interface/stdpaths.h

   1 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
   2 // Name:        stdpaths.h
   3 // Purpose:     documentation for wxStandardPaths class
   4 // Author:      wxWidgets team
   5 // RCS-ID:      $Id$
   6 // Licence:     wxWindows license
   7 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
   8
   9 /**
  10     @class wxStandardPaths
  11     @wxheader{stdpaths.h}
  12
  13     wxStandardPaths returns the standard locations in the file system and should be
  14     used by applications to find their data files in a portable way.
  15
  16     In the description of the methods below, the example return values are given
  17     for the Unix, Windows and Mac OS X systems, however please note that these are
  18     just the examples and the actual values may differ. For example, under Windows:
  19     the system administrator may change the standard directories locations, i.e.
  20     the Windows directory may be named @c W:\Win2003 instead of
  21     the default @c C:\Windows.
  22
  23     The strings @c @e appname and @c @e username should be
  24     replaced with the value returned by wxApp::GetAppName
  25     and the name of the currently logged in user, respectively. The string
  26     @c @e prefix is only used under Unix and is @c /usr/local by
  27     default but may be changed using wxStandardPaths::SetInstallPrefix.
  28
  29     The directories returned by the methods of this class may or may not exist. If
  30     they don't exist, it's up to the caller to create them, wxStandardPaths doesn't
  31     do it.
  32
  33     Finally note that these functions only work with standardly packaged
  34     applications. I.e. under Unix you should follow the standard installation
  35     conventions and under Mac you should create your application bundle according
  36     to the Apple guidelines. Again, this class doesn't help you to do it.
  37
  38     This class is MT-safe: its methods may be called concurrently from different
  39     threads without additional locking.
  40
  41     @library{wxbase}
  42     @category{file}
  43
  44     @seealso
  45     wxFileConfig
  46 */
  47 class wxStandardPaths
  48 {
  49 public:
  50     /**
  51         Returns reference to the unique global standard paths object.
  52     */
  53     static wxStandardPathsBase Get();
  54
  55     /**
  56         Return the directory containing the system config files.
  57         Example return values:
  58              Unix: @c /etc
  59              Windows: @c C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data
  60              Mac: @c /Library/Preferences
  61
  62         @see wxFileConfig
  63     */
  64     wxString GetConfigDir();
  65
  66     /**
  67         Return the location of the applications global, i.e. not user-specific,
  68         data files.
  69         Example return values:
  70              Unix: @c @e prefix/share/@e appname
  71              Windows: the directory where the executable file is located
  72              Mac: @c @e appname.app/Contents/SharedSupport bundle subdirectory
  73
  74         @see GetLocalDataDir()
  75     */
  76     wxString GetDataDir();
  77
  78     /**
  79         Return the directory containing the current user's documents.
  80         Example return values:
  81              Unix: @c ~ (the home directory)
  82              Windows: @c C:\Documents and Settings\@e username\Documents
  83              Mac: @c ~/Documents
  84         This function is new since wxWidgets version 2.7.0
  85     */
  86     wxString GetDocumentsDir();
  87
  88     /**
  89         Return the directory and the filename for the current executable.
  90         Example return values:
  91              Unix: @c /usr/local/bin/exename
  92              Windows: @c C:\Programs\AppFolder\exename.exe
  93              Mac: @c /Programs/exename
  94     */
  95     wxString GetExecutablePath();
  96
  97     /**
  98         @b Note: This function is only available under Unix.
  99         Return the program installation prefix, e.g. @c /usr, @c /opt or
 100         @c /home/zeitlin.
 101         If the prefix had been previously by
 102         SetInstallPrefix(), returns that
 103         value, otherwise tries to determine it automatically (Linux only right
 104         now) and finally returns the default @c /usr/local value if it failed.
 105     */
 106     wxString GetInstallPrefix();
 107
 108     /**
 109         Return the location for application data files which are host-specific and
 110         can't, or shouldn't, be shared with the other machines.
 111         This is the same as GetDataDir() except
 112         under Unix where it returns @c /etc/@e appname.
