## wxStandardPaths

wxStandardPaths returns the standard locations in the file system and should be used by applications to find their data files in a portable way.

In the description of the methods below, the example return values are given for the Unix, Windows and Mac OS X systems, however please note that these are just the examples and the actual values may differ. For example, under Windows: the system administrator may change the standard directories locations, i.e. the Windows directory may be named `W:\Win2003` instead of the default `C:\Windows`.

The strings `appname` and `username` should be replaced with the value returned by wxApp::GetAppName and the name of the currently logged in user, respectively. The string `prefix` is only used under Unix and is `/usr/local` by default but may be changed using SetInstallPrefix.

The directories returned by the methods of this class may or may not exist. If they don't exist, it's up to the caller to create them, wxStandardPaths doesn't do it.

Finally note that these functions only work with standardly packaged applications. I.e. under Unix you should follow the standard installation conventions and under Mac you should create your application bundle according to the Apple guidelines. Again, this class doesn't help you to do it.

This class is MT-safe: its methods may be called concurrently from different threads without additional locking.

Derived from

No base class

Include files

<wx/stdpaths.h>

Members

wxStandardPaths::Get
wxStandardPaths::GetConfigDir
wxStandardPaths::GetDataDir
wxStandardPaths::GetInstallPrefix
wxStandardPaths::GetLocalDataDir
wxStandardPaths::GetPluginsDir
wxStandardPaths::GetUserConfigDir
wxStandardPaths::GetUserDataDir
wxStandardPaths::GetUserLocalDataDir
wxStandardPaths::SetInstallPrefix

### wxStandardPaths::Get

static wxStandardPaths& Get()

Returns reference to the unique global standard paths object.

### wxStandardPaths::GetConfigDir

wxString GetConfigDir()

Return the directory containing the system config files.

Example return values:

- Unix: `/etc`
- Windows: `C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data`
- Mac: `/Library/Preferences`

See also

wxFileConfig

### wxStandardPaths::GetDataDir

wxString GetDataDir()

Return the location of the applications global, i.e. not user-specific, data files.

Example return values:

- Unix: `prefix/share/appname`
- Windows: the directory where the executable file is located
- Mac: `appname.app/Contents/SharedSupport` bundle subdirectory

See also

GetLocalDataDir

### wxStandardPaths::GetInstallPrefix

wxString GetInstallPrefix()

Note: This function is only available under Unix.

Return the program installation prefix, e.g. `/usr`, `/opt` or `/home/zeitlin`.

If the prefix had been previously by SetInstallPrefix, returns that value, otherwise tries to determine it automatically (Linux only right now) and finally returns the default `/usr/local` value if it failed.

### wxStandardPaths::GetLocalDataDir

wxString GetLocalDataDir()

Return the location for application data files which are host-specific and can't, or shouldn't, be shared with the other machines.

This is the same as GetDataDir() except under Unix where it returns `/etc/appname`.

### wxStandardPaths::GetPluginsDir

wxString GetPluginsDir()

Return the directory where the loadable modules (plugins) live.

Example return values:

- Unix: `prefix/lib/appname`
- Windows: the directory of the executable file
- Mac: `appname.app/Contents/PlugIns` bundle subdirectory

See also

wxDynamicLibrary

### wxStandardPaths::GetUserConfigDir

wxString GetUserConfigDir()

Return the directory for the user config files:

- Unix: `~` (the home directory)
- Windows: `C:\Documents and Settings\username`
- Mac: `~/Library/Preferences`

Only use this method if you have a single configuration file to put in this directory, otherwise GetUserDataDir() is more appropriate.

### wxStandardPaths::GetUserDataDir

wxString GetUserDataDir()

Return the directory for the user-dependent application data files:

- Unix: `~/.appname`
- Windows: `C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\appname`
- Mac: `~/Library/Application Support/appname`

### wxStandardPaths::GetUserLocalDataDir

wxString GetUserLocalDataDir()

Return the directory for user data files which shouldn't be shared with the other machines.

This is the same as GetUserDataDir() for all platforms except Windows where it returns `C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data\appname`

### wxStandardPaths::SetInstallPrefix

void SetInstallPrefix(const wxString& prefix)

Note: This function is only available under Unix.

Lets wxStandardPaths know about the real program installation prefix on a Unix system. By default, the value returned by GetInstallPrefix is used.

Although under Linux systems the program prefix may usually be determined automatically, portable programs should call this function. Usually the prefix is set during program configuration if using GNU autotools and so it is enough to pass its value defined in `config.h` to this function.