1 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
2 // Name:        config.h
3 // Purpose:     interface of wxConfigBase
4 // Author:      wxWidgets team
5 // Licence:     wxWindows licence
6 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
7 
8 
9 // Flags for constructor style parameter
10 enum
11 {
12     wxCONFIG_USE_LOCAL_FILE = 1,
13     wxCONFIG_USE_GLOBAL_FILE = 2,
14     wxCONFIG_USE_RELATIVE_PATH = 4,
15     wxCONFIG_USE_NO_ESCAPE_CHARACTERS = 8,
16     wxCONFIG_USE_SUBDIR = 16
17 };
18 
19 
20 /**
21     @class wxConfigBase
22 
23     wxConfigBase defines the basic interface of all config classes. It cannot
24     be used by itself (it is an abstract base class) and you will always use
25     one of its derivations: wxFileConfig, wxRegConfig or any other.
26 
27     However, usually you don't even need to know the precise nature of the
28     class you're working with but you would just use the wxConfigBase methods.
29     This allows you to write the same code regardless of whether you're working
30     with the registry under Windows or text-based config files under Unix.
31     To make writing the portable code even easier, wxWidgets provides a typedef
32     wxConfig which is mapped onto the native wxConfigBase implementation on the
33     given platform: i.e. wxRegConfig under Windows and wxFileConfig otherwise.
34 
35     See @ref overview_config for a description of all features of this class.
36 
37     It is highly recommended to use static functions Get() and/or Set(), so
38     please have a look at them.
39 
40     Related Include Files:
41 
42     @li @c <wx/config.h>   - Let wxWidgets choose a wxConfig class for your
43                              platform.
44     @li @c <wx/confbase.h> - Base config class.
45     @li @c <wx/fileconf.h> - wxFileConfig class.
46     @li @c <wx/msw/regconf.h> - wxRegConfig class, see also wxRegKey.
47 
48 
49     @section configbase_example Example
50 
51     Here is how you would typically use this class:
52 
53     @code
54     // using wxConfig instead of writing wxFileConfig or wxRegConfig enhances
55     // portability of the code
56     wxConfig *config = new wxConfig("MyAppName");
57 
58     wxString str;
59     if ( config->Read("LastPrompt", &str) ) {
60         // last prompt was found in the config file/registry and its value is
61         // now in str
62         // ...
63     }
64     else {
65         // no last prompt...
66     }
67 
68     // another example: using default values and the full path instead of just
69     // key name: if the key is not found , the value 17 is returned
70     long value = config->ReadLong("/LastRun/CalculatedValues/MaxValue", 17);
71 
72     // at the end of the program we would save everything back
73     config->Write("LastPrompt", str);
74     config->Write("/LastRun/CalculatedValues/MaxValue", value);
75 
76     // the changes will be written back automatically
77     delete config;
78     @endcode
79 
80     This basic example, of course, doesn't show all wxConfig features, such as
81     enumerating, testing for existence and deleting the entries and groups of
82     entries in the config file, its abilities to automatically store the
83     default values or expand the environment variables on the fly. However, the
84     main idea is that using this class is easy and that it should normally do
85     what you expect it to.
86 
87     @note In the documentation of this class, the words "config file" also mean
88           "registry hive" for wxRegConfig and, generally speaking, might mean
89           any physical storage where a wxConfigBase-derived class stores its
90           data.
91 
92 
93     @section configbase_static Static Functions
94 
95     The static functions provided deal with the "default" config object.
96     Although its usage is not at all mandatory it may be convenient to use a
97     global config object instead of creating and deleting the local config
98     objects each time you need one (especially because creating a wxFileConfig
99     object might be a time consuming operation). In this case, you may create
100     this global config object in the very start of the program and Set() it as
101     the default. Then, from anywhere in your program, you may access it using
102     the Get() function. This global wxConfig object will be deleted by
103     wxWidgets automatically if it exists. Note that this implies that if you do
104     delete this object yourself (usually in wxApp::OnExit()) you must use
105     Set(@NULL) to prevent wxWidgets from deleting it the second time.
106 
107     As it happens, you may even further simplify the procedure described above:
108     you may forget about calling Set(). When Get() is called and there is no
109     current object, it will create one using Create() function. To disable this
110     behaviour DontCreateOnDemand() is provided.
