Nexus registry
- Posted by kbochert at copper.net Nov 06, 2002
- 414 views
I recently noticed the Nexus thread that mentions the use of the registry for configuration information. For what its worth, I would strongly recommend the use of an INI file. >From MSDN web site: " The Microsoft Computer Dictionary, Fifth Edition, defines the registry as: A central hierarchical database used in Microsoft Windows 9x, Windows CE, Windows NT, and Windows 2000 used to store information necessary to configure the system for one or more users, applications and hardware devices. The Registry contains information that Windows continually references during operation, such as profiles for each user, the applications installed on the computer and the types of documents that each can create, property sheet settings for folders and application icons, what hardware exists on the system, and which ports are being used. The Registry replaces most of the text-based .ini files used in Windows 3.x and MS-DOS configuration files, such as the Autoexec.bat and Config.sys. Although the Registry is common to several Windows platforms, there are some differences among them. " The first two paragraphs clearly state that the registry is used for configuring the operating system. The third paragraph mentions its use to replace .ini files in the same way that it replaces autoexec.bat and config.sys (again, system configuration.) Nowhere is it suggested that the registry is used to store application configuration. Finally, the registry was created to solve the problems introduced by .ini files, but those problems were only caused by the storing of system configuration, not application configuration. Use the registry to communicate with Windows. Use something else for internal persistence. Karl Bochert P.S. Has anyone noticed the new Microsoft installer (.MSI files)? It stores all of an application's uninstall info in the registry (hundreds of entries for a large package). Moreover, it cannot uninstall itself; If you uninstall it by backing up and restoring the registry around it, it goes away but then can not be re-installed. P.P.S. Is it true that the Win98 registry can only grow (no space ever re-used) but newer Windows (XP, 2000) can shrink the registry when entries are removed?