docs/latex/wx/stdpaths.tex

   1 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
   2 %% Name:        stdpaths.tex
   3 %% Purpose:     wxStandardPaths documentation
   4 %% Author:      Vadim Zeitlin
   5 %% Modified by:
   6 %% Created:     2004-10-17
   7 %% RCS-ID:      $Id$
   8 %% Copyright:   (c) 2004 Vadim Zeitlin <vadim@wxwindows.org>
   9 %% License:     wxWindows license
  10 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
  11
  12 \section{\class{wxStandardPaths}}\label{wxstandardpaths}
  13
  14 wxStandardPaths returns the standard locations in the file system and should be
  15 used by applications to find their data files in a portable way.
  16
  17 In the description of the methods below, the example return values are given
  18 for the Unix, Windows and Mac OS X systems, however please note that these are
  19 just the examples and the actual values may differ. For example, under Windows:
  20 the system administrator may change the standard directories locations, i.e.
  21 the Windows directory may be named \texttt{W:$\backslash$Win2003} instead of
  22 the default \texttt{C:$\backslash$Windows}.
  23
  24 The strings \texttt{\textit{appname}} and \texttt{\textit{username}} should be
  25 replaced with the value returned by \helpref{wxApp::GetAppName}{wxappgetappname}
  26 and the name of the currently logged in user, respectively. The string
  27 \texttt{\textit{prefix}} is only used under Unix and is \texttt{/usr/local} by
  28 default but may be changed using \helpref{SetInstallPrefix}{wxstandardpathssetinstallprefix}.
  29
  30 The directories returned by the methods of this class may or may not exist. If
  31 they don't exist, it's up to the caller to create them, wxStandardPaths doesn't
  32 do it.
  33
  34 Finally note that these functions only work with standardly packaged
  35 applications. I.e. under Unix you should follow the standard installation
  36 conventions and under Mac you should create your application bundle according
  37 to the Apple guidelines. Again, this class doesn't help you to do it.
  38
  39 This class is MT-safe: its methods may be called concurrently from different
  40 threads without additional locking.
  41
  42 \wxheading{Derived from}
  43
  44 No base class
  45
  46 \wxheading{Include files}
  47
  48 <wx/stdpaths.h>
  49
  50
  51 \latexignore{\rtfignore{\wxheading{Members}}}
  52
  53
  54 \membersection{wxStandardPaths::Get}\label{wxstandardpathsget}
  55
  56 \func{static wxStandardPathsBase\&}{Get}{\void}
  57
  58 Returns reference to the unique global standard paths object.
  59
  60
  61 \membersection{wxStandardPaths::GetConfigDir}\label{wxstandardpathsgetconfigdir}
  62
  63 \func{wxString}{GetConfigDir}{\void}
  64
  65 Return the directory containing the system config files.
  66
  67 Example return values:
  68 \begin{itemize}
  69     \item Unix: \texttt{/etc}
  70     \item Windows: \texttt{C:$\backslash$Documents and Settings$\backslash$All Users$\backslash$Application Data}
  71     \item Mac: \texttt{/Library/Preferences}
  72 \end{itemize}
  73
  74 \wxheading{See also}
  75
  76 \helpref{wxFileConfig}{wxfileconfig}
  77
  78
  79 \membersection{wxStandardPaths::GetDataDir}\label{wxstandardpathsgetdatadir}
  80
  81 \func{wxString}{GetDataDir}{\void}
  82
  83 Return the location of the applications global, i.e. not user-specific,
  84 data files.
  85
  86 Example return values:
  87 \begin{itemize}
  88     \item Unix: \texttt{\textit{prefix}/share/\textit{appname}}
  89     \item Windows: the directory where the executable file is located
  90     \item Mac: \texttt{\textit{appname}.app/Contents/SharedSupport} bundle subdirectory
  91 \end{itemize}
  92
  93 \wxheading{See also}
  94
  95 \helpref{GetLocalDataDir}{wxstandardpathsgetlocaldatadir}
  96
  97
  98 \membersection{wxStandardPaths::GetDocumentsDir}\label{wxstandardpathsgetdocumentsdir}
  99
 100 \func{wxString}{GetDocumentsDir}{\void}
 101
 102 Return the directory containing the current user's documents.
 103
 104 Example return values:
 105 \begin{itemize}
 106     \item Unix: \tt{~} (the home directory)
 107     \item Windows: \texttt{C:$\backslash$Documents and Settings$\backslash$\textit{username}$\backslash$Documents}
 108     \item Mac: \texttt{~/Documents}
 109 \end{itemize}
 110
 111
 112 \membersection{wxStandardPaths::GetInstallPrefix}\label{wxstandardpathsgetinstallprefix}
 113
 114 \func{wxString}{GetInstallPrefix}{\void}
 115
 116 \textbf{Note: } This function is only available under Unix.
 117
 118 Return the program installation prefix, e.g. \texttt{/usr}, \texttt{/opt} or
 119 \texttt{/home/zeitlin}.
 120
 121 If the prefix had been previously by
 122 \helpref{SetInstallPrefix}{wxstandardpathssetinstallprefix}, returns that
 123 value, otherwise tries to determine it automatically (Linux only right
 124 now) and finally returns the default \texttt{/usr/local} value if it failed.
 125
 126
 127 \membersection{wxStandardPaths::GetLocalDataDir}\label{wxstandardpathsgetlocaldatadir}
 128
 129 \func{wxString}{GetLocalDataDir}{\void}
 130
 131 Return the location for application data files which are host-specific and
 132 can't, or shouldn't, be shared with the other machines.