111 
112     @note You should use either Set() or Get() because wxWidgets library itself
113           would take advantage of it and could save various information in it.
114           For example wxFontMapper or Unix version of wxFileDialog have the
115           ability to use wxConfig class.
116 
117 
118     @section configbase_paths Path Management
119 
120     As explained in the @ref overview_config "config overview", the config
121     classes support a file system-like hierarchy of keys (files) and groups
122     (directories). As in the file system case, to specify a key in the config
123     class you must use a path to it. Config classes also support the notion of
124     the current group, which makes it possible to use the relative paths. To
125     clarify all this, here is an example (it is only for the sake of
126     demonstration, it doesn't do anything sensible!):
127 
128     @code
129     wxConfig *config = new wxConfig("FooBarApp");
130 
131     // right now the current path is '/'
132     conf->Write("RootEntry", 1);
133 
134     // go to some other place: if the group(s) don't exist, they will be created
135     conf->SetPath("/Group/Subgroup");
136 
137     // create an entry in subgroup
138     conf->Write("SubgroupEntry", 3);
139 
140     // '..' is understood
141     conf->Write("../GroupEntry", 2);
142     conf->SetPath("..");
143 
144     wxASSERT( conf->ReadLong("Subgroup/SubgroupEntry", 0) == 3 );
145 
146     // use absolute path: it is allowed, too
147     wxASSERT( conf->ReadLong("/RootEntry", 0) == 1 );
148     @endcode
149 
150     It is highly recommended that you restore the path to its old value on
151     function exit:
152 
153     @code
154     void foo(wxConfigBase *config)
155     {
156         wxString strOldPath = config->GetPath();
157 
158         config->SetPath("/Foo/Data");
159         // ...
160 
161         config->SetPath(strOldPath);
162     }
163     @endcode
164 
165     Otherwise the assert in the following example will surely fail (we suppose
166     here that the foo() function is the same as above except that it doesn’t
167     save and restore the path):
168 
169     @code
170     void bar(wxConfigBase *config)
171     {
172         config->Write("Test", 17);
173 
174         foo(config);
175 
176         // we're reading "/Foo/Data/Test" here! -1 will probably be returned...
177         wxASSERT( config->ReadLong("Test", -1) == 17 );
178     }
179     @endcode
180 
181     Finally, the path separator in wxConfigBase and derived classes is always
182     "/", regardless of the platform (i.e. it is not "\\" under Windows).
183 
184 
185     @section configbase_enumeration Enumeration
186 
187     The enumeration functions allow you to enumerate all entries and groups in
188     the config file. All functions here return @false when there are no more
189     items.
190 
191     You must pass the same index to GetNext() and GetFirst() (don't modify it).
192     Please note that it is not the index of the current item (you will have
193     some great surprises with wxRegConfig if you assume this) and you shouldn't
194     even look at it: it is just a "cookie" which stores the state of the
195     enumeration. It can't be stored inside the class because it would prevent
196     you from running several enumerations simultaneously, that's why you must
197     pass it explicitly.
198 
199     Having said all this, enumerating the config entries/groups is very simple:
200 
201     @code
202     wxConfigBase *config = ...;
203     wxArrayString aNames;
204 
205     // enumeration variables
206     wxString str;
207     long dummy;
208 
209     // first enum all entries
210     bool bCont = config->GetFirstEntry(str, dummy);
211     while ( bCont ) {
212         aNames.Add(str);
213 
214         bCont = GetConfig()->GetNextEntry(str, dummy);
215     }
216 
217     // ... we have all entry names in aNames...
218 
219     // now all groups...
220     bCont = GetConfig()->GetFirstGroup(str, dummy);
221     while ( bCont ) {
222         aNames.Add(str);
223 
224         bCont = GetConfig()->GetNextGroup(str, dummy);
225     }
226 
227     // ... we have all group (and entry) names in aNames...
