MFC C++ Reference INI file in application folder after deployment

Question

Hoping for some help here, as I am tearing my hair out!I'm using Visual Studio 2010.

I have an MFC C++ application to deploy. I have a config.ini file that I'd like referenced when the exe starts. At the moment the user cannot double click on a *.myfile and it open, because the application does not "start in" the application folder (where I am installing the ini file to), and so cannot find the ini. I've tried the following

I tried finding info on setting the "start in" folder for the &Open action, but cannot find anything.
I can't find any info on setting a registry value of the ini file at installation, since this would be a relative reference depending on the user's choice, and so this doesn't apply.
It is unmanaged so the C++/CLI app.config solution doesn't apply.
Using the Application Data folder, but this gives me the wrong path - I'm using Windows 7, this is probably why, but I want my deployment to work on Windows XP ++.
Reading the app path at start up (from here) (put this in CMyApp::InitInstance().

Code:

CString strPath;
TCHAR* pstrExePath = strPath.GetBuffer (MAX_PATH);
::GetModuleFileName (0, pstrExePath, MAX_PATH);
strPath.ReleaseBuffer();
int pos = strPath.ReverseFind('\\');
strPath = strPath.Left(pos);
strPath += "\\config.ini";

This is the closest, but in debug mode there is a weird "\.\" in the path invalidating it. I could use a #ifdebug but this is messy surely?

Really appreciate any help - thanks!

EDIT:

Using this:

TCHAR szPath[MAX_PATH];
if (SUCCEEDED(SHGetFolderPath(NULL, CSIDL_COMMON_APPDATA, NULL, 0, szPath)))
{
    MessageBox(NULL,szPath, "MyApp", MB_OK|MB_ICONWARNING);
}

I get: "C:\ProgramData" as the szPath. Maybe this is right for debug mode? Or the development machine?

Can you explain further how the Application Data folder is not working? This is the best place, as it will have write-access permissions and your program folder will not in Vista and 7. — Mark Ransom, Jul 08 '11 at 16:55
Mark, thanks for replying. I've added more on the App Data folder problem. — Colin, Jul 08 '11 at 17:01
C:\ProgramData is correct for Win7. It'll be different for XP. Edit: and the code you've used should get the different path under XP (i.e. the correct one :) — tinman, Jul 08 '11 at 17:02
Is this the "Users Application Data Folder" in the File System (Setup)? Will it install as: "C:\ProgramData\\[manufacturer]\\[software]\\" under W7, and as appropriate under other Win OS? Thanks for all the help! — Colin, Jul 08 '11 at 17:04
I don't use the VS deployment tool, but from reading the docs at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/s2esdf4x.aspx I would say no. This is the "Common Application Data Folder", which is probably also the description of CSIDL_COMMON_APPDATA (Common Application Data). It should pick up the correct folder under XP as the installer will just use the same SHGetFolderPath() mechanism to get the correct path during deployment. — tinman, Jul 08 '11 at 17:11
Didn't see that page! Thanks tinman. The "Users Application Data Folder" installs to "C:\Users\\[user]\AppData\Roaming\". The easiest surely is the application folder itself. Does anyone know why the "\.\" appears in the file path? — Colin, Jul 08 '11 at 17:20
Depends whether the settings need to be per computer (put it in common) or per user. The per user option is more complex because the file may not exist depending on what user installed the app vs who is running it. There are also issues uninstalling per user settings. As for the "\.\" are you running from the IDE at the time? — tinman, Jul 08 '11 at 20:05
Hey tinman: yes I was running it through the IDE. Is there a name for the \.\ thing? I've googled to no avail. Thanks again for the help so far! — Colin, Jul 08 '11 at 23:41
Why not `CSIDL_APPDATA`? Is your file actually stored there? — Ajay, Jul 09 '11 at 03:37

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:04

Thanks for all the input and prompts. It helped me get to this solution. Hopefully it helps some others to have the info in one place. This solution is a very simple one and probably not for full commercial deployment!

In VS2010 in the FileSystem (Setup) put the config file in the User's Application Data Folder \ Productname
Set InstallAllUsers to false, so that you don't need conditionals on where your config file is located, based on the user's installation choice
In the InitInstance() function add something like the following:

[listbreaker]

TCHAR szPath[MAX_PATH] = {0};
if(SUCCEEDED(SHGetFolderPath(NULL, CSIDL_APPDATA|CSIDL_FLAG_CREATE,NULL,SHGFP_TYPE_CURRENT,szPath))) 
{
    PathAppend(szPath, "\\MyApp\\");
            // Can check to create the directory here
    //if (!PathFileExists(szPath))
    //  CreateDirectory(szPath, NULL);
    PathAppend(szPath, TEXT("MyApp.ini"));
            // can check to create default file here if removed by user
    //if (!PathFileExists(szPath))
        //g_ConfigData.write_default()  // be nice if it could write itself
    //MessageBox(NULL,szPath, "MyApp", MB_OK|MB_ICONWARNING);
}
if (!g_ConfigData.ReadData( szPath ) )
    MessageBox(NULL,"Configuration file cannot be read", "MyApp", MB_OK|MB_ICONWARNING);

Some useful links that really helped me on this are:

I'd appreciate any further help on this, as I'm sure there are more refined and flexible solutions (e.g. handling "All Users" choice on installation).

MFC C++ Reference INI file in application folder after deployment

1 Answers1