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1 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
3 // Purpose: interface of wxConfigBase
4 // Author: wxWidgets team
6 // Licence: wxWindows license
7 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
12 wxConfigBase defines the basic interface of all config classes. It can not
13 be used by itself (it is an abstract base class) and you will always use
14 one of its derivations: wxFileConfig, wxRegConfig or any other.
16 However, usually you don't even need to know the precise nature of the
17 class you're working with but you would just use the wxConfigBase methods.
18 This allows you to write the same code regardless of whether you're working
19 with the registry under Win32 or text-based config files under Unix (or
20 even Windows 3.1 .INI files if you're really unlucky). To make writing the
21 portable code even easier, wxWidgets provides a typedef wxConfig which is
22 mapped onto the native wxConfigBase implementation on the given platform:
23 i.e. wxRegConfig under Win32 and wxFileConfig otherwise.
25 See @ref overview_config for a description of all features of this class.
27 It is highly recommended to use static functions Get() and/or Set(), so
28 please have a look at them.
30 Related Include Files:
32 @li @c <wx/config.h> - Let wxWidgets choose a wxConfig class for your
34 @li @c <wx/confbase.h> - Base config class.
35 @li @c <wx/fileconf.h> - wxFileConfig class.
36 @li @c <wx/msw/regconf.h> - wxRegConfig class, see also wxRegKey.
39 @section configbase_example Example
41 Here is how you would typically use this class:
44 // using wxConfig instead of writing wxFileConfig or wxRegConfig enhances
45 // portability of the code
46 wxConfig *config = new wxConfig("MyAppName");
49 if ( config->Read("LastPrompt", &str) ) {
50 // last prompt was found in the config file/registry and its value is
58 // another example: using default values and the full path instead of just
59 // key name: if the key is not found , the value 17 is returned
60 long value = config->ReadLong("/LastRun/CalculatedValues/MaxValue", 17);
62 // at the end of the program we would save everything back
63 config->Write("LastPrompt", str);
64 config->Write("/LastRun/CalculatedValues/MaxValue", value);
66 // the changes will be written back automatically
70 This basic example, of course, doesn't show all wxConfig features, such as
71 enumerating, testing for existence and deleting the entries and groups of
72 entries in the config file, its abilities to automatically store the
73 default values or expand the environment variables on the fly. However, the
74 main idea is that using this class is easy and that it should normally do
75 what you expect it to.
77 @note In the documentation of this class, the words "config file" also mean
78 "registry hive" for wxRegConfig and, generally speaking, might mean
79 any physical storage where a wxConfigBase-derived class stores its
83 @section configbase_static Static Functions
85 The static functions provided deal with the "default" config object.
86 Although its usage is not at all mandatory it may be convenient to use a
87 global config object instead of creating and deleting the local config
88 objects each time you need one (especially because creating a wxFileConfig
89 object might be a time consuming operation). In this case, you may create
90 this global config object in the very start of the program and Set() it as
91 the default. Then, from anywhere in your program, you may access it using
92 the Get() function. This global wxConfig object will be deleted by
93 wxWidgets automatically if it exists. Note that this implies that if you do
94 delete this object yourself (usually in wxApp::OnExit()) you must use
95 Set(@NULL) to prevent wxWidgets from deleting it the second time.
97 As it happens, you may even further simplify the procedure described above:
98 you may forget about calling Set(). When Get() is called and there is no
99 current object, it will create one using Create() function. To disable this
100 behaviour DontCreateOnDemand() is provided.
102 @note You should use either Set() or Get() because wxWidgets library itself
103 would take advantage of it and could save various information in it.
104 For example wxFontMapper or Unix version of wxFileDialog have the
105 ability to use wxConfig class.
