Re: silly problems with program directory

[Tristan Van Berkom <tristan van berkom gmail com>]

Yiannis wrote:

> On 08/06/06, David NeÃas (Yeti) <yeti physics muni cz> wrote:
>
> > On Thu, Jun 08, 2006 at 04:47:13PM +0100, Yiannis wrote:
> > > I am having a slight problem with the program directory. What I 
> > mean is
> > that
> > > when I run a program from the directory that all the files are 
> > lying it
> > is
> > > fine.... but if I create a symbolic link and I run it from another
> > directory
> > > then the program directory is the current one of the symbolic link 
> > which
> > > means that none of my configuration and glade xml files are 
> > found.... Is
> > > there any easy solution to that?
> >
> > The solution is NOT to make your program dependent on the
> > directory it was run from and use compiled-in paths [+ env
> > variables] [+ command line options] to specify the location
> > -- which I believe is the norm.
>
>
>
> Thanks, for that  it seems that common sense is the normal in this 
> case as
> that's what I ve done so far in my programs, ie use some kind of command
> line argument specifying the program directory. However, my "fears" 
> are true
> as 1) A simple user wont have a clue of what a command line argument 
> is 2) A
> simple user would prefer a double-click execute-program behaviour which
> leaves me with the option the way I see it of writing some kind of
> install-file (*swear*):). I wonder how evinve is setup for example as you
> can create a link anywhere and it will run just fine....
Install you data files in a well known location, if you are using glade 
files;
install them in /usr/share/my_app/data or something similar, and get
autofoo to tell you the path in your config.h... so if the user installs
into an optional prefix; it will be compiled in (i.e. 
/usr/local/share/my_app...).

I dont think its right to provide command line interface for this sort
of thing; its none of the user's bussiness where the app keeps its
private data files.

Nobody likes to set the $MOZILLA_FIVE_HOME to prevent gtkmozembed
applications from segfaulting on some sites; so dont be another gecko ;-)

Assuming that the users/sysadmins dont start moving your apps distributed
files around the system; it should all work out fine using the traditional
autofoo methods.

Cheers,
                               -Tristan