[Scummvm-devel] different default savepath for *nix

[Max Horn]

Am 17.04.2004 um 23:50 schrieb Jonathan Gray:

> On Sun, 2004-04-18 at 00:08, M. Uli Kusterer wrote:
>> At 14:27 Uhr +0200 17.04.2004, Max Horn wrote:
>>> Is there any reason for the above locations outside the CWD, besides
>>> making ScummVM working out-of-the box on read-only volumes?
>
> Yes I doubt people like having their desktop or other directories they
> choose to launch ScummVM from full of savegames.  The behaviour of
> dumping saves in the CWD is inconsistent with most every game I have
> installed...

Most every game I have installed store savegames in the same directory  
they reside in, into a subdir of that directory to be precise. Which  
corresponds to the CWD, at least on OSX. Examples include Escape  
Velocity, Neverwinter Nights, Diablo 2, WarCraft III, StarCraft, Unreal  
200x, and many many more.

Of course it shouldn't "clutter the desktop", I agree with that. But  
that doesn't mean we have to jump to the direct opposite. IMHO  
defaulting to a "Saves" or "Savegames" subdirectory next to ScummVM.app  
makes more sense, at least on Mac OS X. Of course it doesn't make sense  
if you have installed "scummvm" into /usr/local/bin on your Linux box.


>
>> Hi Max, let me unlurk for a moment :-)
>>
>>   I personally would prefer if ScummVM didn't litter the directory it
>> lives in with savegames. As I can't double-click a savegame to play
>> it (on MacOS X, at least), it is really annoying to have oodles of
>> "useless" file icons interspersed with my games and the ScummVM app.
>>
>>   So, IMHO "Preferences" or "Application Support" would be the ideal
>> choice for savegames IMHO.
>
> Doing a quick poll of the games I have installed it seems "Application
> Support" is more popular for save games.

Popular maybe yes, correct, no. That location is meant for "[...]  
nondata items such as third-party plug-ins, helper applications,  
templates, and additional resources that can be used by the application  
but are not required for it to operate.". This is a quote from  
<http://developer.apple.com/documentation/MacOSX/Conceptual/ 
BPFileSystem/Concepts/LibraryDirectory.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/ 
20002282>


>
>>> Why not rather have ScummVM check, when it is being started, whether
>>> the active savepath (whatever it is), is writable. If not, pop up a
>>> dialog to the user, tell 'em about it, and let them choose another
>>> location, which is then stored in the config file.
>>
> Surely both can be used?

Indeed.

>
>>   This sounds like a useful feature for the other Unices/Linuxen.
>> Though I still think that only a command-line tool should be allowed
>> to create files in the CWD. It should at least create a directory and
>> put those files in there, IMHO. But I admit I'm not too well
>> acquainted with Unix dos and don'ts, so feel free to correct me on
>> that latter part.
>
> Most command line utilities write to stdout by default and optionally a
> file via a command line parameter.  In any event ScummVM isn't what I'd
> class as a command line utility.
>
ScummVM isn't a command line utility, at least no in the traditional  
meaning, aye.



Bye,

Max