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KStandardDirs Class Reference

Site-independent access to standard KDE directories. More...

#include <kstandarddirs.h>

List of all members.

Public Methods
	KStandardDirs ()
virtual	~KStandardDirs ()
void	addPrefix (const QString &dir)
bool	addResourceType (const char *type, const QString &relativename)
bool	addResourceDir (const char *type, const QString &absdir)
QString	findResource (const char *type, const QString &filename) const
bool	isRestrictedResource (const char *type, const QString &relPath=QString::null) const
Q_UINT32	calcResourceHash (const char *type, const QString &filename, bool deep) const
QStringList	findDirs (const char *type, const QString &reldir) const
QString	findResourceDir (const char *type, const QString &filename) const
QStringList	findAllResources (const char *type, const QString &filter=QString::null, bool recursive=false, bool uniq=false) const
QStringList	findAllResources (const char *type, const QString &filter, bool recursive, bool uniq, QStringList &relPaths) const
void	addKDEDefaults ()
bool	addCustomized (KConfig *config)
QStringList	resourceDirs (const char *type) const
QStringList	allTypes () const
QString	saveLocation (const char *type, const QString &suffix=QString::null, bool create=true) const
QString	relativeLocation (const char *type, const QString &absPath)
QString	localkdedir () const
Static Public Methods
QString	findExe (const QString &appname, const QString &pathstr=QString::null, bool ignoreExecBit=false)
int	findAllExe (QStringList &list, const QString &appname, const QString &pathstr=QString::null, bool ignoreExecBit=false)
bool	makeDir (const QString &dir, int mode=0755)
QString	kde_default (const char *type)
bool	exists (const QString &fullPath)
QString	realPath (const QString &dirname)
Related Functions
(Note that these are not member functions.)
QString	locate (const char *type, const QString &filename, const KInstance *instance=KGlobal::instance())
QString	locateLocal (const char *type, const QString &filename, const KInstance *instance=KGlobal::instance())

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Detailed Description

Site-independent access to standard KDE directories.

Author:

Stephan Kulow <coolo@kde.org> and Sirtaj Singh Kang <taj@kde.org>

Version:

Id:

kstandarddirs.h,v 1.100.2.1 2003/01/08 16:15:51 waba Exp

This is one of the most central classes in kdelibs as it provides a basic service: It knows where the files reside on the user's hard disk. And it's meant to be the only one that knows -- to make the real location as transparent as possible to both the user and the applications.

To this end it insulates the application from all information and applications always refer to a file with a resource type (e.g. icon) and a filename (e.g. khexdit.xpm). In an ideal world the application would make no assumption where this file is and leave it up to KStandardDirs::findResource("apps", "Home.desktop") to apply this knowledge to return /opt/kde/share/applnk/Home.desktop or locate("data", "kgame/background.jpg") to return /opt/kde/share/apps/kgame/background.jpg

The main idea behind KStandardDirs is that there are several toplevel prefixes below which the files lie. One of these prefixes is the one where the user installed kdelibs, one is where the application was installed, and one is $HOME/.kde, but there may be even more. Under these prefixes there are several well defined suffixes where specific resource types are to be found. For example, for the resource type "html" the suffixes could be share/doc/HTML and share/doc/kde/HTML. So the search algorithm basicly appends to each prefix each registered suffix and tries to locate the file there. To make the thing even more complex, it's also possible to register absolute paths that KStandardDirs looks up after not finding anything in the former steps. They can be useful if the user wants to provide specific directories that aren't in his $HOME/.kde directory for, for example, icons.

