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7
8# `directories`
9
10## Introduction
11
12- a tiny mid-level library with a minimal API
13- that provides the platform-specific, user-accessible locations
14- for retrieving and storing configuration, cache and other data
15- on Linux, Redox, Windows (≥ Vista), macOS and other platforms.
16
17The library provides the location of these directories by leveraging the mechanisms defined by
18- the [XDG base directory](https://standards.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html) and
19  the [XDG user directory](https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/xdg-user-dirs/) specifications on Linux
20- the [Known Folder](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/dd378457.aspx) API on Windows
21- the [Standard Directories](https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/FileManagement/Conceptual/FileSystemProgrammingGuide/FileSystemOverview/FileSystemOverview.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40010672-CH2-SW6)
22  guidelines on macOS
23
24## Platforms
25
26This library is written in Rust, and supports Linux, Redox, macOS and Windows.
27Other platforms are also supported; they use the Linux conventions.
28
29_dirs_, the low-level sister library, is available at [dirs-rs](https://github.com/soc/dirs-rs).
30
31A version of this library running on the JVM is provided by [directories-jvm](https://github.com/soc/directories-jvm).
32
33## Usage
34
35#### Dependency
36
37Add the library as a dependency to your project by inserting
38
39```toml
40directories = "3.0"
41```
42
43into the `[dependencies]` section of your Cargo.toml file.
44
45If you are upgrading from version 2, please read the [section on breaking changes](#3) first.
46
47#### Example
48
49Library run by user Alice:
50
51```rust
52extern crate directories;
53use directories::{BaseDirs, UserDirs, ProjectDirs};
54
55if let Some(proj_dirs) = ProjectDirs::from("com", "Foo Corp",  "Bar App") {
56    proj_dirs.config_dir();
57    // Lin: /home/alice/.config/barapp
58    // Win: C:\Users\Alice\AppData\Roaming\Foo Corp\Bar App\config
59    // Mac: /Users/Alice/Library/Application Support/com.Foo-Corp.Bar-App
60}
61
62if let Some(base_dirs) = BaseDirs::new() {
63    base_dirs.executable_dir();
64    // Lin: Some(/home/alice/.local/bin)
65    // Win: None
66    // Mac: None
67}
68
69if let Some(user_dirs) = UserDirs::new() {
70    user_dirs.audio_dir();
71    // Lin: /home/alice/Music
72    // Win: C:\Users\Alice\Music
73    // Mac: /Users/Alice/Music
74}
75```
76
77## Design Goals
78
79- The _directories_ library is designed to provide an accurate snapshot of the system's state at
80  the point of invocation of `BaseDirs::new`, `UserDirs::new` or `ProjectDirs::from`.<br/>
81  Subsequent changes to the state of the system are not reflected in values created prior to such a change.
82- This library does not create directories or check for their existence. The library only provides
83  information on what the path to a certain directory _should_ be.<br/>
84  How this information is used is a decision that developers need to make based on the requirements
85  of each individual application.
86- This library is intentionally focused on providing information on user-writable directories only,
87  as there is no discernible benefit in returning a path that points to a user-level, writable
88  directory on one operating system, but a system-level, read-only directory on another.<br/>
89  The confusion and unexpected failure modes of such an approach would be immense.
90  - `executable_dir` is specified to provide the path to a user-writable directory for binaries.<br/>
91    As such a directory only commonly exists on Linux, it returns `None` on macOS and Windows.
92  - `font_dir` is specified to provide the path to a user-writable directory for fonts.<br/>
93    As such a directory only exists on Linux and macOS, it returns `None` on Windows.
94  - `runtime_dir` is specified to provide the path to a directory for non-essential runtime data.
95    It is required that this directory is created when the user logs in, is only accessible by the
96    user itself, is deleted when the user logs out, and supports all filesystem features of the
97    operating system.<br/>
98    As such a directory only commonly exists on Linux, it returns `None` on macOS and Windows.
99
100## Features
101
102### `BaseDirs`
103
104The intended use case for `BaseDirs` is to query the paths of user-invisible standard directories
105that have been defined according to the conventions of the operating system the library is running on.
