I am developing an app for Windows and Mac, and I need some help regarding how should I organize the file structure of my input data (e.g. Configuration files), so that I can make it easy to use for Mac. Here is how I set it up for Windows: I have a very simple program that reads some data from the directory data. In Windows I created an example.exe and the data folder lives next to it. If the user needs to process more data (that receive in an email), she just needs to put it the file in the folder and double click on example.exe. Here is what I have done for Mac Os: I managed to create the DMG but I have no idea where to put the data folder.

(Hint: if you hit the spacebar before selecting anything, the pointer will change to a camera, and you can click on any window, or even things like the menu bar or the Dock, to save it as an image of just that window/object/whatever with a transparent background, complete with shadows. By far the coolest kind of screenshot, IMO.:P) Adding the Ctrl key to either of these (i.e. What paint for washing machine.

You wouldneed a special type of program or software to open or convert thistype of file. To open a.cfg extension file, use a program calledFree File Viewer. Unfortunately Netgear have decided, with their newer router models, to use a binary file format for cfg files. These cannot be edited in a text editor (in any meaningful way). The file format has not been documented by Netgear, so even editing the file with a hex editor won't help.

Hardcoding another folder (e.g. HOME or Desktop) works, but it just doesn't feel right. I thought of having a Button that opens a Dialog to specify the folder, but then I need to save the path for the next time the user opens the application. In order to save this path, I need a configuration file or workspace. So, again, I need a path where I can find the configuration file.

What would be the expected behaviour from a Mac usability perspective, and how I would go about it in terms of directory locations and configuration files? I would say there is nothing wrong with having the data folder live side by side with the executable python script in macOS. I'm assuming this is a script only with no GUI. If there was a GUI, I say the user should be encouraged to copy the application into /Applications (or ~/Applications), then provide a way for the user to select a 'data' folder using a dialog box. I think the best solution, though, that will work for both Windows and macOS is to allow the data directory's path to be specified as a command-line argument. If none is specified, it can default to./data If you want to save the user-specified setting for the path to the data directory, a good, mac-like technique is to use the defaults system.

You can easily read and write defaults in a script using the defaults read and defaults write commands. Defaults work using to help ensure that they are unique across all applications.

Lets say your organization is named ttwidgets, if you had a website named ttwidgets.com and this script is named pywidget, you would use the domain com.ttwidgets.pywidget. The syntax to set the default is:% defaults write com.ttwidgets.pywidget datapath /user/specified/path This is then managed by macOS and stored persistently. You can read back the setting if it exists again later using:% defaults read com.ttwidgets.pywidget datapath /user/specified/path if nothing is set (e.g., first use), you will get an error (and the command returns a non-zero return code:% defaults read com.ttwidgets.pywidget an_unset_variable 2018-04-21 12:08:40.179 defaults[790] The domain/default pair of (com.ttwidgets.pywidget, an_unset_variable) does not exist% echo $? 1 This should provide all the tools necessary to use macOS's built-in preferred method for persistently storing key/value settings for applications.

Advertisement The vast majority of the computer programs we use — be they office suites, web browsers, or even video games — are configured through a system of menu interfaces. It has almost become the default way we use our machines. But some programs require you to take a step beyond that, and you actually have to edit a text file in order to get them to run as you wish. These text files are — unsurprisingly enough — called “config files”.

If you want to take the leap from “user” to “power user”, you’re going to need to know how to tweak them. What Are Config Files? Before we get into the technical nitty-gritty, let’s first concretely define what a configuration file is. Config files are essentially files that contain information required for the successful operation of a program, which are structured in a particular way. Rather than being hard-coded in the program, they are user-configurable, and are typically stored in a plaintext file (although I have previously seen programs that have used Have you ever found yourself in need of a database, but you can't really afford Microsoft Access, and you certainly can't afford to install and operate an Oracle server at home. Whether your goal is.

As their config files). Surprisingly, there’s no defined standard on how config files should work, or what they should look like.