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Unix System

AppDirs Instance Methods

In a Unix based or inspired machine, following AppDirs methods point at the directories below:

val appDirs: AppDirs = AppDirsFactory.getInstance()
val APP_NAME = "myApp"
val APP_VERSION = "0.1.0"

val userDataDir: Path = appDirs.getUserDataDir(APP_NAME, APP_VERSION)
// /home/<username>/.local/share/myApp/0.1.0

val userConfigDir: Path = appDirs.getUserConfigDir(APP_NAME, APP_VERSION)
// /home/<username>/.config/myApp/0.1.0

val userCacheDir: Path = appDirs.getUserCacheDir(APP_NAME, APP_VERSION)
// /home/<username>/.cache/myApp/0.1.0

val userLogDir: Path = appDirs.getUserLogDir(APP_NAME, APP_VERSION)
// /home/<username>/.cache/myApp/logs/0.1.0

val userDownloadsDir: Path = appDirs.getUserDownloadsDir()
// /home/<username>/Downloads

val userDesktopDir: Path = appDirs.getUserDesktopDir()
// /home/<username>/Desktop

val userDocumentsDir: Path = appDirs.getUserDocumentsDir()
// /home/<username>/Documents

val userMusicDir: Path = appDirs.getUserMusicDir()
// /home/<username>/Music

val userPicturesDir: Path = appDirs.getUserPicturesDir()
// /home/<username>/Pictures

val userVideosDir: Path = appDirs.getUserVideosDir()
// /home/<username>/Videos

val siteLocalDataDir: Path = appDirs.getSiteDataDir(APP_NAME, APP_VERSION, local = true)
// /usr/local/share/myApp/0.1.0

val siteDataDir: Path = appDirs.getSiteDataDir(APP_NAME, APP_VERSION)
// /usr/share/myApp/0.1.0

val siteConfigDir: Path = appdirs.getSiteConfigDir(APP_NAME, APP_VERSION)
// /etc/myApp/0.1.0

Notes

  • Unix is the only system that utilizes local argument on getSiteDataDir method.
  • roaming argument on getUserDataDir and getUserConfigDir has no effect in Unix system.
  • appAuthor argument on every method has no effect in Unix system hence it is not used in the examples.
  • Unix system uses forward slashes (/) as the directory separator
  • Instead of harawata's appdirs, getSiteConfigDir points directly under /etc instead of /etc/xdg.

What is meant by "Unix"?

As in some parts of the document, it is meant Unix based or inspired by "Unix" in this section. While GNU/Linux is not a true Unix or Unix-based system, it is widely meant GNU/Linux system in this section of the whole documentation, and, specifically, the ones that utilizes "XDG Base Directory Specification".

What does XDG Base Directory Specification mean?

Tip

hence the term "XDG-compliant"?

XDG Base Directory Specification is a documentation that builds up a couple of environment variables and conventions on where the application-generated files should be kept.

Most GNU/Linux distributions, especially the popular ones, apply and rely on these specifications (with minor differences). You, the developer, should be safe in most environments. On the other hand, any BSD-based operating system might choose to apply XDG Base Directory Specification or not.

kappdirs automatically assumes that the target Unix machine is already XDG-compliant, but it does not call the specified environment variables, instead it relies on $HOME or basic directory structure of most GNU/Linux distributions in its AppDirs instance methods.

How can I know a system is XDG-compliant, then?

If you've checked out the documentation, you can programmatically check for the specified environment variables via System.getenv and see if they return any value.

If you have enough evidence that the machine which your program is running on is not XDG-compliant, then, most likely, you will not be able to use kappdirs on that target machine properly.

If you think it should be implemented, you can open an issue, send a PR of your implementation or, better for your time and my effort, implement into your project privately and never share.

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