@sect Standard resources that kdelibs allocates are:

• apps - Applications menu (.desktop files).
• cache - Cached information (e.g. favicons, web-pages)
• cgi - CGIs to run from kdehelp.
• config - Configuration files.
• data - Where applications store data.
• exe - Executables in $prefix/bin. findExe for a function that takes $PATH into account.
• html - HTML documentation.
• icon - Icons, see KIconLoader.
• lib - Libraries.
• locale - Translation files for KLocale.
• mime - Mime types.
• module - Module (dynamically loaded library).
• qtplugins - Qt plugins (dynamically loaded objects for Qt)
• services - Services.
• servicetypes - Service types.
• scripts - Application scripting additions.
• sound - Application sounds.
• templates - Templates
• wallpaper - Wallpapers.
• tmp - Temporary files (specfic for both current host and current user)
• socket - UNIX Sockets (specific for both current host and current user)

A type that is added by the class KApplication if you use it, is appdata. This one makes the use of the type data a bit easier as it appends the name of the application. So while you had to locate("data", "appname/filename") so you can also write locate("appdata", "filename") if your KApplication instance is called "appname" (as set via KApplication's constructor or KAboutData, if you use the global KStandardDirs object KGlobal::dirs()). Please note though that you cannot use the "appdata" type if you intend to use it in an applet for Kicker because 'appname' would be "Kicker" instead of the applet's name. Therefore, for applets, you've got to work around this by using locate("data", "appletname/filename").

@sect KStandardDirs supports the following environment variables:

• KDEDIRS: This may set an additional number of directory prefixes to search for resources. The directories should be seperated by ':'. The directories are searched in the order they are specified.
• KDEDIR: Used for backwards compatibility. As KDEDIRS but only a single directory may be specified. If KDEDIRS is set KDEDIR is ignored.
• KDEHOME: The directory where changes are saved to. This directory is used to search for resources first. If KDEHOME is not specified it defaults to "$HOME/.kde"
• KDEROOTHOME: Like KDEHOME, but used for the root user. If KDEROOTHOME is not set it defaults to the .kde directory in the home directory of root, usually "/root/.kde". Note that the setting of $HOME is ignored in this case.

See also:

KGlobalSettings

Definition at line 125 of file kstandarddirs.h.

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Constructor & Destructor Documentation

KStandardDirs::KStandardDirs (    )

KStandardDirs' constructor. It just initializes the caches.

virtual KStandardDirs::~KStandardDirs (    )  [virtual]

KStandardDirs' destructor.

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Member Function Documentation

bool KStandardDirs::addCustomized (  KConfig *    config )

Reads customized entries out of the given config object and add them via addResourceDirs(). Parameters: config  The object the entries are read from. This should contain global config files Returns: true if new config paths have been added from config.

void KStandardDirs::addKDEDefaults (    )

This function adds the defaults that are used by the current KDE version. It's a series of addResourceTypes() and addPrefix() calls. You normally wouldn't call this function because it's called for you from KGlobal.

void KStandardDirs::addPrefix (  const QString &    dir )

Adds another search dir to front of the fsstnd list. When compiling kdelibs, the prefix is added to this. KDEDIRS or KDEDIR is taking into account Additional dirs may be loaded from kdeglobals. Parameters: dir  The directory to append relative paths to.

bool KStandardDirs::addResourceDir (  const char *    type, const QString &    absdir )

Adds absolute path at the end of the search path for particular types (for example in case of icons where the user specifies extra paths). You shouldn't need this function in 99% of all cases besides adding user-given paths. Parameters: type  Specifies a short descriptive string to access files of this type. absdir  Points to directory where to look for this specific type. Non-existant directories may be saved but pruned. Returns: true if successful, false otherwise.

bool KStandardDirs::addResourceType (  const char *    type, const QString &    relativename )

Adds suffixes for types. You may add as many as you need, but it is advised that there is exactly one to make writing definite. All basic types (kde_default) are added by addKDEDefaults(), but for those you can add more relative paths as well. The later a suffix is added, the higher its priority. Note, that the suffix should end with / but doesn't have to start with one (as prefixes should end with one). So adding a suffix for app_pics would look like KGlobal::dirs()->addResourceType("app_pics", "share/app/pics"); Parameters: type  Specifies a short descriptive string to access files of this type. relativename  Specifies a directory relative to the root of the KFSSTND. Returns: true if successful, false otherwise.

