Comments about TCmd's configuration files (INIs)

[VadiMGP]

(this implys the registry is a very bad thing, and i actually doubt ghisler (smart) actually listen to the people sugesting this (dumb, sort of )

Actually, this implyies.... nevermind, i too dumb sort of people.

Registry - NO PLEASE !!! NO !!!
But if it would become a fact one day, Christian please, add an option to export ALL current seettings to file and import from file in new installation

Well, this implyies you don't want. I catch it. But can you give some explanation why?
BTW. F5 is too complicated for you? You need a special tool to press a key?

apanjocko - I understand you.

Lucky man...

[djk]

Well, this implyies you don't want. I catch it. But can you give some explanation why?
BTW. F5 is too complicated for you? You need a special tool to press a key?

1. IMO editing and backing up is easier using INI files than registry.
2. As some guys wrote above I don't have to reinstall TC when I reinstall Windows. I just.. still use it. What else.. I can easily move my configuration to another station.

That's all.
BTW: F5 - what for?

[Dominik]

there are a lot of other programs which use registry and you have to export the keys anyway when reinstalling windows,another one will not kill you (totalcmd)...
anyway,i still think it's better to use INI file.i've made a batch file which export registry keys for all my installed programs,i can reinstall windows,import the registry files and everything's installed (E:\Programs\)! simple

[VadiMGP]

"I just.. still use it" or "anyway,i still think it's better to use INI file."
Sounds strange, not? Moreover, often i myself avoid to use registry in programs written personally for me, but in general...
Let compare ini files with registry:
1. Ini files limited by size
2. ini files doesn't allows to store multilingual data (unicode)
3. ini files allows to enter nonsens data( strings instead of digits, p.e)
4. all above requires much more programmer's effort to provide data integrity.
5. ini files cannot be protected from unauthorized access.
and this list can be continued...
Dominik right - anyway we need to save settings for 1000 programs. Why not 1001? Do you know, djk, what i have to do to allow using custom clipboard formatting in different languages in EventLog viewer? Did you see his ini file? Nightmare! And you say it easy to edit???

Ok. I just wanted to know what people think.

PS. F5 is copy button in TC. If you use registry plugin you can backup/restore all needed information from/to registry extremely simple.

[djk]

"Let compare ini files with registry:

I also sometimes use registry in my projects and know all the pros but... in some cases ini files are... enough good to use them.

And you say it easy to edit???

In many cases - it is. Of course sometimes not but look at TC ini - I can't see any sense to change it. It's easy.

PS. F5 is copy button in TC. If you use registry plugin you can backup/restore all needed information from/to registry extremely simple.

I know and use registry plugin but... sometimes it's really difficult to find all the keys in registry. It's fine if they are in one place but... very often they aren't

[VadiMGP]

BTW Very interesting, how often you have to edit TC ini file manually? Every day, week, month? And why? If this happens very often may be some seettings missing in configuration dialogs?

[batchman61]

From my point of view there is no alternative to ini files!

I'm working in a network environment and all pc's multi-boot different windows installations/versions and we often reinstall windows (from image).

The only need for totalcmd is a lnk stored on a network share which points to the program and the user specific configuration inis. Example:

<PROGRAM>\filemngr\totalcmd\totalcmd.exe /I=<HOME>\config\filemngr\totalcmd\totalcmd.ini /F=<HOME>\config\filemngr\totalcmd\totalcmd.ftp

By the ini settings you are able to use user-specific bars and menu and it is even possible to combine general and user specific bars.

This is all available without additional effort and i can't see any advantage of using the registry for configuration settings.

[JackFoo]

Actually registry began like a good idea, no more hundreds of config files, no lame users deleting them etc. however its implementation is questionable at best, it became the dumpster/trashbin of the modern computer due to shitty programs crapping over it and not cleaning after themselves. As a consequance users no longer trust registry (at least those that know what registry is).

Another pitfall is that ini files are easier to edit by the end user; copy, backup etc. (Although registry entries can also be copied)

I think ini is nicer, but registry can do if Christian does it correctly and supplies exact location and guidance.

Cheers.

[djk]

BTW Very interesting, how often you have to edit TC ini file manually? Every day, week, month? And why? If this happens very often may be some seettings missing in configuration dialogs?