106
107If you want to compute the location of cache, config or data directories for your own application or project, use `ProjectDirs` instead.
108
109| Function name    | Value on Linux                                                                                  | Value on Windows            | Value on macOS                      |
110| ---------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------- | ----------------------------------- |
111| `home_dir`       | `$HOME`                                                                                         | `{FOLDERID_Profile}`        | `$HOME`                             |
112| `cache_dir`      | `$XDG_CACHE_HOME`              or `$HOME`/.cache                                                | `{FOLDERID_LocalAppData}`   | `$HOME`/Library/Caches              |
113| `config_dir`     | `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME`             or `$HOME`/.config                                               | `{FOLDERID_RoamingAppData}` | `$HOME`/Library/Application Support |
114| `data_dir`       | `$XDG_DATA_HOME`               or `$HOME`/.local/share                                          | `{FOLDERID_RoamingAppData}` | `$HOME`/Library/Application Support |
115| `data_local_dir` | `$XDG_DATA_HOME`               or `$HOME`/.local/share                                          | `{FOLDERID_LocalAppData}`   | `$HOME`/Library/Application Support |
116| `executable_dir` | `Some($XDG_BIN_HOME`/../bin`)` or `Some($XDG_DATA_HOME`/../bin`)` or `Some($HOME`/.local/bin`)` | `None`                      | `None`                              |
117| `preference_dir` | `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME`             or `$HOME`/.config                                               | `{FOLDERID_RoamingAppData}` | `$HOME`/Library/Preferences         |
118| `runtime_dir`    | `Some($XDG_RUNTIME_DIR)`       or `None`                                                        | `None`                      | `None`                              |
119
120### `UserDirs`
121
122The intended use case for `UserDirs` is to query the paths of user-facing standard directories
123that have been defined according to the conventions of the operating system the library is running on.
124
125| Function name    | Value on Linux                                                         | Value on Windows                 | Value on macOS                 |
126| ---------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------- | ------------------------------ |
127| `home_dir`       | `$HOME`                                                                | `{FOLDERID_Profile}`             | `$HOME`                        |
128| `audio_dir`      | `Some(XDG_MUSIC_DIR)`           or `None`                              | `Some({FOLDERID_Music})`         | `Some($HOME`/Music/`)`         |
129| `desktop_dir`    | `Some(XDG_DESKTOP_DIR)`         or `None`                              | `Some({FOLDERID_Desktop})`       | `Some($HOME`/Desktop/`)`       |
130| `document_dir`   | `Some(XDG_DOCUMENTS_DIR)`       or `None`                              | `Some({FOLDERID_Documents})`     | `Some($HOME`/Documents/`)`     |
131| `download_dir`   | `Some(XDG_DOWNLOAD_DIR)`        or `None`                              | `Some({FOLDERID_Downloads})`     | `Some($HOME`/Downloads/`)`     |
132| `font_dir`       | `Some($XDG_DATA_HOME`/fonts/`)` or `Some($HOME`/.local/share/fonts/`)` | `None`                           | `Some($HOME`/Library/Fonts/`)` |
133| `picture_dir`    | `Some(XDG_PICTURES_DIR)`        or `None`                              | `Some({FOLDERID_Pictures})`      | `Some($HOME`/Pictures/`)`      |
134| `public_dir`     | `Some(XDG_PUBLICSHARE_DIR)`     or `None`                              | `Some({FOLDERID_Public})`        | `Some($HOME`/Public/`)`        |
135| `template_dir`   | `Some(XDG_TEMPLATES_DIR)`       or `None`                              | `Some({FOLDERID_Templates})`     | `None`                         |
136| `video_dir`      | `Some(XDG_VIDEOS_DIR)`          or `None`                              | `Some({FOLDERID_Videos})`        | `Some($HOME`/Movies/`)`        |
137
138### `ProjectDirs`
139
140The intended use case for `ProjectDirs` is to compute the location of cache, config or data directories for your own application or project,
141which are derived from the standard directories.
