Dave,
On 25/01/19 8:42 AM, Dave wrote:
I'm doing a small application and want to add user preferences. Did
some googling to see if there are standard Python ways/tools, but it
seems not so much. My specific questions are:
1. Best practices for a user preference file/system?
> [edited]
> Would like to find a Python library that handles all of this, but so
far...
=Had a similar need. Also looked around, but failed. Will be interested
in any discussion that follows...
2. File format favored and why - ini, JSON, etc?
=Am no great fan of .ini (a) where it is most used, ie cynicism and
bias; and (b) and because it is too "flat".
=Initially thought to use .conf, comforted by frequent use on Linux
servers, but similar criticism.
(at this point the PSL's configparser bows out)
=Looked at .JSON and liked the syntactic similarities to Python.
(utility available in PSL)
=Settled on .YAML, mostly because not very different to .JSON yet has
specific, applicable design philosophy.
(IIRC picked this up through pip3)
=Ended-up coding my own little utility to call from any/every
application; based on import yaml. Will be interested to see if someone
suggests something I missed back-then...
=Have been gradually adding further facilities, eg commandLN overrides.
Also, been wondering about its applicability to my web work -
particularly when it comes to separating versions, eg "live" from (user
acceptance) "test"...
=Once done, I've noticed myself coding fewer global constants, instead
putting them into the .yaml configuration file. Of course, this adds a
point-of-failure - particularly if the user has access/editing rights on
the file (but with great power, comes ...!)
3. File location? I'm using Ubuntu and I believe that the correct
location would be home/.config/<app-name> . What about Mac and Windows?
=Makes good sense, but ultimately depends upon usage/the application/how
it is to be delivered to the users (and possibly more). Obviously if the
user is not on that machine, or you run on behalf of several users that
won't work (perhaps implement separate .../userNM/ sub-directories and
use such for both config input and any output files/reports).
=Again, will be interested to see others' ideas...
(this smart-alec locates his windows in the wall, and keeps his mac in
the cupboard/closet)
--
Regards =dn
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