You will be supriesed but... very often... just trying all the tips I can find here

Sometimes adding plugins and removing plugins is easier this way. Especially when you try new plugins or looking for reasons of error - as I remember you just also had to uninstall all the LSplugins to find out was happening (hpg_ed) - It's easier to do it manually and then replace the modified .ini with the original one back.

I very often edit plugins ini files cause they have no their own configuration dialogs.

[Lefteous]

1. Ini files limited by size
5. ini files cannot be protected from unauthorized access.

1. No limit under Windows NT. Registry is limited under Win 9x.
5. Ini files (and all other files) can be protected via NTFS.

How to store settings?
Anyway, anyone knows IntelliJ (Java IDE)? The program uses XML-files to store it's settings. Not just one file, one file per category. It's easy to copy a single option part from one installation to another.

Well using XML files is nice, but I don't know if it's really necessary for TC. The offer an umlited level of nesting. Storing into different files is more important to make profile exchange easier.

Where to store settings?
Maybe there should be one behavior for every operating system.
1. When TC is installed to Win 16: Store settings in Windows directory.
2. When TC is installed to Win9x: Who knows a good default location?
3. When TC is installed to WinNT: %APPDATA\Total Commander%

[VadiMGP]

If this happens very often may be some seettings missing in configuration dialogs?

I very often edit plugins ini files cause they have no their own configuration dialogs.

Exactly what i expected.

PS. When i checked hpg_ed i just moved wincmd.ini to anoter directory, installed plugins one-by-one and after each plugin installation started second TC. I have about 20 plugins. All procedure was approximately 3-4 minutes. I don't believe that manual editing could be faster.

[djk]

VadiMGP
I'm not going to persuade you what's better, I just said what I think about it
We both know last word belongs to Christian

[jb]

Dos rulez, TC too (32-bit)

I can't believe that somebody puts MS-DOS on the same quality level as TC.
MS-DOS is one of the worst operating systems that I know. Unfortunately it got very popular despite its poor quality because of various reasons, but not least because of the sheer marketing power of IBM and Microsoft. I assume that it caused a loss of billions of dollars for the world economy in all these years while millions of people tried to get their jobs done with it. Maybe it caused even more problems than it solved. When I just remember the time, energy, and nerves that I and co-workers wasted with this terrible software then it gives me almost a headache.

Unlike DOS, TC is a real productivity booster, rock-solid and nearly free. As a whole TC is probably the best file manager on earth, although there are others that are partly superior. Stimulated by the thread "programs similar to total commander" I compared TC again with some rivals, but once more I did not find a match.

[jb]

I am satisfied with the location options that TC currently offers for .ini files.

As well I appreciate that TC does not use the Windows registry, because .ini files are more user-friendly and because it would make porting TC to Linux even more difficult.

But some time ago I suggested to split wincmd.ini up into tc_core.ini, tc_env.ini and tc_hist.ini.
Since this thread is the perfect place for my suggestion, I have copied the details from post http://www.ghisler.ch/board/viewtopic.php?p=371#371 and have pasted them here (and improved the formatting):

Currently wincmd.ini is a motley collection of keys and values that might be reorganized with little effort. Just as a rough idea I suggest to split wincmd.ini up into the following 3 files:

1. tc_core.ini for settings independent of the local drives and the LAN. Thus it would be easier to keep the TC-settings of multiple computers in sync (eg. a business-pc and a home-pc).
2. tc_env.ini for settings dependent of the local drives and the LAN (eg. [DirMenu]). Furthermore the format should be changed so that it would be easy to manage sections such as [DirMenu] directly in a text editor (now it's quite awkward).
3. tc_hist.ini for history data (eg: [SearchName], [SearchIn], [SearchText], [RenameTemplates], [Command line history]). Thus it would be easier to get rid of history data. Tools such as 'TC History Cleaner' would go obsolete.

[Lefteous]

[*]tc_env.ini for settings dependent of the local drives and the LAN (eg. [DirMenu]). Furthermore the format should be changed so that it would be easy to manage sections such as [DirMenu] directly in a text editor (now it's quite awkward).

Nested informations like [DirMenu] should better be stored in a XML file.