142
143| Function name    | Value on Linux                                                                     | Value on Windows                                    | Value on macOS                                       |
144| ---------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- |
145| `cache_dir`      | `$XDG_CACHE_HOME`/`<project_path>`        or `$HOME`/.cache/`<project_path>`       | `{FOLDERID_LocalAppData}`/`<project_path>`/cache    | `$HOME`/Library/Caches/`<project_path>`              |
146| `config_dir`     | `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME`/`<project_path>`       or `$HOME`/.config/`<project_path>`      | `{FOLDERID_RoamingAppData}`/`<project_path>`/config | `$HOME`/Library/Application Support/`<project_path>` |
147| `data_dir`       | `$XDG_DATA_HOME`/`<project_path>`         or `$HOME`/.local/share/`<project_path>` | `{FOLDERID_RoamingAppData}`/`<project_path>`/data   | `$HOME`/Library/Application Support/`<project_path>` |
148| `data_local_dir` | `$XDG_DATA_HOME`/`<project_path>`         or `$HOME`/.local/share/`<project_path>` | `{FOLDERID_LocalAppData}`/`<project_path>`/data     | `$HOME`/Library/Application Support/`<project_path>` |
149| `preference_dir` | `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME`/`<project_path>`       or `$HOME`/.config/`<project_path>`      | `{FOLDERID_RoamingAppData}`/`<project_path>`/config | `$HOME`/Library/Preferences/`<project_path>`         |
150| `runtime_dir`    | `Some($XDG_RUNTIME_DIR`/`_project_path_)`                                          | `None`                                              | `None`                                               |
151
152The specific value of `<project_path>` is computed by the
153
154    ProjectDirs::from(qualifier: &str,
155                      organization: &str,
156                      application: &str)
157
158function and varies across operating systems. As an example, calling
159
160    ProjectDirs::from("org"         /*qualifier*/,
161                      "Baz Corp"    /*organization*/,
162                      "Foo Bar-App" /*application*/)
163
164results in the following values:
165
166| Value on Linux | Value on Windows         | Value on macOS               |
167| -------------- | ------------------------ | ---------------------------- |
168| `"foobar-app"` | `"Baz Corp/Foo Bar-App"` | `"org.Baz-Corp.Foo-Bar-App"` |
169
170The `ProjectDirs::from_path` function allows the creation of `ProjectDirs` structs directly from a `PathBuf` value.
171This argument is used verbatim and is not adapted to operating system standards.
172
173The use of `ProjectDirs::from_path` is strongly discouraged, as its results will not follow operating system standards on at least two of three platforms.
174
175## Comparison
176
177There are other crates in the Rust ecosystem that try similar or related things.
178Here is an overview of them, combined with ratings on properties that guided the design of this crate.
179
180Please take this table with a grain of salt: a different crate might very well be more suitable for your specific use case.
181(Of course _my_ crate achieves _my_ design goals better than other crates, which might have had different design goals.)