108 @section configbase_paths Path Management
110 As explained in the @ref overview_config "config overview", the config
111 classes support a file system-like hierarchy of keys (files) and groups
112 (directories). As in the file system case, to specify a key in the config
113 class you must use a path to it. Config classes also support the notion of
114 the current group, which makes it possible to use the relative paths. To
115 clarify all this, here is an example (it is only for the sake of
116 demonstration, it doesn't do anything sensible!):
119 wxConfig *config = new wxConfig("FooBarApp");
121 // right now the current path is '/'
122 conf->Write("RootEntry", 1);
124 // go to some other place: if the group(s) don't exist, they will be created
125 conf->SetPath("/Group/Subgroup");
127 // create an entry in subgroup
128 conf->Write("SubgroupEntry", 3);
130 // '..' is understood
131 conf->Write("../GroupEntry", 2);
134 wxASSERT( conf->ReadLong("Subgroup/SubgroupEntry", 0) == 3 );
136 // use absolute path: it is allowed, too
137 wxASSERT( conf->ReadLong("/RootEntry", 0) == 1 );
140 It is highly recommended that you restore the path to its old value on
144 void foo(wxConfigBase *config)
146 wxString strOldPath = config->GetPath();
148 config->SetPath("/Foo/Data");
151 config->SetPath(strOldPath);
155 Otherwise the assert in the following example will surely fail (we suppose
156 here that the foo() function is the same as above except that it doesn’t
157 save and restore the path):
160 void bar(wxConfigBase *config)
162 config->Write("Test", 17);
166 // we're reading "/Foo/Data/Test" here! -1 will probably be returned...
167 wxASSERT( config->ReadLong("Test", -1) == 17 );
171 Finally, the path separator in wxConfigBase and derived classes is always
172 "/", regardless of the platform (i.e. it is not "\\" under Windows).
175 @section configbase_enumeration Enumeration
177 The enumeration functions allow you to enumerate all entries and groups in
178 the config file. All functions here return @false when there are no more
181 You must pass the same index to GetNext() and GetFirst() (don't modify it).
182 Please note that it is not the index of the current item (you will have
183 some great surprises with wxRegConfig if you assume this) and you shouldn't
184 even look at it: it is just a "cookie" which stores the state of the
185 enumeration. It can't be stored inside the class because it would prevent
186 you from running several enumerations simultaneously, that's why you must
189 Having said all this, enumerating the config entries/groups is very simple:
192 wxConfigBase *config = ...;
193 wxArrayString aNames;
195 // enumeration variables
199 // first enum all entries
200 bool bCont = config->GetFirstEntry(str, dummy);
204 bCont = GetConfig()->GetNextEntry(str, dummy);
207 // ... we have all entry names in aNames...
210 bCont = GetConfig()->GetFirstGroup(str, dummy);
214 bCont = GetConfig()->GetNextGroup(str, dummy);
217 // ... we have all group (and entry) names in aNames...
220 There are also functions to get the number of entries/subgroups without
221 actually enumerating them, but you will probably never need them.
224 @section configbase_keyaccess Key Access
226 The key access functions are the core of wxConfigBase class: they allow you
227 to read and write config file data. All Read() functions take a default
228 value which will be returned if the specified key is not found in the
231 Currently, supported types of data are: wxString, @c long, @c double,
232 @c bool, wxColour and any other types for which the functions
233 wxToString() and wxFromString() are defined.
235 Try not to read long values into string variables and vice versa:
236 although it just might work with wxFileConfig, you will get a system
237 error with wxRegConfig because in the Windows registry the different
238 types of entries are indeed used.
240 Final remark: the @a szKey parameter for all these functions can
241 contain an arbitrary path (either relative or absolute), not just the
245 In place of a single overloaded method name, wxPython implements the
247 - Read(key, default="") - Returns a string.
248 - ReadInt(key, default=0) - Returns an integer.
249 - ReadFloat(key, default=0.0) - Returns a floating point number.
250 - ReadBool(key, default=0) - Returns a boolean.
251 - Write(key, value) - Writes a string.
252 - WriteInt(key, value) - Writes an int.
253 - WriteFloat(key, value) - Writes a floating point number.
260 class wxConfigBase
: public wxObject
264 This is the default and only constructor of the wxConfigBase class, and
268 The application name. If this is empty, the class will normally use
269 wxApp::GetAppName() to set it. The application name is used in the
270 registry key on Windows, and can be used to deduce the local
271 filename parameter if that is missing.
