Refresh Me on INI Files

[NewsArchive]

Would the resident "experts" please refresh me on the pros and cons of using
ini files in Vista.

Or direct me to an authoritative source.

Thanks!

--
Lynn Howard
www.linkedsoftware.com

[NewsArchive]

Hi Lynn,

> Would the resident "experts" please refresh me on the pros and cons of
> using ini files in Vista.
>
> Or direct me to an authoritative source.

There is no problem per-se with INI files under Vista or Windows Server
2008.

You only have to make sure that you do not write/update INI files in
"protected" areas (e.g. the Windows folder, Program Files folder, the root
of c:\, etc.).

Friedrich

--
Friedrich Linder
Lindersoft
www.lindersoft.com
+1.954.252.3910

"point. click. ship" - that's SetupBuilder 6.7
Create Windows Vista ready installations in minutes

-- Official Comodo Code Signing and SSL Certificate Partner

[NewsArchive]

Thank you Friedrich. I'm having a philosophical argument with another 3rd
party developer.

This helps a lot.

Lynn

[NewsArchive]

Hi Lynn,

I never thought Vista would make it to "phylosophical" level ,..... <G>


Merci - Thank you

JP

Data Management Center
A tool to help you Transfer - Import - Export your data so easily ....

http://www.dm8.fr

[NewsArchive]

BG

Lynn Howard

[NewsArchive]

> Thank you Friedrich. I'm having a philosophical argument with another 3rd
> party developer.

Legacy or ABC?

If it's ABC, I think you can butcher your way around it.
--

Mark Riffey
http://www.rescuemarketing.com/blog/
The Wall Street Journal staff reads it,
maybe you should too.

[NewsArchive]

Hi Lynn,

>Would the resident "experts" please refresh me on the pros and cons of using
>ini files in Vista.

Certain things you need to look into. If your program is installed
into Program Files, your program can not write to that folder unless
it is running with admin privileges. So, ini files should be kept in
CSIDL_APPDATA or CSIDL_PERSONAL for example I would put them into
CSIDL_PERSONAL\Icetips Creative\My Product folder if I wanted the user
to see them (this is My Documents\Icetips...) or in
CSIDL_APPDATA\Icetips Creative\My Product if I wanted it to be out of
the users sight.

Most programs that I have run on my vista machine have worked fine as
they have been designed to work with XP (which didn't enforce
installing into proper folders, where as Vista does).

Best regards,

Arnór Baldvinsson
Icetips Creative, Inc.
San Antonio, Texas, USA
www.icetips.com


Subscribe to information from Icetips.com:
http://www.icetips.com/subscribe.php

[NewsArchive]

Thanks Arnor!

Life used to be so easy. ,G>

Lynn

[NewsArchive]

Hi Lynn,

>Life used to be so easy. ,G>

All you need to do is specify the name and location of the ini file:)


ININame = ITU.GetSpecialFolder(IT_CSIDL_APPDATA) & '\Icetips
Creative\MyApp\MyAppINI.ini'

Best regards,

Arnór Baldvinsson
Icetips Creative, Inc.
San Antonio, Texas, USA
www.icetips.com


Subscribe to information from Icetips.com:
http://www.icetips.com/subscribe.php

[NewsArchive]

Yep I understand. It's someone else I need to convince.

Have you moved yet?

Lynn

[NewsArchive]

Hi Lynn,

>Have you moved yet?

Nope, we're getting the house ready to sell and when we sell we move:)

Best regards,

Arnór Baldvinsson
Icetips Creative, Inc.
San Antonio, Texas, USA
www.icetips.com


Subscribe to information from Icetips.com:
http://www.icetips.com/subscribe.php

[NewsArchive]

> Yep I understand. It's someone else I need to convince.
>

I vaguely recall reading when I first started looking at Vista that
Microsoft were rethinking the wisdom of the centralised registry and .ini
files were coming back into fashion. I might just have been dreaming though
....

"Microsoft uses them so they must be OK" - is that convincing enough?

(Search for .ini files on your Vista system. There are nearly 200 of them in
my winsxs folders alone!)

--
Chris Burrows
CFB Software
http://www.cfbsoftware.com

[NewsArchive]

Legacy. But I believe I'm making some headway in the discussion.

So what would the ABC approach be?

Lynn

[NewsArchive]

I set the .INI file name EARLY - in the fuzzymatcher.init embed in my global
DLL.

For a much more elegant approach, see Randy Rogers' article in clarionmag
(subscription required):
http://www.clarionmag.com/cmag/v9/v9n03vistaini.html

Jane

[NewsArchive]

Hi Jane,

Thanks for the comment and reference.

Lynn Howard

[NewsArchive]

> So what would the ABC approach be?

Override the class' behavior. Instead of using getini putini, use tps. Or
redirect the location used by getini putini.
--

Mark Riffey
http://www.rescuemarketing.com/blog/
The Wall Street Journal staff reads it,
maybe you should too.

[NewsArchive]

Thanks!

Lynn Howard