OK. I understand your problem now. -putprefs <file> alone is not sufficient to solve it (it would also modify the preferences when the full GUI is used).
I need to think about your problem because for now, I have no idea on how to solve it in a simple and generic way. -prefs <file> (that is, use <file> instead of default <XXE_user_preferences_dir>/preferences.property) could do it, but we need to think about something which is also useful when XXE is deployed using Java Web Start. Mark Fletcher wrote: >> There *may* be a problem with the user preferences file but all the > solutions you suggest does not convince me. (I would prefer you to > expose the problem, not the solutions, more clearly.) > > I'll try to do that by responding to your comments, below. > > >> * We could add a -putprefs preference_file command line option to XXE > v3.4. This suggestion is OK because it is equivalent to -putpref, > -putpref, -putpref, ..., just more convenient. > > That would be terrific! I think that will make it much easier to > establish and deploy a set of default preferences. > > >> * I still don't understand the relationship between custom GUIs > (.xxe_gui files) and user preferences files. In fact, I see no > relationship at all. > > OK. I'm building a very, very simple interface for authors to review and > update extremely granular chunks of content. (Launching the interface > will be done from a CMS routine, tied to this specific type of content.) > The Options menu (along with most others) will not be available. In this > interface, it makes no sense to show the Tree View so I want to (and > can, via -putpref) turn it off. But this will overwrite the user's > preference for the full gui view of XXE, where they may prefer to have > it on. Similarly, I'd like to use some unique CSS defaults, to help > differentiate the simple interface from full XXE. But, again, I don't > want to interfere with any settings the user may have chosen for the > full program. > > >> * It seems to me that a custom XXE launch script could solve any > problem related to the user preferences file. I mean, this custom XXE > launch script should not hesitate to deeply change the contents of the > XXE_user_preferences_dir if this is really needed. > > Agreed. And this would not be an issue if each user used just one > particular gui interface. But in my scenario, users will run both > interfaces--possibly simultaneously. So, although I could back up the > current preferences file prior to launching my limited interface, if the > full XXE is already running, any subsequent Options changes will be > saved to the wrong file. > > Hope this provides enough context around my fixation with this issue :-) > Thanks for listening.

