Development Thread Testers Wanted - Global User Directory

[MayImilae]

4.0 is almost here, and one of the biggest changes coming is the "Global User Directory". Like Linux and OSX before it, Windows builds will now have a central location where saves, screenshots, themes, configurations, on and on are kept. Any build from 4.0 on will all have the same settings and saves, you'll never have to move saves or settings again! Because it's a big change in behavior, Neobrain, Delroth, and RachelB have been working hard on it in a branch, and will merge it in 4.0. There is only a little more than a week before 4.0 hits, so it's time for widespread testing on this branch. Try to find any bugs or weirdness and post them here in this thread.

GameINI handling has changed some as well. Instead of a single GameINI, you have a default INI stored in the Dolphin directory, and user overrides in the Global User Directory. It could use some testing as well to make sure everything is working with it.


*this branch is now merged, please test latest master*


The default location for the Global User Directory is C:/Users/username/My Documents/Dolphin Emulator. All of the files are stored there and the directory is created when Dolphin is first ran. Protections have been put in place, so you can literally just drag the whole of your old whole user folder into the My Documents\Dolphin Emulator folder and it won't give a damn. Note that the GameConfig folder will be ignored.

Obviously this will disrupt some old habits, but for those of you who don't like some part of this, there are ways to control the Global User Directory. I made a wiki guide for it, so I'll just embed it below.

Wiki Page - Controlling the Global User Directory‎ - [edit]

[RachelB]

Quote:Neobrain and Delroth have been working on it in a branch

I feel left out

[MayImilae]

...oops. Fixed.

[Garteal]

This is amazing! Thanks a lot Neobrain, Delroth, and RachelB.
So you devs have finally agreed to put the global directory in My Documents by default eh?

Will definitely be testing this.

[nintendo_nerd]

That is pretty freaking awesome. I'll definitely test this out and let you guys know! Being able to use Regedit to set the global user directory is pretty ingenious At this point, would it be prudent to create an entirely new directory?

[delroth]

(09-14-2013, 09:10 PM)Garteal Wrote: This is amazing! Thanks a lot Neobrain, Delroth, and RachelB.
So you devs have finally agreed to put the global directory in My Documents by default eh?

Will definitely be testing this.

Nope, no agreement on this, I think My Documents is the best for now and neobrain things that AppData is the best for now. At this point the best thing we can do is agree that we disagree and still get it done, it would be stupid to block this feature because of a disagreement like this.

In the future I'd like to move some non user-related stuff to AppData|.cache/dolphin-emu|Library/Caches (shader cache, banners cache, maybe a few other things) but this is definitely not going to be done in 4.0.

[mbc07]

So, GameConfig folder is ignored, right? This means that every time I update Dolphin, the changes I had done to some INIs will be lost?

EDIT: noticed also that the Wii NAND root gone to Sys folder, what happens if I have my own NAND dump in My Documents?

[delroth]

Quote:So, GameConfig folder is ignored, right? This means that every time I update Dolphin, the changes I had done to some INIs will be lost?

The opposite: what you describe here is the current behavior without a global user dir. With global user dir, your local changes to gameinis will be kept even when you update the set of gameinis shipped with dolphin.

Quote:EDIT: noticed also that the Wii NAND root gone to Sys folder, what happens if I have my own NAND dump in My Documents?

Change it back. There is no good way to provide a perfect migration path here. The issue only happens with NAND dump path and GC memcard path though.

[Invader]

Wow! This is better than anything I could have hoped for. I'll probably stick with the local user config, but I have to thank you for satisfying both people who were against and for this change.

[Xtreme2damax]

Great, this means I won't need to run Dolphin as an admin anymore to save my game on Windows Vista and up. Will test as soon as I can, right now I am going to be busy with packing for a move but if I get some free time I'll test.