228     @endcode
229 
230     There are also functions to get the number of entries/subgroups without
231     actually enumerating them, but you will probably never need them.
232 
233 
234     @section configbase_keyaccess Key Access
235 
236     The key access functions are the core of wxConfigBase class: they allow you
237     to read and write config file data. All Read() functions take a default
238     value which will be returned if the specified key is not found in the
239     config file.
240 
241     Currently, supported types of data are: wxString, @c long, @c double,
242     @c bool, wxColour and any other types for which the functions
243     wxToString() and wxFromString() are defined.
244 
245     Try not to read long values into string variables and vice versa:
246     although it just might work with wxFileConfig, you will get a system
247     error with wxRegConfig because in the Windows registry the different
248     types of entries are indeed used.
249 
250     Final remark: the @a szKey parameter for all these functions can
251     contain an arbitrary path (either relative or absolute), not just the
252     key name.
253 
254     @library{wxbase}
255     @category{cfg}
256 
257     @see wxConfigPathChanger
258 */
259 class wxConfigBase : public wxObject
260 {
261 public:
262     /**
263         This is the default and only constructor of the wxConfigBase class, and
264         derived classes.
265 
266         @param appName
267             The application name. If this is empty, the class will normally use
268             wxApp::GetAppName() to set it. The application name is used in the
269             registry key on Windows, and can be used to deduce the local
270             filename parameter if that is missing.
271         @param vendorName
272             The vendor name. If this is empty, it is assumed that no vendor
273             name is wanted, if this is optional for the current config class.
274             The vendor name is appended to the application name for
275             wxRegConfig.
276         @param localFilename
277             Some config classes require a local filename. If this is not
278             present, but required, the application name will be used instead.
279         @param globalFilename
280             Some config classes require a global filename. If this is not
281             present, but required, the application name will be used instead.
282         @param style
283             Can be one of @c wxCONFIG_USE_LOCAL_FILE and @c wxCONFIG_USE_GLOBAL_FILE.
284             @n The style interpretation depends on the config class and is ignored
285             by some implementations. For wxFileConfig, these styles determine
286             whether a local or global config file is created or used: if
287             @c wxCONFIG_USE_GLOBAL_FILE is used, then settings are read from the
288             global config file and if @c wxCONFIG_USE_LOCAL_FILE is used, settings
289             are read from and written to local config file (if they are both
290             set, global file is read first, then local file, overwriting global
291             settings). If the flag is present but the parameter is empty, the
292             parameter will be set to a default. If the parameter is present but
293             the style flag not, the relevant flag will be added to the style.
294             For wxRegConfig, the GLOBAL flag refers to the @c HKLM key while LOCAL
295             one is for the usual @c HKCU one.
296             @n For wxFileConfig you can also add @c wxCONFIG_USE_RELATIVE_PATH by
297             logically or'ing it to either of the _FILE options to tell
298             wxFileConfig to use relative instead of absolute paths.
299             @n On non-VMS Unix systems, the default local configuration file is
300             "~/.appname". However, this path may be also used as user data
301             directory (see wxStandardPaths::GetUserDataDir()) if the
302             application has several data files. In this case
303             @c wxCONFIG_USE_SUBDIR flag, which changes the default local
304             configuration file to "~/.appname/appname" should be used. Notice
305             that this flag is ignored if @a localFilename is provided.
306             @c wxCONFIG_USE_SUBDIR is new since wxWidgets version 2.8.2.
307             @n For wxFileConfig, you can also add
308             @c wxCONFIG_USE_NO_ESCAPE_CHARACTERS which will turn off character
309             escaping for the values of entries stored in the config file: for
310             example a foo key with some backslash characters will be stored as
311             "foo=C:\mydir" instead of the usual storage of "foo=C:\\mydir".
312             @n The @c wxCONFIG_USE_NO_ESCAPE_CHARACTERS style can be helpful if your
313             config file must be read or written to by a non-wxWidgets program
314             (which might not understand the escape characters). Note, however,
315             that if @c wxCONFIG_USE_NO_ESCAPE_CHARACTERS style is used, it is
316             now your application's responsibility to ensure that there is no
317             newline or other illegal characters in a value, before writing that
318             value to the file.