273 The vendor name. If this is empty, it is assumed that no vendor
274 name is wanted, if this is optional for the current config class.
275 The vendor name is appended to the application name for
278 Some config classes require a local filename. If this is not
279 present, but required, the application name will be used instead.
280 @param globalFilename
281 Some config classes require a global filename. If this is not
282 present, but required, the application name will be used instead.
284 Can be one of wxCONFIG_USE_LOCAL_FILE and wxCONFIG_USE_GLOBAL_FILE.
285 The style interpretation depends on the config class and is ignored
286 by some implementations. For wxFileConfig, these styles determine
287 whether a local or global config file is created or used: if
288 wxCONFIG_USE_GLOBAL_FILE is used, then settings are read from the
289 global config file and if wxCONFIG_USE_LOCAL_FILE is used, settings
290 are read from and written to local config file (if they are both
291 set, global file is read first, then local file, overwriting global
292 settings). If the flag is present but the parameter is empty, the
293 parameter will be set to a default. If the parameter is present but
294 the style flag not, the relevant flag will be added to the style.
295 For wxRegConfig, thie GLOBAL flag refers to HKLM key while LOCAL
296 one is for the usual HKCU one.
297 @n For wxFileConfig you can also add wxCONFIG_USE_RELATIVE_PATH by
298 logically or'ing it to either of the _FILE options to tell
299 wxFileConfig to use relative instead of absolute paths.
300 @n On non-VMS Unix systems, the default local configuration file is
301 "~/.appname". However, this path may be also used as user data
302 directory (see wxStandardPaths::GetUserDataDir()) if the
303 application has several data files. In this case
304 wxCONFIG_USE_SUBDIR flag, which changes the default local
305 configuration file to "~/.appname/appname" should be used. Notice
306 that this flag is ignored if localFilename is provided.
307 wxCONFIG_USE_SUBDIR is new since wxWidgets version 2.8.2.
308 @n For wxFileConfig, you can also add
309 wxCONFIG_USE_NO_ESCAPE_CHARACTERS which will turn off character
310 escaping for the values of entries stored in the config file: for
311 example a foo key with some backslash characters will be stored as
312 "foo=C:\mydir" instead of the usual storage of "foo=C:\\mydir".
313 @n The wxCONFIG_USE_NO_ESCAPE_CHARACTERS style can be helpful if your
314 config file must be read or written to by a non-wxWidgets program
315 (which might not understand the escape characters). Note, however,
316 that if wxCONFIG_USE_NO_ESCAPE_CHARACTERS style is used, it is is
317 now your application's responsibility to ensure that there is no
318 newline or other illegal characters in a value, before writing that
321 This parameter is only used by wxFileConfig when compiled in
322 Unicode mode. It specifies the encoding in which the configuration
325 @remarks By default, environment variable expansion is on and recording
328 wxConfigBase(const wxString
& appName
= wxEmptyString
,
329 const wxString
& vendorName
= wxEmptyString
,
330 const wxString
& localFilename
= wxEmptyString
,
331 const wxString
& globalFilename
= wxEmptyString
,
333 const wxMBConv
& conv
= wxConvAuto());
336 Empty but ensures that dtor of all derived classes is virtual.
338 virtual ~wxConfigBase();
342 @name Path Management
344 See @ref configbase_paths
349 Retrieve the current path (always as absolute path).
351 virtual const wxString
& GetPath() const = 0;
354 Set current path: if the first character is '/', it is the absolute
355 path, otherwise it is a relative path. '..' is supported. If @a strPath
356 doesn't exist it is created.
358 virtual void SetPath(const wxString
& strPath
) = 0;
366 See @ref configbase_enumeration
371 Gets the first entry.
374 The wxPython version of this method returns a 3-tuple consisting of the
375 continue flag, the value string, and the index for the next call.
379 In wxPerl this method takes no parameters and returns a 3-element
380 list (continue_flag, string, index_for_getnextentry).
