Hi All,
I use this procedure to save an inifile using the standard IniFiles unit. The problem I have is that when an .ini file already exists I cannot overwrite it. I need the TextFiles equivalent of Rewrite() for Inifiles. This line: ConfigIni := TIniFile.Create(ChangeFileExt(Application.ExeName, '.ini'));... when the ini file exists fails with an error message of 'unable to create appname.ini'. This is because it cannot create an ini file which already exists. How then do I rewrite the .ini file?
Uses IniFiles;
procedure TMain_Form.SaveIniFile;var ConfigIni: TIniFile; x, y: integer;begin ConfigIni := TIniFile.Create(ChangeFileExt(Application.ExeName, '.ini')); // e.g. fred.exe becomes fred.ini try for x := 1 to max_pats do begin if patterns_list[x].Count > 0 then begin ConfigIni.WriteString('Pattern' + inttostr(x), 'Name', Patterns_list[x].Strings[0]); for y := 1 to patterns_list[x].Count - 1 do ConfigIni.WriteString('Pattern' + inttostr(x), 'Line' + inttostr(y), Patterns_list[x].Strings[y]); end; end;

    ConfigIni.WriteInteger('General', 'Auto Generation Delay', Timer1.Interval);    if current_color_scheme = krgy then      ConfigIni.WriteString('General', 'Current Color Scheme', 'krgy')    else      ConfigIni.WriteString('General', 'Current Color Scheme', 'kmcw');    ConfigIni.WriteBool('General', 'Sound Wanted', Sound_wanted);
    ConfigIni.UpdateFile;  finally    ConfigIni.Free;  end;end;{---------------------------------------------------------}

Best Regards,Peter / pew
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2011/3/15 Peter Williams

Do you have permission for writing the content of the file ?

Ido

LINESIP - Opening the source for communication
http://www.linesip.com
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I've seen such problem with fpc-2.4.3 under win7 64bit only. My workaround is to use TMemIniFile instead of TIniFile. So try that first.

zeljko

{$ define rewrite } ?

If by 'rewrite' you mean 'to clear it and then write it again', then I'd just plain DeleteFile, then create it again.
if by 'rewrite' you mean 'to load its contents and_then clear them and_then write new content' then I'd use the TMemIniFile that can load contents from TString[s][list].

L.

Peter Williams wrote

ConfigIni := TIniFile.Create(ChangeFileExt(Application.ExeName,'.ini'));

You really should not do that in most OS's, even on Windows it is deprecated since win9x.
Most times you will not have write permissions there. Also under *nix this location might not be what you expect it to be...

Use GetAppConfigDir to determine where to put INI files.

Bart

It took me a while until I understand what you wanted to tell... maybe you should have mentioned directly that you mean "writing in the application's directory".

While I agree with you that modifyable configuration should be put into the proper configuration locations I personally see no problem with having a readonly configuration file in the application's directory (yes, I'm aware that this is not cross platform). So the problem could be that the INI file is always opened as "read/write", while at the beginning "read" should be sufficient. This could explain why TMemIniFile works for such cases.

Regards,
Sven

Also consider multi-user environments, or company (network) installations managed by an admin.

