword parmname">local-max-memory</span> setting and adds the <span class="keyword parmname">recovery-delay</span> attribute:

``` pre
<region name="myRegion" refid="PARTITION_REDUNDANT">
    <region-attributes>
        <partition-attributes 
          local-max-memory="512" 
           recovery-delay=-1/>
    </region-attributes>
</region>
```

You can also create your own, named region shortcuts for common custom configurations. See [Region Shortcuts and Custom Named Region Attributes](../../basic_config/data_regions/region_shortcuts.html).

To configure a region using the gfsh command-line tool, specify the shortcut name with the `--type` argument. For example:

``` pre
gfsh>create region --name=myRegion --type=PARTITION_REDUNDANT
```

**Note:**
If you change the cache.xml file that defines a region, you must restart the member before the changes take effect.

For more information about configuring regions, see [Region Management](../../basic_config/data_regions/managing_data_regions.html).

For more information about using the various types of <%=vars.product_name%> regions and when to use them, see [Region Types](../../developing/region_options/region_types.html#region_types).
     
For a quick reference listing all region shortcuts, see [Region Shortcuts Quick Reference](region_shortcuts_table.html).