319         @param conv
320             This parameter is only used by wxFileConfig when compiled in
321             Unicode mode. It specifies the encoding in which the configuration
322             file is written.
323 
324         @remarks By default, environment variable expansion is on and recording
325                  defaults is off.
326     */
327     wxConfigBase(const wxString& appName = wxEmptyString,
328                  const wxString& vendorName = wxEmptyString,
329                  const wxString& localFilename = wxEmptyString,
330                  const wxString& globalFilename = wxEmptyString,
331                  long style = 0,
332                  const wxMBConv& conv = wxConvAuto());
333 
334     /**
335         Empty but ensures that dtor of all derived classes is virtual.
336     */
337     virtual ~wxConfigBase();
338 
339 
340     /**
341         @name Path Management
342 
343         See @ref configbase_paths
344     */
345     //@{
346 
347     /**
348         Retrieve the current path (always as absolute path).
349     */
350     virtual const wxString& GetPath() const = 0;
351 
352     /**
353         Set current path: if the first character is '/', it is the absolute
354         path, otherwise it is a relative path. '..' is supported. If @a strPath
355         doesn't exist, it is created.
356 
357         @see wxConfigPathChanger
358     */
359     virtual void SetPath(const wxString& strPath) = 0;
360 
361     //@}
362 
363 
364     /**
365         @name Enumeration
366 
367         See @ref configbase_enumeration
368     */
369     //@{
370 
371     /**
372         Gets the first entry.
373 
374         @beginWxPerlOnly
375         In wxPerl this method takes no parameters and returns a 3-element
376         list (continue_flag, string, index_for_getnextentry).
377         @endWxPerlOnly
378     */
379     virtual bool GetFirstEntry(wxString& str, long& index) const = 0;
380 
381     /**
382         Gets the first group.
383 
384         @beginWxPerlOnly
385         In wxPerl this method takes no parameters and returns a 3-element
386         list (continue_flag, string, index_for_getnextentry).
387         @endWxPerlOnly
388     */
389     virtual bool GetFirstGroup(wxString& str, long& index) const = 0;
390 
391     /**
392         Gets the next entry.
393 
394         @beginWxPerlOnly
395         In wxPerl this method only takes the @a index parameter and
396         returns a 3-element list (continue_flag, string,
397         index_for_getnextentry).
398         @endWxPerlOnly
399     */
400     virtual bool GetNextEntry(wxString& str, long& index) const = 0;
401 
402     /**
403         Gets the next group.
404 
405         @beginWxPerlOnly
406         In wxPerl this method only takes the @a index parameter and
407         returns a 3-element list (continue_flag, string,
408         index_for_getnextentry).
409         @endWxPerlOnly
410     */
411     virtual bool GetNextGroup(wxString& str, long& index) const = 0;
412 
413     /**
414         Get number of entries in the current group.
415     */
416     virtual size_t GetNumberOfEntries(bool bRecursive = false) const = 0;
417 
418     /**
419         Get number of entries/subgroups in the current group, with or without
420         its subgroups.
421     */
422     virtual size_t GetNumberOfGroups(bool bRecursive = false) const = 0;
423 
424     //@}
425 
426 
427     enum EntryType
428     {
429         Type_Unknown,
430         Type_String,
431         Type_Boolean,
432         Type_Integer,
433         Type_Float
434     };
435 
436     /**
437         @name Tests of Existence
438     */
439     //@{
440 
441     /**
442         @return @true if either a group or an entry with a given name exists.
443     */
444     bool Exists(const wxString& strName) const;
445 
446     /**
447         Returns the type of the given entry or @e Unknown if the entry doesn't
448         exist. This function should be used to decide which version of Read()
449         should be used because some of wxConfig implementations will complain
450         about type mismatch otherwise: e.g., an attempt to read a string value
451         from an integer key with wxRegConfig will fail.
452     */
453     virtual wxConfigBase::EntryType GetEntryType(const wxString& name) const;
454 
455     /**
456         @return @true if the entry by this name exists.