DoDi

Hi Bart,

I found the declaration for function GetAppConfigDir in osutilsh.inc but I cannot find the actual function (I am looking in the wrong file). Function GetAppConfigDir(Global : Boolean) : String;Function GetAppConfigFile(Global : Boolean) : String;Function GetAppConfigFile(Global : Boolean; SubDir : Boolean) : String; What is the "Global : Boolean" parameter that it takes? Can someone please give me an example as to how it is called? Thanks,PEW
osutilsh.inc ---
{ This file is part of the Free Pascal run time library. Copyright (c) 1999-2000 by Michael Van Canneyt member of the Free Pascal development team See the file COPYING.FPC, included in this distribution, for details about the copyright. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. **********************************************************************} Type TExecuteFlags = Set of ( ExecInheritsHandles); { OS handling utilities }
{$ifdef HAS_OSERROR}Function GetLastOSError : Integer;{$endif}Procedure RaiseLastOSError;Function GetEnvironmentVariable(Const EnvVar : String) : String;Function GetEnvironmentVariableCount : Integer;Function GetEnvironmentString(Index : Integer) : String;{$IFDEF HAS_SLEEP}procedure Sleep(milliseconds: Cardinal);{$ENDIF}function ExecuteProcess(Const Path: AnsiString; Const ComLine: AnsiString;Flags:TExecuteFlags=[]):integer;function ExecuteProcess(Const Path: AnsiString; Const ComLine: Array of AnsiString;Flags:TExecuteFlags=[]):integer; Function GetTempDir(Global : Boolean) : String;Function GetTempDir : String;Function GetTempFileName(Const Dir,Prefix : String) : String;Function GetTempFileName : String;{ For windows compatibility }function GetTempFileName(Dir,Prefix: PChar; uUnique: DWORD; TempFileName: PChar):DWORD;Function GetAppConfigDir(Global : Boolean) : String;Function GetAppConfigFile(Global : Boolean) : String;Function GetAppConfigFile(Global : Boolean; SubDir : Boolean) : String;Function GetUserDir : String;Function VendorName : String;Function ApplicationName : String; Const ConfigExtension : String = '.cfg'; SysConfigDir : String = ''; Type TGetVendorNameEvent = Function : String; TGetAppNameEvent = Function : String; TGetTempDirEvent = Function (Global : Boolean) : String; TGetTempFileEvent = Function (Const Dir,Prefix : String) : String; Type TEventType = (etCustom,etInfo,etWarning,etError,etDebug); Var OnGetVendorName : TGetVendorNameEvent; OnGetApplicationName : TGetAppNameEvent; OnGetTempDir : TGetTempDirEvent; OnGetTempFile : TGetTempFileEvent;

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If you search the function by clicking on the identifier in Lazarus while pressing "Ctrl" you should be able to use "Ctrl + Shift + Down" to find the declaration.

Alternatively you can search the directory "%lazarus%\fpc\%version%\rtl" to find the implementation (might be some file in the win or win32 directory).

If global is true the system's configuration directory is returned, if false the current user's directory.

E.g.:

Windows 7:
GetAppConfigDir(True):
C:\ProgramData\AppName
GetAppContigDir(False):
C:\Users\Sven\AppData\Local\AppName (or Roaming, I haven't tested, to be honest)

Linux:
GetAppConfigDir(True):
/etc/AppName
GetAppConfigDir(False):
/home/sven/.config/AppName

When you use GetAppConfigFile instead, AppName.cfg is returned instead of AppName.

See also:
http://www.freepascal.org/docs-html/rtl/sysutils/getappconfigdir.html http://www.freepascal.org/docs-html/rtl/sysutils/getappconfigfile.html

Regards,
Sven

Peter Williams wrote

Can someone please give me an example as to how it is called?

Before I forget:

The functions only return a filename, they don't create the file. So you must do that yourself (you can simply pass the result to TIniFile.Create for example).

Regards,
Sven

Hi,

From:
To:
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2011 01:24:46 +1100
Subject: Re: [Lazarus] Unable to rewrite .ini file which exists... error unable to create .ini file. (need to rewrite it).

Hi Bart,

I found the declaration for function GetAppConfigDir in osutilsh.inc but I cannot find the actual function (I am looking in the wrong file). Function GetAppConfigDir(Global : Boolean) : String;Function GetAppConfigFile(Global : Boolean) : String;Function GetAppConfigFile(Global : Boolean; SubDir : Boolean) : String; What is the "Global : Boolean" parameter that it takes? Can someone please give me an example as to how it is called?

