RE: [GD-Windows] Security/access when writing to registry

[Jon W. <hp...@mi...>]

> Is it impossible to put that stuff along with save data in the 
> folder where
> the game was installed ???

Yes; if the game is installed by a user who is administrator, and 
then run by a user who is not, the second user won't be able to 
write to the folder where the game is installed. Lots of older 
games are failing on Windows XP for this reason (or forcing users 
to run as Administrator all the time, which is bad for different 
reasons).

> Personaly I'm swearing each time some "smart" pc developper put settings,
> highscores and save games in some weird location in my computer, 
> because it
> means I cannot backup my game saves.

I'd be happy if they just DOCUMENTED where these were. I use three 
different computers at different times during the week, and I want 
to drag my savegames with me. Some games make finding out what I 
need to drag with me easier than others.

The right thing to do, really, is using the 
SHGetSpecialFolderLocation() call (NT4, Win95) or the 
SHGetFolderLocation() call (Win2k, WinME). Pass 
CSIDL_COMMON_DOCUMENTS on < WinME/Win2k; possibly pass 
CSIDL_COMMON_APPDATA on Win2k and WinME and later (too bad that's 
not available for Win98)

On the MacOS, the FindFolder() function has been around since the 
late '80s, so users are quite used to finding the "settings" folder 
and expecting all application settings to go there.

Cheers,

				/ h+