Where to put on windows an option file accessable for all users?

[Peter TB Brett]

On 2015-07-07 11:08, Tiemo Hollmann TB wrote:
> Hi Peter,
> 
> hmmm, never thought about that it could be a design fault.
> 
> Beside real user based options I keep some general options in my option
> file, like the path to video files, or a flag if the software should 
> look
> automatically for updates. If I think about schools, where different 
> users
> can log in the same computer, that’s why I wanted to keep one option 
> file
> for all users.
> 
> But if I follow your hint, I would have to split this option file into 
> an
> "admin-options-file", which is only accessible for the admin and a
> "user-options-file", which is stored in the user files.
> 
> Would you agree to this approach or do you see a chance to keep a 
> single
> options file which works in multi-user environments as on a private
> single-user computer?

Yes, that would be exactly the way I would recommend to structure 
things.  You could think of it as follows:

1. Settings that relate to the way the program is installed on the 
system (e.g. the video files' path, or whether to install updates) -- 
these are the "per-system" settings and should be controlled by the 
administrator only.

2. Settings that relate to the way the program is used (e.g. "enable the 
colour scheme for colour-blind users") -- these are the "per-user" 
settings and should be controlled (and stored) by each user.

It is sometimes a little bit difficult to think about at first.   
However, dividing the settings in this way means that one user can't 
mess things up for another user, or interfere with settings that the 
system administrator has put in for a good reason. :-)

The separation of "user" and "system" settings is the recommended way to 
structure things on most systems nowadays, especially Windows and Linux.

Don't forget that when you have a single-user computer, you can just 
treat it as a multi-user computer with one user!

                                Peter

-- 
Dr Peter Brett <peter.brett at livecode.com>
LiveCode Engine Development Team