 133
 134 This is the same as \helpref{GetDataDir()}{wxstandardpathsgetdatadir} except
 135 under Unix where it returns \texttt{/etc/\textit{appname}}.
 136
 137
 138 \membersection{wxStandardPaths::GetLocalizedResourcesDir}\label{wxstandardpathsgetlocalizedresourcesdir}
 139
 140 \func{wxString}{GetLocalizedResourcesDir}{\param{const wxChar*}{ lang}, \param{ResourceCat}{ category = ResourceCat\_None}}
 141
 142 Return the localized resources directory containing the resource files of the
 143 specified category for the given language.
 144
 145 In general this is just the same as \arg{lang} subdirectory of
 146 \helpref{GetResourcesDir()}{wxstandardpathsgetresourcesdir} (or
 147 \texttt{\arg{lang}.lproj} under Mac OS X) but is something quite
 148 different for message catalog category under Unix where it returns the standard
 149 \texttt{\textit{prefix}/share/locale/\arg{lang}/LC\_MESSAGES} directory.
 150
 151
 152 \membersection{wxStandardPaths::GetPluginsDir}\label{wxstandardpathsgetpluginsdir}
 153
 154 \func{wxString}{GetPluginsDir}{\void}
 155
 156 Return the directory where the loadable modules (plugins) live.
 157
 158 Example return values:
 159 \begin{itemize}
 160     \item Unix: \texttt{\textit{prefix}/share/\textit{appname}}
 161     \item Windows: the directory where the executable file is located
 162     \item Mac: \texttt{\textit{appname}.app/Contents/Resources} bundle subdirectory
 163 \end{itemize}
 164
 165 \wxheading{See also}
 166
 167 \helpref{wxDynamicLibrary}{wxdynamiclibrary}
 168
 169
 170 \membersection{wxStandardPaths::GetResourcesDir}\label{wxstandardpathsgetresourcesdir}
 171
 172 \func{wxString}{GetResourcesDir}{\void}
 173
 174 Return the directory where the application resource files are located. The
 175 resources are the auxiliary data files needed for the application to run and
 176 include, for example, image and sound files it might use.
 177
 178 This function is the same as \helpref{GetDataDir}{wxstandardpathsgetdatadir} for
 179 all platforms except Mac OS X.
 180
 181 Example return values:
 182 \begin{itemize}
 183     \item Unix: \texttt{\textit{prefix}/lib/\textit{appname}}
 184     \item Windows: the directory of the executable file
 185     \item Mac: \texttt{\textit{appname}.app/Contents/PlugIns} bundle subdirectory
 186 \end{itemize}
 187
 188 \wxheading{See also}
 189
 190 \helpref{GetLocalizedResourcesDir}{wxstandardpathsgetlocalizedresourcesdir}
 191
 192
 193 \membersection{wxStandardPaths::GetUserConfigDir}\label{wxstandardpathsgetuserconfigdir}
 194
 195 \func{wxString}{GetUserConfigDir}{\void}
 196
 197 Return the directory for the user config files:
 198 \begin{itemize}
 199     \item Unix: \tt{~} (the home directory)
 200     \item Windows: \tt{C:$\backslash$Documents and Settings$\backslash$\textit{username}}
 201     \item Mac: \tt{~/Library/Preferences}
 202 \end{itemize}
 203
 204 Only use this method if you have a single configuration file to put in this
 205 directory, otherwise \helpref{GetUserDataDir()}{wxstandardpathsgetuserdatadir} is
 206 more appropriate.
 207
 208
 209 \membersection{wxStandardPaths::GetUserDataDir}\label{wxstandardpathsgetuserdatadir}
 210
 211 \func{wxString}{GetUserDataDir}{\void}
 212
 213 Return the directory for the user-dependent application data files:
 214 \begin{itemize}
 215     \item Unix: \tt{~/.\textit{appname}}
 216     \item Windows: \tt{C:$\backslash$Documents and Settings$\backslash$\textit{username}$\backslash$Application Data$\backslash$\textit{appname}}
 217     \item Mac: \tt{~/Library/Application Support/\textit{appname}}
 218 \end{itemize}
 219
 220
 221 \membersection{wxStandardPaths::GetUserLocalDataDir}\label{wxstandardpathsgetuserlocaldatadir}
 222
 223 \func{wxString}{GetUserLocalDataDir}{\void}
 224
 225 Return the directory for user data files which shouldn't be shared with
 226 the other machines.
 227
 228 This is the same as \helpref{GetUserDataDir()}{wxstandardpathsgetuserdatadir} for
 229 all platforms except Windows where it returns
 230 \texttt{C:$\backslash$Documents and Settings$\backslash$\textit{username}$\backslash$Local Settings$\backslash$Application Data$\backslash$\textit{appname}}
 231
 232
 233 \membersection{wxStandardPaths::SetInstallPrefix}\label{wxstandardpathssetinstallprefix}
 234
 235 \func{void}{SetInstallPrefix}{\param{const wxString\& }{prefix}}
 236
 237 \textbf{Note:} This function is only available under Unix.
 238
 239 Lets wxStandardPaths know about the real program installation prefix on a Unix
 240 system. By default, the value returned by
 241 \helpref{GetInstallPrefix}{wxstandardpathsgetinstallprefix} is used.
 242
 243 Although under Linux systems the program prefix may usually be determined
 244 automatically, portable programs should call this function. Usually the prefix
 245 is set during program configuration if using GNU autotools and so it is enough
 246 to pass its value defined in \texttt{config.h} to this function.
 247
 248