bugGNU Octave - Bugs: bug #57012, move all ".octave_xxx"...

 
 

bug #57012: move all ".octave_xxx" files from home dir into new subfolder ".octave"

Submitter:  Hartmut <hardy>
Submitted:  Sun 06 Oct 2019 06:39:16 PM UTC
   
 
Category:  None Severity:  3 - Normal
Priority:  5 - Normal Item Group:  Feature Request
Status:  Duplicate Assigned to:  None
Originator Name:  Open/Closed:  * Closed
Release:  * dev Operating System:  * Any
Fixed Release:  None Planned Release:  None
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Tue 08 Oct 2019 06:06:58 PM UTC, comment #4: 

Thanks for the useful information, Mike.

I'll wait then until the ongoing changes pop out in a new Octave release. If I will miss something, I would restart this discussion regarding config files under Win OS.

Hartmut <hardy>
Tue 08 Oct 2019 05:21:13 PM UTC, comment #3: 

Yes, see bug #36477 and bug #40444 for the discussions so far.

Keep in mind that Octave does not create .octaverc, it's created by the user. So Octave 6 will continue to support ~/.octaverc if it exists, but will also support ~/.config/octave/octaverc, and C:\Users\Alice\AppData\...\octaverc, if those files exist.

The history file can be configured by the user in octaverc with history_file(). The package directories and cache file can be configured with pkg("prefix") and pkg("local_list"). I configure all of these in my personal ~/.octaverc.

By the way, the default on Windows is already to install packages into the Octave installation directory, C:\Octave\share\packages for example, instead of in the user's home directory.

Mike Miller <mtmiller>
Group Member
Sun 06 Oct 2019 07:43:26 PM UTC, comment #2: 

Sorry, it seems I didn't search for the right keywords in Savannah, then.

My Feature Request would be fully satisfied, if

  • BOTH files .octaverc and .octave_history would be moved
  • to ANY subdirectory of the user's home folder
  • by DEFAULT (at least on Win OS)


(As this would solve the current problems with hidden files under Win OS.) So I would vote for such a change that Mike described in comment #1.

If I understood this correctly, then you could mark this bug report here as duplicate of bug #36477.

By the way, how do I move .octave_packages to some other place? Could we make this other place (xdg home?) also default on Win?

Hartmut <hardy>
Sun 06 Oct 2019 07:28:12 PM UTC, comment #1: 

I think this is in conflict with a few other open bug reports about moving dot files into other locations. Search for octaverc and xdg and you'll find the other discussions. I have been working on a patch to allow ~/.octaverc to live in ~/.config, and a similar change can be made for the history (~/.cache maybe?). The packages file and package install location are already user configurable, and I think there may have been some discussion about changing the default. I use ~/.local/share/octave for packages.

Mike Miller <mtmiller>
Group Member
Sun 06 Oct 2019 06:39:16 PM UTC, original submission:  

Currently Octave generates a bunch of files in the "home" directory of the user:

  • .octave_hist
  • .octave_packages
  • .octaverc


These file names start with a dot which makes them "hidden" on linux OS, but on Windows OS they stay prominently visible in the main "home" folder. (This is what constantly bothers me.)

Changing the file system properties of those file to "hidden" under Windows OS does unfortunatelly not work. (See bug #49214 or bug #49275) This is because on Win OS it is in principle not possible to write into a file with "hidden" attribute, and for example the readline library (that Octave uses) is not able to work around this Windows "feature".

My SUGGESTION now is, to move all Octave related config files away from the users home directory, and to instead put them all into a newly created FOLDER, e.g. with the name ".octave" inside the home directory.

This would still make those files hidden for linux users. But in addition it would make it possible for Windows users to just "hide" this subfolder, and all those files become invisible. (Since it is not necessary to "hide" the files themselfs, the current problems would not occure this way.)

Note: This seems to be what other cross-platform open source software is doing. At least I have observed it with the python distribution Anaconda under Windows OS.

What do you think?

Hartmut <hardy>

 

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    Date Changed by Updated Field Previous Value => Replaced by
    2019-10-06 mtmiller StatusNone Duplicate
        Open/ClosedOpen Closed

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