457     */
458     virtual bool HasEntry(const wxString& strName) const = 0;
459 
460     /**
461         @return @true if the group by this name exists.
462     */
463     virtual bool HasGroup(const wxString& strName) const = 0;
464 
465     //@}
466 
467 
468     /**
469         @name Miscellaneous Functions
470     */
471     //@{
472 
473     /**
474         Returns the application name.
475     */
476     wxString GetAppName() const;
477 
478     /**
479         Returns the vendor name.
480     */
481     wxString GetVendorName() const;
482 
483     //@}
484 
485 
486     /**
487         @name Key Access
488 
489         See @ref configbase_keyaccess
490     */
491     //@{
492 
493     /**
494         Permanently writes all changes (otherwise, they're only written from
495         object's destructor).
496     */
497     virtual bool Flush(bool bCurrentOnly = false) = 0;
498 
499     /**
500         Read a string from the key, returning @true if the value was read. If
501         the key was not found, @a str is not changed.
502 
503         @beginWxPerlOnly
504         Not supported by wxPerl.
505         @endWxPerlOnly
506     */
507     bool Read(const wxString& key, wxString* str) const;
508     /**
509         Read a string from the key. The default value is returned if the key
510         was not found.
511 
512         @return @true if value was really read, @false if the default was used.
513 
514         @beginWxPerlOnly
515         Not supported by wxPerl.
516         @endWxPerlOnly
517     */
518     bool Read(const wxString& key, wxString* str,
519               const wxString& defaultVal) const;
520     /**
521         Another version of Read(), returning the string value directly.
522 
523         @beginWxPerlOnly
524         In wxPerl, this can be called as:
525         - Read(key): returns the empty string if no key is found
526         - Read(key, default): returns the default value if no key is found
527         @endWxPerlOnly
528     */
529     const wxString Read(const wxString& key,
530                         const wxString& defaultVal) const;
531     /**
532         Reads a long value, returning @true if the value was found. If the
533         value was not found, @a l is not changed.
534 
535         @beginWxPerlOnly
536         Not supported by wxPerl.
537         @endWxPerlOnly
538     */
539     bool Read(const wxString& key, long* l) const;
540     /**
541         Reads a long value, returning @true if the value was found. If the
542         value was not found, @a defaultVal is used instead.
543 
544         @beginWxPerlOnly
545         In wxPerl, this can be called as:
546         - ReadInt(key): returns the 0 if no key is found
547         - ReadInt(key, default): returns the default value if no key is found
548         @endWxPerlOnly
549     */
550     bool Read(const wxString& key, long* l,
551               long defaultVal) const;
552     /**
553         Reads a double value, returning @true if the value was found. If the
554         value was not found, @a d is not changed.
555 
556         @beginWxPerlOnly
557         Not supported by wxPerl.
558         @endWxPerlOnly
559     */
560     bool Read(const wxString& key, double* d) const;
561     /**
562         Reads a double value, returning @true if the value was found. If the
563         value was not found, @a defaultVal is used instead.
564 
565         @beginWxPerlOnly
566         In wxPerl, this can be called as:
567         - ReadFloat(key): returns the 0.0 if no key is found
568         - ReadFloat(key, default): returns the default value if no key is found
569         @endWxPerlOnly
570     */
571     bool Read(const wxString& key, double* d,
572                      double defaultVal) const;
573 
574     /**
575         Reads a float value, returning @true if the value was found.
576 
577         If the value was not found, @a f is not changed.
578 
579         Notice that the value is read as a double but must be in a valid range
580         for floats for the function to return @true.
581 
582         @since 2.9.1
583 
584         @beginWxPerlOnly
585         Not supported by wxPerl.
586         @endWxPerlOnly
587     */
588     bool Read(const wxString& key, float* f) const;
589     /**
590         Reads a float value, returning @true if the value was found.
591 
592         If the value was not found, @a defaultVal is used instead.
593 
594         Notice that the value is read as a double but must be in a valid range
595         for floats for the function to return @true.
