Plugin: ini

• infos = Information about ini plugin is in keys below
• infos/author = Thomas Waser thoma.nosp@m.s.wa.nosp@m.ser@l.nosp@m.ibel.nosp@m.ektra.nosp@m..org
• infos/licence = BSD
• infos/provides = storage/ini
• infos/needs =
• infos/placements = getstorage setstorage
• infos/status = maintained unittest shelltest nodep libc configurable 1000
• infos/metadata = order
• infos/description = storage plugin for ini files

This plugin allows read/write of INI files. INI files consist of simple key value pairs of the form key = value. Additionally keys can be categorized into different sections. Sections must be enclosed in "[]", for example "[section]". Each section is converted into a directory key (without value) and keys below the section are located below the section key. If the same section appears multiple times, the keys of all sections with the same name are merged together under the section key.

The plugin is feature rich and customizable (+1000 in status)

Usage

If you want to add an ini file to the global key database, simply use mount:

sudo kdb mount file.ini user/example ini

Then you can modify the contents of the ini file using set:

kdb set user/example/key value
#> Create a new key user/example/key with string "value"
kdb set user/example/section
#> Create a new key user/example/section with null value
kdb set user/example/section/key value
#> Create a new key user/example/section/key with string "value"

Find out which file you modified:

kdb file user/example
# STDOUT-REGEX: .+/file.ini

# Undo modifications
kdb rm -r user/example
sudo kdb umount user/example

Comments

The ini plugin supports the use of comments. Comment lines start with a ';' or a '#'. Comments are put into the comment metadata of the key following the comment. This can be either a section key or a normal key. When creating new comments (e.g. via kdb setmeta) you can prefix your comment with the comment indicator of your choice (';' or '#') which will be used when writing the comment to the file. If the comment is not prefixed with a comment indicator, the ini plugin will use the character defined by the comment option, or default to '#'.

Multi-Line Support

The ini plugin supports multiline ini values. Continuations of previous values have to start with whitespace characters.

For example consider the following ini file:

key1 = value1
key2 = value2
        with continuation
        lines

This would result in a KeySet containing two keys. One key named key1 with the value value1 and another key named key2 with the value value2\nwith continuation\nlines.

By default this feature is enabled. The default continuation character is tab (\t). If you want to use another character, then please specify the configuration option linecont.

Arrays

The ini plugin handles repeating keys by turning them into an elektra array when the array config is set.

For example a ini file looking like:

[sec]
a = 1
a = 2
a = 3
a = 4

will be interpreted as

/sec
/sec/a
/sec/a/#0
/sec/a/#1
/sec/a/#2
/sec/a/#3

The following example shows how you can store and retrieve array values using the ini plugin.

# Mount the INI plugin with array support
sudo kdb mount config.ini user/examples/ini ini array=true

# Add an array storing song titles
kdb set user/examples/ini/songs/#0 "Non-Zero Possibility"
kdb set user/examples/ini/songs/#1 "Black Art Number One"
kdb set user/examples/ini/songs/#2 "A Story Of Two Convicts"

# Check if INI saved all array entries
kdb ls user/examples/ini/songs
#> user/examples/ini/songs
#> user/examples/ini/songs/#0
#> user/examples/ini/songs/#1
#> user/examples/ini/songs/#2

# Retrieve an array item
kdb get user/examples/ini/songs/#2
#> A Story Of Two Convicts

# Check the file written by the INI plugin
kdb file user/examples/ini | xargs cat
#> songs = Non-Zero Possibility
#> songs = Black Art Number One
#> songs = A Story Of Two Convicts

# Undo modifications
kdb rm -r user/examples/ini
sudo kdb umount user/examples/ini

Sections

The ini plugin supports 3 different sectioning modes (via section=):

• NONE sections wont be printed as [Section] but as part of the key name section/key
• NULL only binary keys will be printed as [Section]
• ALWAYS sections will be created automatically. This is the default setting:

sudo kdb mount /empty.ini dir/empty ini
kdb set dir/empty/a/b ab
kdb get dir/empty/a       # <-- key is suddenly here
cat empty.ini
#> [a]
#> b = ab

# Undo modifications
kdb rm -r dir/empty
sudo kdb umount dir/empty

By changing the option section you can suppress the automatic creation of keys. E.g., if you use NULL instead you only get a section if you explicitly create it:

sudo kdb mount /empty.ini dir/empty ini section=NULL
kdb set dir/empty/a/b ab
kdb get dir/empty/a       # no key here
# RET: 1
cat empty.ini
#> a/b = ab
kdb rm dir/empty/a/b
kdb set dir/empty/a    # create section first
kdb set dir/empty/a/b ab
cat empty.ini
#> [a]
#> b = ab

# Undo modifications
kdb rm -r dir/empty
sudo kdb umount dir/empty

Merge Sections

The ini plugin supports merging duplicated section entries when the mergesections config is set. The keys will be appended to the first occurrence of the section key.

Ordering

The ini plugin preserves the order. Inserted subsections get appended to the corresponding parent section and new sections by name.

Example:

``` sudo kdb mount test.ini /examples/ini ini

echo '[Section1]' > kdb file /examples/ini echo 'key1 = val1' >> kdb file /examples/ini echo '[Section3]' >> kdb file /examples/ini echo 'key3 = val3' >> kdb file /examples/ini

kdb file /examples/ini | xargs cat #> [Section1] #> key1 = val1 #> [Section3] #> key3 = val3

kdb set /examples/ini/Section1/Subsection1/subkey1 subval1 kdb set /examples/ini/Section2/key2 val2 kdb file /examples/ini | xargs cat #> [Section1] #> key1 = val1 #> [Section1/Subsection1] #> subkey1 = subval1 #> [Section2] #> key2 = val2 #> [Section3] #> key3 = val3

Undo modifications

kdb rm -r /examples/ini sudo kdb umount /examples/ini ```