QStringList KStandardDirs::allTypes (    )

This function will return a list of all the types that KStandardDirs supports. Returns: All types that KDE supports

Q_UINT32 KStandardDirs::calcResourceHash (  const char *    type, const QString &    filename, bool    deep )  const

Returns a number that identifies this version of the resource. When a change is made to the resource this number will change. Parameters: type  The type of the wanted resource filename  A relative filename of the resource. deep  If true, all resources are taken into account otherwise only the one returned by findResource(). Returns: A number identifying the current version of the resource.

bool KStandardDirs::exists (  const QString &    fullPath )  [static]

Checks for existence and accessability. Faster than creating a QFileInfo first. Parameters: fullPath  the path to check Returns: true if the directory exists

int KStandardDirs::findAllExe (  QStringList &    list, const QString &    appname, const QString &    pathstr = QString::null, bool    ignoreExecBit = false )  [static]

Finds all occurences of an executable in the system path. Parameters: list  Will be filled with the pathnames of all the executables found. Will be empty if the executable was not found. appname  The name of the executable for which to search. pathstr  The path list which will be searched. If this is 0 (default), the $PATH environment variable will be searched. ignoreExecBit  If true, an existing file will be returned even if its executable bit is not set. Returns: The number of executables found, 0 if none were found. See also: findExe()

QStringList KStandardDirs::findAllResources (  const char *    type, const QString &    filter, bool    recursive, bool    uniq, QStringList &    relPaths )  const

Tries to find all resources with the specified type. The function will look into all specified directories and return all filenames (full and relative paths) in these directories. Parameters: type  The type of resource to locate directories for. filter  Only accept filenames that fit to filter. The filter may consist of an optional directory and a QRegExp wildcard expression. E.g. "images\*.jpg". Use QString::null if you do not want a filter. recursive  Specifies if the function should decend into subdirectories. uniq  If specified, only return items which have unique suffixes. list  Of relative paths for the given type. relPaths  The list to store the relative paths into These can be used later to locate() the file Returns: A list of directories matching the resource specified, or an empty list if the resource type is unknown.

QStringList KStandardDirs::findAllResources (  const char *    type, const QString &    filter = QString::null, bool    recursive = false, bool    uniq = false )  const

Tries to find all resources with the specified type. The function will look into all specified directories and return all filenames in these directories. Parameters: type  The type of resource to locate directories for. filter  Only accept filenames that fit to filter. The filter may consist of an optional directory and a QRegExp wildcard expression. E.g. "images\*.jpg". Use QString::null if you do not want a filter. recursive  Specifies if the function should decend into subdirectories. uniq  If specified, only return items which have unique suffixes - suppressing duplicated filenames. Returns: A list of directories matching the resource specified, or an empty list if the resource type is unknown.

QStringList KStandardDirs::findDirs (  const char *    type, const QString &    reldir )  const

Tries to find all directories whose names consist of the specified type and a relative path. So would findDirs("apps", "Settings") return /opt/kde/share/applnk/Settings/ /home/joe/.kde/share/applnk/Settings/ Note that it appends / to the end of the directories, so you can use this right away as directory names. Parameters: type  The type of the base directory. reldir  Relative directory. Returns: A list of matching directories, or an empty list if the resource specified is not found.

QString KStandardDirs::findExe (  const QString &    appname, const QString &    pathstr = QString::null, bool    ignoreExecBit = false )  [static]

Finds the executable in the system path. A valid executable must be a file and have its executable bit set. Parameters: appname  The name of the executable file for which to search. pathstr  The path which will be searched. If this is null (default), the $PATH environment variable will be searched. ignoreExecBit  If true, an existing file will be returned even if its executable bit is not set. Returns: The path of the executable. If it was not found, it will return QString::null. See also: findAllExe()

QString KStandardDirs::findResource (  const char *    type, const QString &    filename )  const

Tries to find a resource in the following order: All PREFIX/<relativename> paths (most recent first). All absolute paths (most recent first). The filename should be a filename relative to the base dir for resources. So is a way to get the path to libkdecore.la to findResource("lib", "libkdecore.la"). KStandardDirs will then look into the subdir lib of all elements of all prefixes ($KDEDIRS) for a file libkdecore.la and return the path to the first one it finds (e.g. /opt/kde/lib/libkdecore.la) Parameters: type  The type of the wanted resource filename  A relative filename of the resource. Returns: A full path to the filename specified in the second argument, or QString::null if not found.

