[SOLVED] Is there a way to locate the dot home file that corresponds to a program or game?

linustalman · 07-18-2017, 02:03 PM

Hi.

I play the game viruskiller. It sets high scores and I want to backup the dot file/directory that it corresponds to. I cannot find any though. Is there a way to locate the dot home file that corresponds to a program or game?

Code:

whereis viruskiller

Code:

viruskiller: /usr/games/viruskiller /usr/share/man/man1/viruskiller.1.gz

Thanks.

yancek · 07-18-2017, 02:11 PM

If there is a hidden 'viruskiller' file in your /home/user directory you should be able to find it while logged into a terminal in your /home/user directory with:

Code:

ls -la

The command above will show hidden files and you can limit it so you don't show the entire contents. If it is a hidden file it will start with a dot: .viruskiller
so look for it that way.

linustalman · 07-18-2017, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yancek

If there is a hidden 'viruskiller' file in your /home/user directory you should be able to find it while logged into a terminal in your /home/user directory with:

Code:

ls -la

The command above will show hidden files and you can limit it so you don't show the entire contents. If it is a hidden file it will start with a dot: .viruskiller
so look for it that way.

Hi yancek. I know how to look but just cannot find anything resembling '.viruskiller' - I also looked for '.vk'.

scasey · 07-18-2017, 02:34 PM

Are there any hints in the man page?

linustalman · 07-18-2017, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scasey

Are there any hints in the man page?

Hi Sean. Nothing pops out.

jefro · 07-18-2017, 02:56 PM

When you set a high score or maybe any score some file will be changed. Use find file by time stamp then.

IsaacKuo · 07-18-2017, 03:12 PM

Do you know any of the high scores? Just do a recursive file text search on one of the high scores.

Code:

grep -H -R 50200 ~/.??* | cut -d: -f1

dugan · 07-18-2017, 03:42 PM

Is the source available? If you can point me to that, I can probably find out for you.

Otherwise, you can strace the executable.

AwesomeMachine · 07-18-2017, 04:01 PM

Try

Code:

$ find . -name ".v*"

That will search subdirectories.

Habitual · 07-18-2017, 04:43 PM

/usr/share/viruskiller/ mebbe?

syg00 · 07-18-2017, 05:11 PM

Depends how obtuse the code is, but I tend to rely on "locate". When all else fails, a quick strace on "open" would just about nail it as dugan suggests.

!!! · 07-18-2017, 06:05 PM

+1 strace -f -eopen -o ...
find has options where you could look for files changed in last minutes
I thot of lsof, but it may not keep file open.

linustalman · 07-19-2017, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jefro

When you set a high score or maybe any score some file will be changed. Use find file by time stamp then.

The lowest pre-set highscore is huge and would take a while to beat. Usually programs created home dot config files when they are simply opened. This is a puzzler.

IsaacKuo · 07-19-2017, 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by linustalman

The lowest pre-set highscore is huge and would take a while to beat. Usually programs created home dot config files when they are simply opened. This is a puzzler.

The method I suggest does not require beating a high score. It only requires knowing a current high score, and assuming it is stored somewhere in plain text.

For example, if a current high score is 50200, use:

Code:

grep -H -R 50200 ~/.??*

rknichols · 07-19-2017, 12:51 PM

A game's "high score" file would not be in any user's home directory. That information is global to all users on the system. Look elsewhere.

Per-user configuration for that game appears to be in ~/.parallelrealities/virusKiller/ .