Configurationfile naming and placement

Zotty · 09-14-2004, 12:25 PM

I'm working on a program which uses a configuration file (in XML) to store it's settings. As I'm new to programming under Linux I was wondering what would be the best place to store it and what would be a good naming scheme. It should be distribution independant.

Also if for example the file is stored in a user's home directory, how do I check where it is located in C++? Or is it common to place it in the same directory as the program itself?

Proud · 09-14-2004, 01:55 PM

Just store it in ~/.appname and then use an error catching bit of code to check a file's there and try to read it. If no-go, tell the user the config is missing, and maybe assume defaults or end.

Zotty · 09-14-2004, 05:07 PM

Oh yeah, that's right! Didn't thought of that ~ character yet... so silly, still got to get those things in my mind

Thank you! That answered my question.

Proud · 09-14-2004, 05:39 PM

I think ~ always translates to the home directory set in /etc/passwd but you'd best check. Try the code of some other GPL apps.