AutoIt Registry Keys

[Jon]

I'm probably going to change the registry keys used in AutoIt/Aut2Exe/Exe2Aut

From:

SOFTWARE\HiddenSoft\AutoIt3\

to:

SOFTWARE\AutoIt v3\

It will have the usuall sub-keys:

SOFTWARE\AutoIt v3\AutoIt

SOFTWARE\AutoIt v3\Aut2Exe

SOFTWARE\AutoIt v3\Exe2Aut

SOFTWARE\AutoIt v3\AU3Spy (possibly a new addition)

If you rely on any of these keys (like InstallDir) then you'll need to update your scripts.

[Valik]

Jon, with the exception of the version and installation directory, which obviously should go into the registry, why not use an INI file to store this data keeping the registry clean of all non-essential information*?

Also, Jon, in case you've forgotten, keep in mind that #include peeks into the registry looking for something, which will need changed in both AutoIt3.exe and Aut2Exe.exe.

Also, may I suggest that either the installer or a small utility be released which migrates the settings automagically (Preferably in the installer). Mostly for cleanup purposes, really, as the keys should be deleted if they aren't going to be used further (I hate applications that don't clean the registry after themself almost as much as I hate the application for mis-using the registry in the first place).

* I can accept the InstallDir being an acceptable entry because it instructs any scripts/programs on where to look to find AutoIt, which in my opinion is one of the few acceptable uses (read: non-abusive uses) of the already overused registry.

[Jon]

I use HKLM for the installdir/version type keys, and HK User for config stuff (like aut2exe settings) - These keys are attempted to be cleaned on uninstall but that obviously depends on the what user is uninstalling.

Ini files are very bad on systems where you are not admin, the only place you can assume write access is Profiles\Username and HKEY_Current_user. If we used an ini file in the Profiles directory it could be tricky to find as it moves on 95, 95 with profiles enabled, 98, NT4, 2000 etc and IMO is far more messy.

I'm going to alter Aut2Exe and add functions to Au3_spy so that they only write to the USERS keys to remember settings if AutoIt has been fully installed. So if you run it from a floppy on a server (like I sometimes do) nothing will be written to the registry, which seems like a decent compromise.