596 
597         @since 2.9.1
598 
599         @beginWxPerlOnly
600         Not supported by wxPerl.
601         @endWxPerlOnly
602     */
603     bool Read(const wxString& key, float* f, float defaultVal) const;
604 
605     /**
606         Reads a boolean value, returning @true if the value was found. If the
607         value was not found, @a b is not changed.
608 
609         @since 2.9.1
610 
611         @beginWxPerlOnly
612         Not supported by wxPerl.
613         @endWxPerlOnly
614     */
615     bool Read(const wxString& key, bool* b) const;
616     /**
617         Reads a boolean value, returning @true if the value was found. If the
618         value was not found, @a defaultVal is used instead.
619 
620         @beginWxPerlOnly
621         In wxPerl, this can be called as:
622         - ReadBool(key): returns false if no key is found
623         - ReadBool(key, default): returns the default value if no key is found
624         @endWxPerlOnly
625     */
626     bool Read(const wxString& key, bool* d,
627               bool defaultVal) const;
628     /**
629         Reads a binary block, returning @true if the value was found. If the
630         value was not found, @a buf is not changed.
631     */
632     bool Read(const wxString& key, wxMemoryBuffer* buf) const;
633     /**
634         Reads a value of type T, for which function wxFromString() is defined,
635         returning @true if the value was found. If the value was not found,
636         @a value is not changed.
637     */
638     bool Read(const wxString& key, T* value) const;
639     /**
640         Reads a value of type T, for which function wxFromString() is defined,
641         returning @true if the value was found. If the value was not found,
642         @a defaultVal is used instead.
643     */
644     bool Read(const wxString& key, T* value,
645               const T& defaultVal) const;
646 
647     /**
648         Reads a bool value from the key and returns it. @a defaultVal is
649         returned if the key is not found.
650     */
651     bool ReadBool(const wxString& key, bool defaultVal) const;
652 
653     /**
654         Reads a double value from the key and returns it. @a defaultVal is
655         returned if the key is not found.
656     */
657     double ReadDouble(const wxString& key, double defaultVal) const;
658 
659     /**
660         Reads a long value from the key and returns it. @a defaultVal is
661         returned if the key is not found.
662     */
663     long ReadLong(const wxString& key, long defaultVal) const;
664 
665     /**
666         Reads a value of type T (for which the function wxFromString() must be
667         defined) from the key and returns it. @a defaultVal is returned if the
668         key is not found.
669     */
670     T ReadObject(const wxString& key, T const& defaultVal) const;
671 
672     /**
673         Writes the wxString value to the config file and returns @true on
674         success.
675     */
676     bool Write(const wxString& key, const wxString& value);
677     /**
678         Writes the long value to the config file and returns @true on success.
679     */
680     bool Write(const wxString& key, long value);
681     /**
682         Writes the double value to the config file and returns @true on
683         success.
684 
685         Notice that if floating point numbers are saved as strings (as is the
686         case with the configuration files used by wxFileConfig), this function
687         uses the C locale for writing out the number, i.e. it will always use a
688         period as the decimal separator, irrespectively of the current locale.
689         This behaviour is new since wxWidgets 2.9.1 as the current locale was
690         used before, but the change should be transparent because both C and
691         current locales are tried when reading the numbers back.
692     */
693     bool Write(const wxString& key, double value);
694     /**
695         Writes the bool value to the config file and returns @true on success.
696     */
697     bool Write(const wxString& key, bool value);
698     /**
699         Writes the wxMemoryBuffer value to the config file and returns @true on
700         success.
701     */
702     bool Write(const wxString& key, const wxMemoryBuffer& buf);
703     /**
704         Writes the specified value to the config file and returns @true on
705         success. The function wxToString() must be defined for type @e T.
706     */
707     bool Write(const wxString& key, T const& buf);
708 
709     //@}
710 
711 
712     /**
713         @name Rename Entries/Groups
714 
715         These functions allow renaming entries or subgroups of the current
716         group. They will return @false on error, typically because either the
717         entry/group with the original name doesn't exist, because the
718         entry/group with the new name already exists or because the function is
719         not supported in this wxConfig implementation.