383 virtual bool GetFirstEntry(wxString
& str
, long& index
) const = 0;
386 Gets the first group.
389 The wxPython version of this method returns a 3-tuple consisting of the
390 continue flag, the value string, and the index for the next call.
394 In wxPerl this method takes no parameters and returns a 3-element
395 list (continue_flag, string, index_for_getnextentry).
398 virtual bool GetFirstGroup(wxString
& str
, long& index
) const = 0;
404 The wxPython version of this method returns a 3-tuple consisting of the
405 continue flag, the value string, and the index for the next call.
409 In wxPerl this method only takes the @a index parameter and
410 returns a 3-element list (continue_flag, string,
411 index_for_getnextentry).
414 virtual bool GetNextEntry(wxString
& str
, long& index
) const = 0;
420 The wxPython version of this method returns a 3-tuple consisting of the
421 continue flag, the value string, and the index for the next call.
425 In wxPerl this method only takes the @a index parameter and
426 returns a 3-element list (continue_flag, string,
427 index_for_getnextentry).
430 virtual bool GetNextGroup(wxString
& str
, long& index
) const = 0;
433 Get number of entries in the current group.
435 virtual size_t GetNumberOfEntries(bool bRecursive
= false) const = 0;
438 Get number of entries/subgroups in the current group, with or without
441 virtual size_t GetNumberOfGroups(bool bRecursive
= false) const = 0;
456 @name Tests of Existence
461 @return @true if either a group or an entry with a given name exists.
463 bool Exists(const wxString
& strName
) const;
466 Returns the type of the given entry or @e Unknown if the entry doesn't
467 exist. This function should be used to decide which version of Read()
468 should be used because some of wxConfig implementations will complain
469 about type mismatch otherwise: e.g., an attempt to read a string value
470 from an integer key with wxRegConfig will fail.
472 virtual wxConfigBase::EntryType
GetEntryType(const wxString
& name
) const;
475 @return @true if the entry by this name exists.
477 virtual bool HasEntry(const wxString
& strName
) const = 0;
480 @return @true if the group by this name exists.
482 virtual bool HasGroup(const wxString
& strName
) const = 0;
488 @name Miscellaneous Functions
493 Returns the application name.
495 wxString
GetAppName() const;
498 Returns the vendor name.
500 wxString
GetVendorName() const;
508 See @ref configbase_keyaccess
513 Permanently writes all changes (otherwise, they're only written from
514 object's destructor).
516 virtual bool Flush(bool bCurrentOnly
= false) = 0;
519 Read a string from the key, returning @true if the value was read. If
520 the key was not found, @a str is not changed.
523 Not supported by wxPerl.
526 bool Read(const wxString
& key
, wxString
* str
) const;
528 Read a string from the key. The default value is returned if the key
531 @return @true if value was really read, @false if the default was used.
534 Not supported by wxPerl.
537 bool Read(const wxString
& key
, wxString
* str
,
538 const wxString
& defaultVal
) const;
540 Another version of Read(), returning the string value directly.
543 In wxPerl, this can be called as:
544 - Read(key): returns the empty string if no key is found
545 - Read(key, default): returns the default value if no key is found
548 const wxString
Read(const wxString
& key
,
549 const wxString
& defaultVal
) const;
551 Reads a long value, returning @true if the value was found. If the
552 value was not found, @a l is not changed.
555 Not supported by wxPerl.
558 bool Read(const wxString
& key
, long* l
) const;
560 Reads a long value, returning @true if the value was found. If the
561 value was not found, @a defaultVal is used instead.
564 In wxPerl, this can be called as:
565 - ReadInt(key): returns the 0 if no key is found
566 - ReadInt(key, default): returns the default value if no key is found
569 bool Read(const wxString
& key
, long* l
,
570 long defaultVal
) const;
572 Reads a double value, returning @true if the value was found. If the
573 value was not found, @a d is not changed.
576 Not supported by wxPerl.
579 bool Read(const wxString
& key
, double* d
) const;
581 Reads a double value, returning @true if the value was found. If the
582 value was not found, @a defaultVal is used instead.