 113     */
 114     wxString GetLocalDataDir();
 115
 116     /**
 117         Return the localized resources directory containing the resource files of the
 118         specified category for the given language.
 119         In general this is just the same as @a lang subdirectory of
 120         GetResourcesDir() (or
 121         @c @e lang.lproj under Mac OS X) but is something quite
 122         different for message catalog category under Unix where it returns the standard
 123         @c @e prefix/share/locale/@e lang/LC_MESSAGES directory.
 124         This function is new since wxWidgets version 2.7.0
 125     */
 126     wxString GetLocalizedResourcesDir(const wxString& lang,
 127                                       ResourceCat category = ResourceCat_None);
 128
 129     /**
 130         Return the directory where the loadable modules (plugins) live.
 131         Example return values:
 132              Unix: @c @e prefix/lib/@e appname
 133              Windows: the directory of the executable file
 134              Mac: @c @e appname.app/Contents/PlugIns bundle subdirectory
 135
 136         @see wxDynamicLibrary
 137     */
 138     wxString GetPluginsDir();
 139
 140     /**
 141         Return the directory where the application resource files are located. The
 142         resources are the auxiliary data files needed for the application to run and
 143         include, for example, image and sound files it might use.
 144         This function is the same as GetDataDir() for
 145         all platforms except Mac OS X.
 146         Example return values:
 147              Unix: @c @e prefix/share/@e appname
 148              Windows: the directory where the executable file is located
 149              Mac: @c @e appname.app/Contents/Resources bundle subdirectory
 150         This function is new since wxWidgets version 2.7.0
 151
 152         @see GetLocalizedResourcesDir()
 153     */
 154     wxString GetResourcesDir();
 155
 156     /**
 157         Return the directory for storing temporary files. To create unique temporary
 158         files,
 159         it is best to use wxFileName::CreateTempFileName for correct behaviour when
 160         multiple processes are attempting to create temporary files.
 161         This function is new since wxWidgets version 2.7.2
 162     */
 163     wxString GetTempDir();
 164
 165     /**
 166         Return the directory for the user config files:
 167              Unix: @c ~ (the home directory)
 168              Windows: @c C:\Documents and Settings\@e username\Application Data
 169              Mac: @c ~/Library/Preferences
 170         Only use this method if you have a single configuration file to put in this
 171         directory, otherwise GetUserDataDir() is
 172         more appropriate.
 173     */
 174     wxString GetUserConfigDir();
 175
 176     /**
 177         Return the directory for the user-dependent application data files:
 178              Unix: @c ~/.@e appname
 179              Windows: @c C:\Documents and Settings\@e username\Application Data\@e
 180         appname
 181              Mac: @c ~/Library/Application Support/@e appname
 182     */
 183     wxString GetUserDataDir();
 184
 185     /**
 186         Return the directory for user data files which shouldn't be shared with
 187         the other machines.
 188         This is the same as GetUserDataDir() for
 189         all platforms except Windows where it returns
 190         @c C:\Documents and Settings\@e username\Local Settings\Application Data\@e
 191         appname
 192     */
 193     wxString GetUserLocalDataDir();
 194
 195     /**
 196         @b Note: This function is only available under Unix.
 197         Lets wxStandardPaths know about the real program installation prefix on a Unix
 198         system. By default, the value returned by
 199         GetInstallPrefix() is used.
 200         Although under Linux systems the program prefix may usually be determined
 201         automatically, portable programs should call this function. Usually the prefix
 202         is set during program configuration if using GNU autotools and so it is enough
 203         to pass its value defined in @c config.h to this function.
 204     */
 205     void SetInstallPrefix(const wxString& prefix);
 206
 207     /**
 208         Controls what application information is used when constructing paths that
 209         should be unique to this program, such as the application data directory, the
 210         plugins directory on Unix, etc.
 211         Valid values for @a info are @c AppInfo_None and either one or
 212         combination of @c AppInfo_AppName and @c AppInfo_VendorName. The
 213         first one tells this class to not use neither application nor vendor name in
 214         the paths.
 215         By default, only the application name is used under Unix systems but both
 216         application and vendor names are used under Windows and Mac.
 217     */
 218     void UseAppInfo(int info);
 219 };