720     */
721     //@{
722 
723     /**
724         Renames an entry in the current group. The entries names (both the old
725         and the new one) shouldn't contain backslashes, i.e. only simple names
726         and not arbitrary paths are accepted by this function.
727 
728         @return @false if @a oldName doesn't exist or if @a newName already
729                 exists.
730     */
731     virtual bool RenameEntry(const wxString& oldName,
732                              const wxString& newName) = 0;
733 
734     /**
735         Renames a subgroup of the current group. The subgroup names (both the
736         old and the new one) shouldn't contain backslashes, i.e. only simple
737         names and not arbitrary paths are accepted by this function.
738 
739         @return @false if @a oldName doesn't exist or if @a newName already
740                 exists.
741     */
742     virtual bool RenameGroup(const wxString& oldName,
743                              const wxString& newName) = 0;
744 
745     //@}
746 
747 
748     /**
749         @name Delete Entries/Groups
750 
751         These functions delete entries and/or groups of entries from the config
752         file. DeleteAll() is especially useful if you want to erase all traces
753         of your program presence: for example, when you uninstall it.
754     */
755     //@{
756 
757     /**
758         Delete the whole underlying object (disk file, registry key, ...).
759         Primarily for use by uninstallation routine.
760     */
761     virtual bool DeleteAll() = 0;
762 
763     /**
764         Deletes the specified entry and the group it belongs to if it was the
765         last key in it and the second parameter is @true.
766     */
767     virtual bool DeleteEntry(const wxString& key,
768                              bool bDeleteGroupIfEmpty = true) = 0;
769 
770     /**
771         Delete the group (with all subgroups). If the current path is under the
772         group being deleted it is changed to its deepest still existing
773         component. E.g. if the current path is @c "/A/B/C/D" and the group @c C
774         is deleted, the path becomes @c "/A/B".
775     */
776     virtual bool DeleteGroup(const wxString& key) = 0;
777 
778     //@}
779 
780 
781     /**
782         @name Options
783 
784         Some aspects of wxConfigBase behaviour can be changed during run-time.
785         The first of them is the expansion of environment variables in the
786         string values read from the config file: for example, if you have the
787         following in your config file:
788 
789         @code
790         # config file for my program
791         UserData = $HOME/data
792 
793         # the following syntax is valid only under Windows
794         UserData = %windir%\\data.dat
795         @endcode
796 
797         The call to Read("UserData") will return something like
798         @c "/home/zeitlin/data" on linux for example.
799 
800         Although this feature is very useful, it may be annoying if you read a
801         value which contains '$' or '%' symbols (% is used for environment
802         variables expansion under Windows) which are not used for environment
803         variable expansion. In this situation you may call
804         SetExpandEnvVars(@false) just before reading this value and
805         SetExpandEnvVars(@true) just after. Another solution would be to prefix
806         the offending symbols with a backslash.
807     */
808     //@{
809 
810     /**
811         Returns @true if we are expanding environment variables in key values.
812     */
813     bool IsExpandingEnvVars() const;
814 
815     /**
816         Returns @true if we are writing defaults back to the config file.
817     */
818     bool IsRecordingDefaults() const;
819 
820     /**
821         Determine whether we wish to expand environment variables in key
822         values.
823     */
824     void SetExpandEnvVars(bool bDoIt = true);
825 
826     /**
827         Sets whether defaults are recorded to the config file whenever an
828         attempt to read the value which is not present in it is done.
829 
830         If on (default is off) all default values for the settings used by the
831         program are written back to the config file. This allows the user to
832         see what config options may be changed and is probably useful only for
833         wxFileConfig.
834     */
835     void SetRecordDefaults(bool bDoIt = true);
836 
837     //@}
838 
839 
840     /**
841         Create a new config object and sets it as the current one.
842 
843         This function will create the most appropriate implementation of
844         wxConfig available for the current platform. By default this means that
845         the system registry will be used for storing the configuration
846         information under MSW and a file under the user home directory (see
847         wxStandardPaths::GetUserConfigDir()) elsewhere.