585 In wxPerl, this can be called as:
586 - ReadFloat(key): returns the 0.0 if no key is found
587 - ReadFloat(key, default): returns the default value if no key is found
590 bool Read(const wxString
& key
, double* d
,
591 double defaultVal
) const;
594 Reads a float value, returning @true if the value was found.
596 With the second overload, if the value was not found, @a defaultVal is
599 Notice that the value is read as a double but must be in a valid range
600 for floats for the function to return @true.
605 Not supported by wxPerl.
609 bool Read(const wxString
& key
, float* f
) const;
610 bool Read(const wxString
& key
, float* f
, float defaultVal
) const;
614 Reads a float value, returning @true if the value was found. If the
615 value was not found, @a b is not changed.
620 Not supported by wxPerl.
623 bool Read(const wxString
& key
, bool* b
) const;
625 Reads a bool value, returning @true if the value was found. If the
626 value was not found, @a defaultVal is used instead.
629 In wxPerl, this can be called as:
630 - ReadBool(key): returns false if no key is found
631 - ReadBool(key, default): returns the default value if no key is found
634 bool Read(const wxString
& key
, bool* d
,
635 bool defaultVal
) const;
637 Reads a binary block, returning @true if the value was found. If the
638 value was not found, @a buf is not changed.
640 bool Read(const wxString
& key
, wxMemoryBuffer
* buf
) const;
642 Reads a value of type T, for which function wxFromString() is defined,
643 returning @true if the value was found. If the value was not found,
644 @a value is not changed.
646 bool Read(const wxString
& key
, T
* value
) const;
648 Reads a value of type T, for which function wxFromString() is defined,
649 returning @true if the value was found. If the value was not found,
650 @a defaultVal is used instead.
652 bool Read(const wxString
& key
, T
* value
,
653 const T
& defaultVal
) const;
656 Reads a bool value from the key and returns it. @a defaultVal is
657 returned if the key is not found.
659 bool ReadBool(const wxString
& key
, bool defaultVal
) const;
662 Reads a double value from the key and returns it. @a defaultVal is
663 returned if the key is not found.
665 double ReadDouble(const wxString
& key
, double defaultVal
) const;
668 Reads a long value from the key and returns it. @a defaultVal is
669 returned if the key is not found.
671 long ReadLong(const wxString
& key
, long defaultVal
) const;
674 Reads a value of type T (for which the function wxFromString() must be
675 defined) from the key and returns it. @a defaultVal is returned if the
678 T
ReadObject(const wxString
& key
, T
const& defaultVal
) const;
681 Writes the wxString value to the config file and returns @true on
684 bool Write(const wxString
& key
, const wxString
& value
);
686 Writes the long value to the config file and returns @true on success.
688 bool Write(const wxString
& key
, long value
);
690 Writes the double value to the config file and returns @true on
693 Notice that if floating point numbers are saved as strings (as is the
694 case with the configuration files used by wxFileConfig), this function
695 uses the C locale for writing out the number, i.e. it will always use a
696 period as the decimal separator, irrespectively of the current locale.
697 This behaviour is new since wxWidgets 2.9.1 as the current locale was
698 used before, but the change should be transparent because both C and
699 current locales are tried when reading the numbers back.
701 bool Write(const wxString
& key
, double value
);
703 Writes the bool value to the config file and returns @true on success.
705 bool Write(const wxString
& key
, bool value
);
707 Writes the wxMemoryBuffer value to the config file and returns @true on
710 bool Write(const wxString
& key
, const wxMemoryBuffer
& buf
);
712 Writes the specified value to the config file and returns @true on
713 success. The function wxToString() must be defined for type @e T.
715 bool Write(const wxString
& key
, T
const& buf
);
721 @name Rename Entries/Groups
723 These functions allow renaming entries or subgroups of the current
724 group. They will return @false on error, typically because either the
725 entry/group with the original name doesn't exist, because the
726 entry/group with the new name already exists or because the function is
727 not supported in this wxConfig implementation.
