Github issue#491 proposes to use the XDG base directory specification for the personal init file, now called ~/.swiplrc on Unix and the appdata directory followed by SWI-Prolog/swipl.ini on Windows. It is surely a good idea to adopt platform guidelines, but it is also a nice to be consistent over p…

Seeking clarification first: [image] jan: Github issue#491 proposes to use the XDG base directory specification for the personal init file, now called ~/.swiplrc on Unix and the appdata directory followed by SWI-Prolog/swipl.ini on Windows. In issue#491 it notes using XDG base directory wh…

In the proposal the directory for Windows stays the same, but the file name would be changed from swipl.ini to init.pl. The directory comes from win_folder(appdata, AppData). ( win_folder/2 ) ( GitHub )

I guess on MacOS, most non-native GUI applications come from the traditional Unix world using ~/.progname as default location. For real Mac apps they use a dedicated directory. The advantage of a dedicated directory is that we can use consistent file naming conventions for personal Prolog files. …

[image] jan: I guess on MacOS, most non-native GUI applications come from the traditional Unix world using ~/.progname as default location. For real Mac apps they use a dedicated directory. The advantage of a dedicated directory is that we can use consistent file naming conventions for personal …

As I do some research on this I am posting my notes/links here so that others who are interested don’t have to do the same work. I am also making this a wiki so anyone with the privilege can edit and add to it. These are only related to Windows OS. Directory On my Windows system using SWI-Prolo…

[image] pmoura: Apple uses a BSD-derived sub-system. Moreover, unlike Linux, native macOS applications don’t run on top of the BSD sub-system. Given past Apple policies, I would be quite surprised it they adopted something like .config . Indeed. People providing applications via Macports and…

Had a look on my Mac after building the 8.1.14 binary. The Mac is pretty much empty :slight_smile: It seems that As Paulo claims, ~/Library/Preferences is only filled with *.plist files. That doesn’t seem to be a good place. The SWI-Prolog app already has a place there and that seems to be …

On behalf of all Linux users with abused home directories full of dotfiles, yes please! I count 20 dotfiles in my home directory that shouldn’t be there, including my 2 line .swiplrc. As a Linux user trouble is minimal, I’ll just use a soft link from ~/.swiplrc to ~/.config/SWI-Prolog/swiplrc durin…

This is good, especially having the personal packas and library there.

Just to let you know, I completely agree with using XDG on MacOS too! It’s easier to add this for all *nix flavours, and is much easier to sync dotfiles between MacOS and Linux. Please don’t litter our home-dir with ~/.program_dir or ~/.programrc.

Location of personal init file (XDG_CONFIG_HOME)

Request For Comments

jan October 6, 2019, 2:02pm 17

See New config file structure

Topic		Replies	Views
New config file structure Announce breaking-change	0	1238	October 6, 2019
Ann: SWI-Prolog 8.1.15 Releases	21	1576	August 4, 2021
Prolog 8.3.2 GUI can not find [likes] source file Installing	10	2885	June 22, 2020
Ann: SWI-Prolog 9.3.30 Releases	16	346	September 23, 2025
Possible bug with Edit Spy predicates window with 8.1.9 Help!	22	2335	July 20, 2019

Location of personal init file (XDG_CONFIG_HOME)

Related topics