wxStandardPaths

wxStandardPaths returns the standard locations in the file system and should be used by applications to find their data files in a portable way.

Please note that this is not a real class because object of this type are never created but more a namespace containing the class methods which are all static, so to use wxStandardPaths simply call its methods directly.

In the description of the methods below, the example return values are given for the Unix, Windows and Mac OS X systems, however please note that these are just the examples and the actual values may differ. For example, under Windows: the system administrator may change the standard directories locations, i.e. the Windows directory may be named W:$\backslash$Win2003 instead of the default C:$\backslash$Windows.

The strings appname and username should be replaced with the value returned by wxApp::GetAppName and the name of the currently logged in user, respectively. The string prefix is only used under Unix and is /usr/local by default but may be changed using SetInstallPrefix.

The directories returned by the methods of this class may or may not exist. If they don't exist, it's up to the caller to create them, wxStandardPaths doesn't do it.

Finally note that these functions only work with standardly packaged applications. I.e. under Unix you should follow the standard installation conventions and under Mac you should create your application bundle according to the Apple guidelines. Again, this class doesn't help you to do it.

This class is MT-safe: its methods may be called concurrently from different threads without additional locking.

Derived from

No base class

Include files

<wx/stdpaths.h>

wxStandardPaths::GetConfigDir

static wxString GetConfigDir(void)

Return the directory containing the system config files.

Example return values:

• Unix: /etc
• Windows: C:$\backslash$Documents and Settings$\backslash$All Users$\backslash$Application Data
• Mac: /Library/Preferences

See also

wxFileConfig

wxStandardPaths::GetDataDir

static wxString GetDataDir(void)

Return the location of the applications global, i.e. not user-specific, data files.

Example return values:

• Unix: prefix/share/appname
• Windows: the directory where the executable file is located
• Mac: appname.app/Contents/SharedSupport bundle subdirectory

See also

GetLocalDataDir

wxStandardPaths::GetInstallPrefix

static wxString GetInstallPrefix(void)

Note: This function is only available under Unix.

Return the program installation prefix, e.g. /usr, /opt or /home/zeitlin.

If the prefix had been previously by SetInstallPrefix, returns that value, otherwise tries to determine it automatically (Linux only right now) and finally returns the default /usr/local value if it failed.

wxStandardPaths::GetLocalDataDir

static wxString GetLocalDataDir(void)

Return the location for application data files which are host-specific and can't, or shouldn't, be shared with the other machines.

This is the same as GetDataDir() except under Unix where it returns /etc/appname.

wxStandardPaths::GetPluginsDir

static wxString GetPluginsDir(void)

Return the directory where the loadable modules (plugins) live.

Example return values:

• Unix: prefix/lib/appname
• Windows: the directory of the executable file
• Mac: appname.app/Contents/PlugIns bundle subdirectory

See also

wxDynamicLibrary

wxStandardPaths::GetUserConfigDir

static wxString GetUserConfigDir(void)

Return the directory for the user config files:

• Unix:   (the home directory)
• Windows: C:$\backslash$Documents and Settings$\backslash$username
• Mac:  /Library/Preferences

Only use this method if you have a single configuration file to put in this directory, otherwise GetUserDataDir() is more appropriate.

wxStandardPaths::GetUserDataDir

static wxString GetUserDataDir(void)

Return the directory for the user-dependent application data files:

• Unix:  /.appname
• Windows: C:$\backslash$Documents and Settings$\backslash$username$\backslash$Application Data$\backslash$appname
• Mac:  /Library/Application Support/appname

wxStandardPaths::GetUserLocalDataDir

static wxString GetUserLocalDataDir(void)

Return the directory for user data files which shouldn't be shared with the other machines.

This is the same as GetUserDataDir() for all platforms except Windows where it returns C:$\backslash$Documents and Settings$\backslash$username$\backslash$Local Settings$\backslash$Application Data$\backslash$appname

wxStandardPaths::SetInstallPrefix

static void SetInstallPrefix(const wxString& prefix)

Note: This function is only available under Unix.

Lets wxStandardPaths know about the real program installation prefix on a Unix system. By default, the value returned by GetInstallPrefix is used.

Although under Linux systems the program prefix may usually be determined automatically, portable programs should call this function. Usually the prefix is set during program configuration if using GNU autotools and so it is enough to pass its value defined in config.h to this function.