IniWriteSection data as string: @LF or @CRLF ?

[orbs]

from the help of IniWriteSection()

 

"If the data is a string, then each key=value pair must be delimited by @LF."

here @LF is used to separate key/value pairs.

 

from the example of IniRenameSection()

Local $sSection = "Title=AutoIt" & @CRLF & "Version=" & @AutoItVersion & @CRLF & "OS=" & @OSVersion

here @CRLF is used to separate key/value pairs.

 

so which is it? i tried and i get that @CRLF is needed, because @LF alone does not pass to next line. so either the help needs correction, or i'm doing something wrong...

[BrewManNH]

You can technically use either @LF or @CRLF to end the key/value pairs, the only difference is that if you use @CRLF, as far as I can tell, is that you get an extra blank line in your ini file and it screws up the line endings.

 

I modified the example script from the help file for the IniWriteSection function to use a string instead of an array. I also used both @LF and @CRLF in creating the string.

#include <MsgBoxConstants.au3>

Example()

Func Example()
    ; Create an INI section structure as an array. The zeroth element is how many items are in the array, in this case 3.
    Local $aSection = "3=''" & @LF & "Title = AutoIt" & @CRLF & "Version=" & @AutoItVersion & @CRLF & "OS=" & @OSVersion

    ; Write the array to the section labelled 'General'.
    IniWriteSection(@TempDir & "\Example.ini", "General", $aSection)

    ; Read the INI section labelled 'General'. This will return a 2 dimensional array.
    Local $aArray = IniReadSection(@TempDir & "\Example.ini", "General")

    ; Check if an error occurred.
    If Not @error Then
        ; Enumerate through the array displaying the keys and their respective values.
        For $i = 1 To $aArray[0][0]
            MsgBox($MB_SYSTEMMODAL, "", "Key: " & $aArray[$i][0] & @CRLF & "Value: " & $aArray[$i][1])
        Next
    EndIf

    ; Delete the INI file.
    FileDelete(@TempDir & "\Example.ini")
EndFunc   ;==>Example

The output to the message boxes are the same with either delimiter, but the result in the INI file is quite different.

 

[General]CRLF

3=''CRLF

Title = AutoIt CR

CRLF

Version=3.3.12.0 CR

CRLF

OS=WIN_7 CR

CRLF

As you can see by the above, if you use @CRLF, the line strips the LF and leaves the CR, and then adds a blank CRLF line in the ini file. If you use @LF, as in the line that starts with 3, you'll see it behaves normally.

So, don't use @CRLF in an ini write section or you'll end up with a non-conventional ini file. Saying this, that means that the example script for IniRenameSection needs to be rewritten to follow the help file.

[orbs]

thank you BrewManNH for the detailed answer, that was very helpful!