ini file question on the Mac

[J. Landman Gay]

Phil Davis wrote:


> Personally, I've done it both ways - prefs in an app subfolder, or prefs 
> in the Preferences folder (or in my app's subfolder in the Preferences 
> folder when I need to store multiple files there). The OS will allow a 
> prefs file to be anywhere, and be named anything. It won't display a 
> warning if you don't do things in a prescribed way.
> 
> That said, there are usually reasons why prescribed ways are, well, 
> prescribed. Someone else will be better versed on the why's and 
> wherefore's of that than myself. (Sounds like a Gaskin topic to me!)


One reason is that on OS X, apps are usually installed to the main 
Applications folder, but each user's preferences are stored in the 
user's private preferences folder. This allows each user to have a 
different sets of prefs for the app. Also, if a user chooses to back up 
only their user data (which I think is pretty common,) their preferences 
will be included if they are stored in the prefs folder. If the prefs 
are stored with the application, then they won't get backed up unless 
the user does a full, system-wide backup.
-- 
Jacqueline Landman Gay         |     jacque at hyperactivesw.com
HyperActive Software           |     http://www.hyperactivesw.com