I just tried calling Str1 := GetAppConfigDir(true); ShowMessage(Str1); and my app is called Color_Life.exe and it returns "C:\ProgramData\Color_Life\". Since the folder "C:\ProgramData\" exists and it's subfolder "\Color_Life\" does NOT exist, then does this mean that I need to create it myself, or will my call to one of the "MemIniFiles" procedures create the folder for me? Best Regards, PEW
Thanks,PEW
osutilsh.inc ---
{ This file is part of the Free Pascal run time library. Copyright (c) 1999-2000 by Michael Van Canneyt member of the Free Pascal development team See the file COPYING.FPC, included in this distribution, for details about the copyright. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. **********************************************************************} Type TExecuteFlags = Set of ( ExecInheritsHandles); { OS handling utilities }
{$ifdef HAS_OSERROR}Function GetLastOSError : Integer;{$endif}Procedure RaiseLastOSError;Function GetEnvironmentVariable(Const EnvVar : String) : String;Function GetEnvironmentVariableCount : Integer;Function GetEnvironmentString(Index : Integer) : String;{$IFDEF HAS_SLEEP}procedure Sleep(milliseconds: Cardinal);{$ENDIF}function ExecuteProcess(Const Path: AnsiString; Const ComLine: AnsiString;Flags:TExecuteFlags=[]):integer;function ExecuteProcess(Const Path: AnsiString; Const ComLine: Array of AnsiString;Flags:TExecuteFlags=[]):integer; Function GetTempDir(Global : Boolean) : String;Function GetTempDir : String;Function GetTempFileName(Const Dir,Prefix : String) : String;Function GetTempFileName : String;{ For windows compatibility }function GetTempFileName(Dir,Prefix: PChar; uUnique: DWORD; TempFileName: PChar):DWORD;Function GetAppConfigDir(Global : Boolean) : String;Function GetAppConfigFile(Global : Boolean) : String;Function GetAppConfigFile(Global : Boolean; SubDir : Boolean) : String;Function GetUserDir : String;Function VendorName : String;Function ApplicationName : String; Const ConfigExtension : String = '.cfg'; SysConfigDir : String = ''; Type TGetVendorNameEvent = Function : String; TGetAppNameEvent = Function : String; TGetTempDirEvent = Function (Global : Boolean) : String; TGetTempFileEvent = Function (Const Dir,Prefix : String) : String; Type TEventType = (etCustom,etInfo,etWarning,etError,etDebug); Var OnGetVendorName : TGetVendorNameEvent; OnGetApplicationName : TGetAppNameEvent; OnGetTempDir : TGetTempDirEvent; OnGetTempFile : TGetTempFileEvent;

You need to create the path yourself. As I said: those functions just return a string. What you do with it, is up to you.

Regards,
Sven

Hi Sven,

var str1 : string;begin str1 := GetAppConfigDir( true ); ShowMessage( Str1 ); // note: for Fred.exe returns C:\ProgramData\Fred\ if not DirectoryExists(Str1) then // Create Directory Str1 // call to 'mkdir' ??? what about on Linux??? and other platforms? What is the cross-platform way for me to create the directory in Str1 (as returned by GetAppConfigDir) ? I would assume that I need to ShellExecute a command for 'mkdir' for Windows, correct? How about for Linux and Macs, etc? I found this page:
http://wiki.lazarus.freepascal.org/Executing_External_Programs But I have to admit that I was totally lost in what it was trying to explain. An example, please?
Best Regards,PEW

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Weird, I never had such a problem. In fact, one of my application uses it (the others use it implicitly via TIniPropStorage). The only problem I can think of is somehow the file is opened as well by another code and isn't closed. What if you try to debug using gdb so that you can see exactly where it fails.

2011/3/15 Peter Williams :

Use function ForceDirectories in sysutils.

Henry

2011/3/15 Peter Williams :
(...)
var
 ?Str1 : string;
begin
  Str1 := GetAppConfigDir(False);
??if not DirectoryExists(Str1) then
    ForceDirectory(Str1);
(...)

Good luck. ;)

Could Try this one?
http://www.freepascal.org/docs-html/rtl/sysutils/createdir.html ________________________________
William de Oliveira Ferreira
Bacharel em Sistemas de Informa??o

2011/3/15 silvioprog

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2011/3/15 William Oliveira Ferreira :

CreateDir does not create recursive path.

use ForceDirectories from the Sysutils unit:

http://www.freepascal.org/docs-html/rtl/sysutils/forcedirectories.html

Michael.