182
183| Library                                                   | Status         | Lin | Mac | Win |Base|User|Proj|Conv|
184| --------------------------------------------------------- | -------------- |:---:|:---:|:---:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|
185| [app_dirs](https://crates.io/crates/app_dirs)             | Unmaintained   |  ✔  |  ✔  |  ✔  | ��  | ✖  | ✔  | ✖  |
186| [app_dirs2](https://crates.io/crates/app_dirs2)           | Maintained     |  ✔  |  ✔  |  ✔  | ��  | ✖  | ✔  | ✖  |
187| [dirs](https://crates.io/crates/dirs)                     | Developed      |  ✔  |  ✔  |  ✔  | ✔  | ✔  | ✖  | ✔  |
188| **directories**                                           | **Developed**  |  ✔  |  ✔  |  ✔  | ✔  | ✔  | ✔  | ✔  |
189| [s_app_dir](https://crates.io/crates/s_app_dir)           | Unmaintained?  |  ✔  |  ✖  |  ��  | ✖  | ✖  | ��  | ✖  |
190| [standard_paths](https://crates.io/crates/standard_paths) | Maintained     |  ✔  |  ✖  |  ✔  | ✔  | ✔  | ✔  | ✖  |
191| [xdg](https://crates.io/crates/xdg)                       | Maintained     |  ✔  |  ✖  |  ✖  | ✔  | ✖  | ✔  | ��  |
192| [xdg-basedir](https://crates.io/crates/xdg-basedir)       | Unmaintained?  |  ✔  |  ✖  |  ✖  | ✔   | ✖  | ✖  | ��  |
193| [xdg-rs](https://crates.io/crates/xdg-rs)                 | Obsolete       |  ✔  |  ✖  |  ✖  | ✔   | ✖  | ✖  | ��  |
194
195- Lin: Linux support
196- Mac: macOS support
197- Win: Windows support
198- Base: Supports [generic base directories](#basedirs)
199- User: Supports [user directories](#userdirs)
200- Proj: Supports [project-specific base directories](#projectdirs)
201- Conv: Follows naming conventions of the operating system it runs on
202
203## Build
204
205It's possible to cross-compile this library if the necessary toolchains are installed with rustup.
206This is helpful to ensure a change has not broken compilation on a different platform.
207
208The following commands will build this library on Linux, macOS and Windows:
209
210```
211cargo build --target=x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
212cargo build --target=x86_64-pc-windows-gnu
213cargo build --target=x86_64-apple-darwin
214cargo build --target=x86_64-unknown-redox
215```
216
217## Changelog
218
219### 3
220
221- **BREAKING CHANGE** The behavior of the `BaseDirs::config_dir` and `ProjectDirs::config_dir`
222    on macOS has been adjusted (thanks to [everyone involved](https://github.com/dirs-dev/directories-rs/issues/62)):
223  - The existing `config_dir` functions have been changed to return the `Application Support`
224    directory on macOS, as suggested by Apple documentation.
225  - The behavior of the `config_dir` functions on non-macOS platforms has not been changed.
226  - If you have used the `config_dir` functions to store files, it may be necessary to write code
227    that migrates the files to the new location on macOS.<br/>
228    (Alternative: change uses of the `config_dir` functions to uses of the `preference_dir` functions
229    to retain the old behavior.)
230- The newly added `BaseDirs::preference_dir` and `ProjectDirs::preference_dir` functions returns
231  the `Preferences` directory on macOS now, which – according to Apple documentation – shall only
232  be used to store .plist files using Apple-proprietary APIs.
233  – `preference_dir` and `config_dir` behave identical on non-macOS platforms.
234
235### 2
236
237The behavior of deactivated, missing or invalid [_XDG User Dirs_](https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/xdg-user-dirs/)
238entries on Linux has been improved (contributed by @tmiasko, thank you!):
239
240- Version 1 returned the user's home directory (`Some($HOME)`) for such faulty entries, except for a faulty `XDG_DESKTOP_DIR` entry which returned (`Some($HOME/Desktop)`).
241- Version 2 returns `None` for such entries.
242
243## License
244
245Licensed under either of
246
247 * Apache License, Version 2.0
248   ([LICENSE-APACHE](LICENSE-APACHE) or http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)
249 * MIT license
250   ([LICENSE-MIT](LICENSE-MIT) or http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)
251
252at your option.
253
254## Contribution
255
256Unless you explicitly state otherwise, any contribution intentionally submitted
257for inclusion in the work by you, as defined in the Apache-2.0 license, shall be
258dual licensed as above, without any additional terms or conditions.
259