Preferences File Layers

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Wing stores preferences in four layers, as follows:

  • For each preference, Wing defines a default internally.
  • A preferences file that defines defaults for all users may be placed inside the Install Directory listed in Wing's About box.
  • Each individual user's preferences file is stored in their User Settings Directory.
  • Additional preferences files may be specified on the command line with one or more --prefs-file options. For example:

    wing10.0 --prefs-file=/path/to/myprefs
    

Values found in a lower layer override values found higher up.

When preferences are changed, Wing writes the changes to the lowest file present on the above list, either the last file specified with --prefs-file or the preferences file in the Settings Directory. Wing will never modify the installation-wide preferences file.

If a preference is set to the default value, as determined by the layers further up the list, then Wing removes that value from the writeable preferences file. This means that the effective value of a preference can change in later IDE sessions even if the last file on the list above is unchanged. This is by design, to allow inheriting centrally managed default values.