INIRead (Function)

ONLINE HELP
WINDEV, WEBDEV AND WINDEV MOBILE

Version:

Home | Sign in | English

Help / WLanguage / WLanguage functions / Standard functions / Windows management functions / Miscellaneous WINDEV functions

Reading the persistent values
Miscellaneous
Windows Vista (and later)

WINDEV

WEBDEV

WINDEV Mobile

Others

See also

INIRead (Function)

In french: INILit

Reads the content of an INI file (or the content of a file structured like .INI files). You can get:

the value of a keyword found in a specific section,
the list of keywords found in a section,
the list of file sections.

Example of .INI file

[WD examples]
Name1 = WDInstall
Name2 = WDBench
[Description of WDInstall]
Caption = Use the control panel of Windows
LST = 43
Page = 12

Example

See additional examples

// Read in the [WD Examples] section
INIRead("WD Examples", "Name2", "", "C:\Temp\ExamplesLST.INI")

// Default choice read in the .INI
nProduct is int = Val(INIRead("USER", ...
"LastProd", "", fExeDir() + "\Port.INI"))
IF nProduct > 0 THEN ListSelectPlus(LIST_Product, nProduct)

Syntax

<Result> = INIRead(<Section> [, <Keyword> [, <Not found> [, <File>]]])

<Result>: Character string

Text sought or list of keywords found in the section (the keywords are separated by CR characters),
List of file sections (the sections are separated by CR characters).
Content of <Not found> in the following cases:
the string corresponding to the keyword is empty,
the keyword is not found,
the file is not found.
Empty string (if <Not found> is not specified or if it is equal to an empty string) in the following cases:
the string corresponding to the keyword is empty,
the keyword is not found,
the file is not found.

<Section>: Character string

Name of section to read in the INI file.
If this parameter and <Keyword> correspond to an empty string, <Result> contains the list of sections found in the file, separated by CR characters.

Remark: This name cannot contain the "-" character.
This parameter must be specified.

<Keyword>: Optional character string

Name of the keyword containing the information to read.
If this parameter is an empty string, <Result> contains the list of keywords found in <Section>, separated by CR characters.
This parameter must be specified.

<Not found>: Optional character string or optional integer

Text or integer to be returned if the requested keyword has not been read. This parameter corresponds to an empty string by default.
This parameter can only be a string.
This parameter must be specified.

<File>: Optional character string

Full name of file to read (with its extension).
The WIN.INI file will be used if this parameter is not specified.
If only the name of the file is specified, the specified file will be sought in the directory of Windows.
Full name of file to read (with its extension).
If this parameter is not specified, the file used will be the one named like the project and found in the runtime directory of application.
The file will be created if it does not exist.
If only the path is not specified , the file will be sought in the runtime directory of application.
Full name of file to read (with its extension). This parameter can correspond to a full path or a path relative to the current directory (returned by fCurrentDir). This parameter is case sensitive.
If this parameter is not specified, the file used will be the one named like the project and found in the application runtime directory (current directory). The file will be created if it does not exist.
If only the path is not specified , the file will be sought in the application runtime directory (current directory).
Reminder: In Android, the file system is read-only on the device and on the emulator. An application is only allowed to write to its installation directory or one of its subdirectories, as well as to external memory (SDCard).
Full name of file to read (with its extension). The PHP.INI file will be used if this parameter is not specified. If only the path is not specified , the file will be sought in the current directory.
Full name of file to read (with its extension). The .PCS.conf file will be used if this parameter is not specified (this file must be found in the base directory of the user). If only the path is not specified , the file will be sought in the home directory of the user.
This parameter is mandatory. This parameter can correspond to a full path or a path relative to the current directory (returned by fCurrentDir). This parameter is case-sensitive.
Reminder: On iPhone/iPad, an application has the rights to write into its installation directory or into one of its subdirectories.

Remarks

Reading the persistent values

To read the persistent values in a INI file (saved with SaveParameter), use LoadParameter.

Miscellaneous

To read in the registry, use the functions specific to the registry: RegistryQueryValue, ...
INI files are limited to 64 KB.
TSE: Bu default, INIRead uses the Windows directory.
Caution: Until version 21, INIRead used the user's Windows directory by default.
Reminder: In TSE mode, the access to a '.INI' file with a relative name is not recommended. We advise you to use one of the following solutions:
- SaveParameter and LoadParameter.
- Registry,
- using an absolute name, based on fDataDir for example.
The RegistryXXX functions are not available.
If the INI file contains data containing spaces, this data must be enclosed between quotes. For example:

[MY SECTION]
mydata = "My data containing spaces"

Windows Vista (and later)

The programming standards of Windows do not advise you to write:

into the WIN.INI file,
into the system directories (Windows directory, "Program Files" directory, ...).

In Windows Vista (and later) with the UAC mechanism enabled, the administrator privileges are required to perform these operations. If the application does not have the required administrator privileges, the UAC mechanism will redirect the files (called virtualization) to a directory specific to the user who uses the application (C:\Users\<LOGIN>AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Windows\). Files can be read again with INIRead, used in the same application. This virtualization mechanism of files is proposed by Windows Vista (and later) for compatibility and it is not available in 64 bits.

Caution: If the INI file is automatically virtualized by Windows Vista (and later), the INI file cannot be shared between several applications (especially if these applications use different privileges).

Programming tip: To create a INI file without having the administrator privileges:

do not use the WIN.INI file (the <File> parameter must be specified)
avoid writing to the Windows directory or to the "Program Files" directory,
use the system directory of the application (returned by SysDir with the srAppDataCommun constant, for example).

Business / UI classification: Business Logic

Component: wd280std.dll