Re: Ini File vs Registry

From:

"Tom Serface" <tom.nospam@camaswood.com>

Newsgroups:

microsoft.public.vc.mfc

Date:

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:43:06 -0700

Message-ID:

<7AB82EC3-BDF8-466B-97AE-257C3A9DE073@microsoft.com>

I think CArchive is useless. It's too much trouble for non-MFC programs to
read and when you want to change versions it's a big hassle. Personally, I
would go with .ini or XML before using CArchive.

Tom

"Joseph M. Newcomer" <newcomer@flounder.com> wrote in message
news:g4l5d4h0vdnh6kbamppf6rjbidb3luna4f@4ax.com...

Key here is that the format has to be schema-independent; if it is
straight CArchive
format it has interesting potential for disaster.
joe
On Fri, 19 Sep 2008 04:08:58 +1000, Ian Semmel
<isemmelNOJUNK@NOKUNKrocketcomp.com.au>
wrote:

For that amount of data, I would write it to a file (I mainly use a
derivative of CArchive format).

I tend to use the registry for execution-to-execution parameters which can
be readily reconstructed from defaults.

As to where to put it, I have a default folder on install which can be
changed by the user via an options dialog.

Cameron_C wrote:

Thanks very much Joe,
I have about 10K of data that varies User to User.
I had not even considered "where" the file would go. So I really
appreciate
the advice regarding the location.
Portability is not a concern to me. Performance is not really an issue.
I have written some code to serialize the various parameters I need.
I was just concerned about dumping 10K of information into the Registry.
It seems that I would somehow be polluting the registry with junk.
On the other hand, I do not know what a best practice is here.
If 10K in the Registry is not a bad design technique, then I will
certainly
switch.

Thanks

"Joseph M. Newcomer" wrote:

How large is "a bit large"? Generally these descriptions have no
meaning. If you say "I
have about 128K of data to store" then I would agree that it seems
large. But you might
mean "300 bytes of data" or "3000 bytes of data", in which case it is
much harder to
justify using files.

Files have several advantages, such as they are editable, they can be
sent to others, etc.
In that case, you would probably want to store them in the user's
AppData folder (you have
not specified where you would keep the .INI file. It would *not* be
kept int the
executable directory, which would represent Worst Possible Practice in
modern
interpretations of good practice).

On the other hand, it is hard to store structured data effectively in a
.INI file; for
example, try storing anything that is other than a simple variable.
Lots of luck. But
you can keep your own data in a .XML file, which can handle structured
data.
joe

On Wed, 17 Sep 2008 06:18:01 -0700, Cameron_C
<CameronC@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

Could someone offer me an opinion on whether or not storing
application
specific information in an INI file rather that the registry could be
considered an "approved" technique.
Everything I have read suggests that information should be stored in
the
registry.

In my case I have a bunch of User customizable reports, and I save the
customization qualifiers in an ININ file, rather than the registry,
since the
volume of information seems a bit large (IMHO) to keep in the
registry.

I am just fishing for some advice here.

Thanks,

Joseph M. Newcomer [MVP]
email: newcomer@flounder.com
Web: http://www.flounder.com
MVP Tips: http://www.flounder.com/mvp_tips.htm