RE: Application Data

The user's Application Data directory is mainly there for 'userization' so

that the data is different for every useraccount. If the settings or data are

to be per-user then you should put it here.

For data which applies to all users, the approved route is to put the data

into the All Users\Application Data profile. The issue here is that most

people (and most backup programs!) will not even recognise that data is being

stored here, and this creates a backup/data loss issue.

You could (as is being done) put the data in Program Files, and change its

permissions. Key point is that this is not approved, and may raise problems

with future Windows releases, I guess. In some ways, though, I find this

preferable to hiding the data in an impossible-to-locate place. It also has

the advantage of making the app portable. Copy the folder and you have the

app, with correct settings. This may be why your coder favours this route.

For services the problem is more complex, as they may run under the system

credentials. In this case the data should strictly be under the Local Service

account.

"Tom" wrote:

> What is the actual benefit to using the application data directory, and why

> should we use it?

>