848 
849         If you prefer to use the configuration files everywhere, you can define
850         @c wxUSE_CONFIG_NATIVE to 0 when compiling wxWidgets. Or you can simply
851         always create wxFileConfig explicitly.
852 
853         Finally, if you want to create a custom wxConfig subclass you may
854         change this function behaviour by overriding wxAppTraits::CreateConfig()
855         to create it. An example when this could be useful could be an
856         application which could be installed either normally (in which case the
857         default behaviour of using wxRegConfig is appropriate) or in a
858         "portable" way in which case a wxFileConfig with a file in the program
859         directory would be used and the choice would be done in CreateConfig()
860         at run-time.
861     */
862     static wxConfigBase* Create();
863 
864     /**
865         Calling this function will prevent @e Get() from automatically creating
866         a new config object if the current one is @NULL. It might be useful to
867         call it near the program end to prevent "accidental" creation of a new
868         config object.
869     */
870     static void DontCreateOnDemand();
871 
872     /**
873         Get the current config object. If there is no current object and
874         @a CreateOnDemand is @true, this creates one (using Create()) unless
875         DontCreateOnDemand() was called previously.
876     */
877     static wxConfigBase* Get(bool CreateOnDemand = true);
878 
879     /**
880         Sets the config object as the current one, returns the pointer to the
881         previous current object (both the parameter and returned value may be
882         @NULL).
883     */
884     static wxConfigBase* Set(wxConfigBase* pConfig);
885 };
886 
887 
888 /**
889     @class wxConfigPathChanger
890 
891     A handy little class which changes the current path in a wxConfig object and restores it in dtor.
892     Declaring a local variable of this type, it's possible to work in a specific directory
893     and ensure that the path is automatically restored when the function returns.
894 
895     For example:
896     @code
897     // this function loads somes settings from the given wxConfig object;
898     // the path selected inside it is left unchanged
899     bool LoadMySettings(wxConfigBase* cfg)
900     {
901         wxConfigPathChanger changer(cfg, "/Foo/Data/SomeString");
902         wxString str;
903         if ( !config->Read("SomeString", &str) ) {
904             wxLogError("Couldn't read SomeString!");
905             return false;
906                 // NOTE: without wxConfigPathChanger it would be easy to forget to
907                 //       set the old path back into the wxConfig object before this return!
908         }
909 
910         // do something useful with SomeString...
911 
912         return true;    // again: wxConfigPathChanger dtor will restore the original wxConfig path
913     }
914     @endcode
915 
916     @library{wxbase}
917     @category{cfg}
918 */
919 class wxConfigPathChanger
920 {
921 public:
922 
923     /**
924         Changes the path of the given wxConfigBase object so that the key @a strEntry is accessible
925         (for read or write).
926 
927         In other words, the ctor uses wxConfigBase::SetPath() with everything which precedes the
928         last slash of @a strEntry, so that:
929         @code
930         wxConfigPathChanger(wxConfigBase::Get(), "/MyProgram/SomeKeyName");
931         @endcode
932         has the same effect of:
933         @code
934         wxConfigPathChanger(wxConfigBase::Get(), "/MyProgram/");
935         @endcode
936     */
937     wxConfigPathChanger(const wxConfigBase *pContainer, const wxString& strEntry);
938 
939     /**
940         Restores the path selected, inside the wxConfig object passed to the ctor, to the path which was
941         selected when the wxConfigPathChanger ctor was called.
942     */
943     ~wxConfigPathChanger();
944 
945     /**
946         Returns the name of the key which was passed to the ctor.
947         The "name" is just anything which follows the last slash of the string given to the ctor.
948     */
949     const wxString& Name() const;
950 
951     /**
952         This method must be called if the original path inside the wxConfig object
953         (i.e. the current path at the moment of creation of this wxConfigPathChanger object)
954         could have been deleted, thus preventing wxConfigPathChanger from restoring the not
955         existing (any more) path.
956 
957         If the original path doesn't exist any more, the path will be restored to
958         the deepest still existing component of the old path.
959     */
960     void UpdateIfDeleted();
961 };
962 
963