Oops,

2011/3/15 silvioprog :

  // ForceDirectory(Str1);
? ForceDirectories(Str1);

^^'.

(...) Good luck. ;)

Interestingly, this detail about ForceDirectory I did not know ________________________________
William de Oliveira Ferreira
Bacharel em Sistemas de Informa??o

2011/3/15 silvioprog

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While the others already sent you the correct solution ("ForceDirectories") I just wanted to note, that FPC abstracts all those file and directory related functions for you. There are for example the very low level functions mkdir and rmdir that are part of the System unit.

See here: http://www.freepascal.org/docs-html/rtl/system/mkdir.html

Then there are the functions defined in SysUtils like CreateDir, ForceDirectories and RemoveDir.

See here: http://www.freepascal.org/docs-html/rtl/sysutils/createdir.html

And recent Delphi versions also include a higher level by introducing advanced record types that handle all this:
http://docwiki.embarcadero.com/VCL/en/IOUtils.TDirectory

Regards,
Sven

It is perfectly normal to open and change an existing ini file:

Program Test;
{$mode objfpc}
{$h+}
uses sysutils, inifiles;
var
  F: TIniFile;
  Path: String;
  Value1, Value2: String;
begin
  Path := 'test.ini';
  F := TIniFile.Create(Path);
  if ParamCount > 0 then Value1 := ParamStr(1) else Value1 := 'Value_1';
  if ParamCount > 1 then Value2 := ParamStr(2) else Value2 := 'Value_2';
  Try
    F.WriteString('Section','Item_1',Value1);
    F.WriteString('Section','Item_2',Value2);
  Finally
    F.Free;
  end;
end.

bart at simenon:~/LazarusProjecten/ConsoleProjecten> fpc test.pp Free Pascal Compiler version 2.4.2 [2010/11/08] for i386 Copyright (c) 1993-2010 by Florian Klaempfl
Target OS: Linux for i386
Compiling test.pp
Linking test
23 lines compiled, 0.8 sec
bart at simenon:~/LazarusProjecten/ConsoleProjecten> ./test bart at simenon:~/LazarusProjecten/ConsoleProjecten> cat test.ini [Section]
Item_1=Value_1
Item_2=Value_2

bart at simenon:~/LazarusProjecten/ConsoleProjecten> ./test One Two bart at simenon:~/LazarusProjecten/ConsoleProjecten> cat test.ini [Section]
Item_1=One
Item_2=Two

Now I make the file test.ini read-only:

bart at simenon:~/LazarusProjecten/ConsoleProjecten> chmod -w test.ini bart at simenon:~/LazarusProjecten/ConsoleProjecten> ./test One_One Two_Two An unhandled exception occurred at $08082182 :
EFCreateError : Unable to create file "test.ini"
$08082182
$0808A223
$0807AC8E
$0807AD48
$080481F3

And, as expected, creating the file (with write permissions), fails.

And, changing it back again to read-write access resolves the problem:

bart at simenon:~/LazarusProjecten/ConsoleProjecten> chmod +w test.ini bart at simenon:~/LazarusProjecten/ConsoleProjecten> ./test One_One Two_Two bart at simenon:~/LazarusProjecten/ConsoleProjecten> cat test.ini [Section]
Item_1=One_One
Item_2=Two_Two

Bart

Note that for some cases, security aware programs (CGI, daemons), you have to be a bit more careful. A known dangerous case is stuff like forcedirectories on directory hierarchies where you don't have read permissions (but you do have "x" permissions) on all levels.

And recent Delphi versions also include a higher level by introducing advanced record types that handle all this: http://docwiki.embarcadero.com/VCL/en/IOUtils.TDirectory

Fashion, not function. .NET has everything organized in static classes, and embacadero wants to look more modern.

I wouldn't call this higher level. It is the same level just in OOP style.

Outch... That could indeed be dangerous.

They also want the language to look more like .NET (e.g. the attributes syntax). *sigh* (or in other words: they take the cheap way by reusing the Delphi.NET parser...)

I wouldn't call this higher level. It is the same level just in OOP style.

Ok... fine as well. :)

Regards,
Sven