QString KStandardDirs::findResourceDir (  const char *    type, const QString &    filename )  const

Tries to find the directory the file is in. It works the same as findResource(), but it doesn't return the filename but the name of the directory. This way the application can access a couple of files that have been installed into the same directory without having to look for each file. findResourceDir("lib", "libkdecore.la") would return the path of the subdir libkdecore.la is found first in (e.g. /opt/kde/lib/) Parameters: type  The type of the wanted resource filename  A relative filename of the resource. Returns: The directory where the file specified in the second argument is located, or QString::null if the type of resource specified is unknown or the resource cannot be found.

bool KStandardDirs::isRestrictedResource (  const char *    type, const QString &    relPath = QString::null )  const

Checks whether a resource is restricted as part of the KIOSK framework. When a resource is restricted it means that user- specific files in the resource are ignored. E.g. by restricting the "wallpaper" resource, only system-wide installed wallpapers will be found by this class. Wallpapers installed under the $KDEHOME directory will be ignored. Parameters: type  The type of the resource to check relPath  A relative path in the resource. Returns: True if the resource is restricted. Since: 3.1

QString KStandardDirs::kde_default (  const char *    type )  [static]

This returns a default relative path for the standard KDE resource types. Below is a list of them so you get an idea of what this is all about. data - share/apps html - share/doc/HTML icon - share/icon config - share/config pixmap - share/pixmaps apps - share/applnk sound - share/sounds locale - share/locale services - share/services servicetypes - share/servicetypes mime - share/mimelnk wallpaper - share/wallpapers templates - share/templates exe - bin lib - lib Returns: Static default for the specified resource. You should probably be using locate() or locateLocal() instead. See also: locate() , locateLocal()

QString KStandardDirs::localkdedir (    )

Returns the toplevel directory in which KStandardDirs will store things. Most likely $HOME/.kde Don't use this function if you can use locateLocal Returns: the toplevel directory

bool KStandardDirs::makeDir (  const QString &    dir, int    mode = 0755 )  [static]

Recursively creates still-missing directories in the given path. The resulting permissions will depend on the current umask setting. permission = mode & ~umask. Parameters: dir  Absolute path of the directory to be made. mode  Directory permissions. Returns: true if successful, false otherwise

QString KStandardDirs::realPath (  const QString &    dirname )  [static]

Expands all symbolic links and resolves references to '/./', '/../' and extra '/' characters in dirname and returns the canonicalized absolute pathname. The resulting path will have no symbolic link, '/./' or '/../' components. Since: 3.1

QString KStandardDirs::relativeLocation (  const char *    type, const QString &    absPath )

Converts an absolute path to a path relative to a certain resource. If "abs = locate(resource, rel)" then "rel = relativeLocation(resource, abs)" and vice versa. Parameters: type  The type of resource. absPath  An absolute path to make relative. Returns: A relative path relative to resource type that will find absPath. If no such relative path exists, absPath will be returned unchanged.

QStringList KStandardDirs::resourceDirs (  const char *    type )  const

This function is used internally by almost all other function as it serves and fills the directories cache. Parameters: type  The type of resource Returns: The list of possible directories for the specified type. The function updates the cache if possible. If the resource type specified is unknown, it will return an empty list. Note, that the directories are assured to exist beside the save location, which may not exist, but is returned anyway.

QString KStandardDirs::saveLocation (  const char *    type, const QString &    suffix = QString::null, bool    create = true )  const

Finds a location to save files into for the given type in the user's home directory. Parameters: type  The type of location to return. suffix  A subdirectory name. Makes it easier for you to create subdirectories. You can't pass filenames here, you _have_ to pass directory names only and add possible filename in that directory yourself. A directory name always has a trailing slash ('/'). create  If set, saveLocation() will create the directories needed (including those given by suffix). Returns: A path where resources of the specified type should be saved, or QString::null if the resource type is unknown.

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The documentation for this class was generated from the following file:

• kstandarddirs.h

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