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Configuration Files

812 bytes added, 20:01, 23 April 2009
m
Reverted edits by 83.84.22.24 (Talk); changed back to last version by Wickr
[[Category:Patterns]]
 
=General rule: use config files for anything local=
 
==Specific rule: Use a configuration file format that can represent complex data==
 
That’s right, I’m looking at you, .ini and .properties files.
 
Use something like YAML, or XML, or even straight programming-language code (i.e., a file with a PHP hash or a perl hashref or whatnot) that can actually represent, in a logical way, the complexities of the stuff you need to configure. And then, again, have a singleton class that will read that data and expose it in a useful and safe way.
 
And include a semantics checker if you can manage to write one. It’ll save everyone a load of trouble.
 
Huge bonus points if your configuration singleton class can read from multiple files, overriding previous (default) definitions with subsequent (local) ones.

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