732 Renames an entry in the current group. The entries names (both the old
733 and the new one) shouldn't contain backslashes, i.e. only simple names
734 and not arbitrary paths are accepted by this function.
736 @return @false if @a oldName doesn't exist or if @a newName already
739 virtual bool RenameEntry(const wxString
& oldName
,
740 const wxString
& newName
) = 0;
743 Renames a subgroup of the current group. The subgroup names (both the
744 old and the new one) shouldn't contain backslashes, i.e. only simple
745 names and not arbitrary paths are accepted by this function.
747 @return @false if @a oldName doesn't exist or if @a newName already
750 virtual bool RenameGroup(const wxString
& oldName
,
751 const wxString
& newName
) = 0;
757 @name Delete Entries/Groups
759 These functions delete entries and/or groups of entries from the config
760 file. DeleteAll() is especially useful if you want to erase all traces
761 of your program presence: for example, when you uninstall it.
766 Delete the whole underlying object (disk file, registry key, ...).
767 Primarly for use by uninstallation routine.
769 virtual bool DeleteAll() = 0;
772 Deletes the specified entry and the group it belongs to if it was the
773 last key in it and the second parameter is @true.
775 virtual bool DeleteEntry(const wxString
& key
,
776 bool bDeleteGroupIfEmpty
= true) = 0;
779 Delete the group (with all subgroups). If the current path is under the
780 group being deleted it is changed to its deepest still existing
781 component. E.g. if the current path is @c "/A/B/C/D" and the group @c C
782 is deleted, the path becomes @c "/A/B".
784 virtual bool DeleteGroup(const wxString
& key
) = 0;
792 Some aspects of wxConfigBase behaviour can be changed during run-time.
793 The first of them is the expansion of environment variables in the
794 string values read from the config file: for example, if you have the
795 following in your config file:
798 # config file for my program
799 UserData = $HOME/data
801 # the following syntax is valud only under Windows
802 UserData = %windir%\\data.dat
805 The call to Read("UserData") will return something like
806 @c "/home/zeitlin/data" on linux for example.
808 Although this feature is very useful, it may be annoying if you read a
809 value which containts '$' or '%' symbols (% is used for environment
810 variables expansion under Windows) which are not used for environment
811 variable expansion. In this situation you may call
812 SetExpandEnvVars(@false) just before reading this value and
813 SetExpandEnvVars(@true) just after. Another solution would be to prefix
814 the offending symbols with a backslash.
819 Returns @true if we are expanding environment variables in key values.
821 bool IsExpandingEnvVars() const;
824 Returns @true if we are writing defaults back to the config file.
826 bool IsRecordingDefaults() const;
829 Determine whether we wish to expand environment variables in key
832 void SetExpandEnvVars(bool bDoIt
= true);
835 Sets whether defaults are recorded to the config file whenever an
836 attempt to read the value which is not present in it is done.
838 If on (default is off) all default values for the settings used by the
839 program are written back to the config file. This allows the user to
840 see what config options may be changed and is probably useful only for
843 void SetRecordDefaults(bool bDoIt
= true);
849 Create a new config object: this function will create the "best"
850 implementation of wxConfig available for the current platform, see
851 comments near the definition of wxCONFIG_WIN32_NATIVE for details. It
852 returns the created object and also sets it as the current one.
854 static wxConfigBase
* Create();
857 Calling this function will prevent @e Get() from automatically creating
858 a new config object if the current one is @NULL. It might be useful to
859 call it near the program end to prevent "accidental" creation of a new
862 static void DontCreateOnDemand();
865 Get the current config object. If there is no current object and
866 @a CreateOnDemand is @true, this creates one (using Create()) unless
867 DontCreateOnDemand() was called previously.
869 static wxConfigBase
* Get(bool CreateOnDemand
= true);
872 Sets the config object as the current one, returns the pointer to the
873 previous current object (both the parameter and returned value may be
876 static wxConfigBase
* Set(wxConfigBase
* pConfig
);