If you just want OS-sensible paths.
configDirs := xdg.ConfigDirs()
dataPath := xdg.DataHome()
cachePath := xdg.CacheHome()
Alternatively you can create a context that would determine full paths for your application files.
app := xdg.App{Name: "someApp"}
configFile := app.ConfigPath("someApp.toml")
dataFile := app.DataPath("data.json")
This is a KISS implementation of the XDG Base Directory Specification. As of now it handles the following path types:
- Data (
XDG_DATA_*) for application-wide or user-wide data. - Config (
XDG_CONFIG_*) for application-wide or user-wide config. - Cache (
XDG_CACHE_*)for application-wide or user-wide cached data.
The specification is Linux centric but this implementation targets more: Linux, OSX and Windows. Default values has been chosen regarding both the specification and the OS conventions. Note than you can override these values with the corresponding environment variables. The following matrix shows the paths you can expect.
| Linux/BSD | Windows | macOS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| User Config | $XDG_CONFIG_HOME ($HOME/.config) | %APPDATA% (%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming) | $HOME/Library/Preferences |
| System Config | $XDG_CONFIG_DIRS (/etc/xdg) | %APPDATA% (%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming) | /Library/Preferences:/Library/Application Support |
| User Data | $XDG_DATA_HOME ($HOME/.local/share) | %LOCALAPPDATA% (%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming) | $HOME/Library |
| System Data | $XDG_DATA_DIRS (/usr/local/share/:/usr/share/) | %APPDATA%, %LOCALAPPDATA% (%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming, %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local) | /Library |
| User Cache | $XDG_CACHE_HOME ($HOME/.local/share) | %TEMP% (%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Temp) | $HOME/Library/Caches |
There are a lot of OSes missing but supporting them implies a good knowledge of these conventions and philosophies, contributors maybe?