Bo Berglund wrote:
I am starting out with Lazarus now and decided to do it
in Ubuntu 10.04-2, which I installed this week-end.
One thing I don't know how to convert is the way we store
program configuration data in our Windows programs. We usually
write all these into ini files, which we drop off in the
program directory. This is not really the accepted way even
in Windows, where you are supposed to store the config in a
completely different location than the program folder.
I realize that on Linux it is probably the same and that there
exists some agreed system for such storage so that people
can find the config files...
So can I get some advice on:
- What is the common way to store config data on Linux?
Ini files are probably not used since they are Windowsisms,
but is there some other easily used way where one can simply
store and retrieve individual values without scanning through
a text file?
Depends a lot on the app. Things written in Perl or shell might actually
use Perl or shell for the configuration file, otherwise the choices are
a straight text file, XML or something hacked together using YACC. Me, I
use .ini files but give them a .conf extension which is a bit less
unexpected.
- Where is the agreed location for such data?
Global settings in /etc or possibly /usr/local/etc (or possibly both,
using a symlink). Per-user settings in the user's root directory, with
the name preceded by . to limit its visibility. As a detail, when I'm
coding this sort of thing I never let the program create a configuration
file of its own initiative, it can write to an existing one but creation
is a job for an installation script or for the user.
- And in fact where is the agreed location for the programs
themselves?
/usr/local/bin or sometimes /usr/local/[app]/bin. In the latter case
configuration files might be found in /usr/local/[app]/etc but again it
might be worth symlinking to/from /etc.
--
Mark Morgan Lloyd
markMLl .AT. telemetry.co .DOT. uk
[Opinions above are the author's, not those of his employers or colleagues]
--
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