TUCS Frequently Asked Questions

Please note that it is also useful to read the Users's Guide.

1. General questions

1.1. What is TUCS?
The Users' Guide starts with the answer to this question here. In short: a system library that manages persistent, hierarchical configuration information, providing an abstract interface for applications to access these configurations.

1.2. Is TUCS like the Registry in Microsoft Windows?
To the extent that both provide a uniform way to store and access persistent hierarchical information mostly used for configuration, yes. But there are important differences: TUCS uses scattered text files for storage which can be edited by any text editor; TUCS can also use other storage layers thanks to its modular architecture; and TUCS is for Linux.

1.3. Where are my configuration files stored?
One idea behind TUCS is that TUCS 'knows' where to put configuration files, and where to look for them. This means you need not know the exact location of the files, but also means that you can't arbitrarily change the locations. TUCS automatically derives the location a file from the locator of the setting group it stores. This is described in detail here, but in a nutshell it goes like this: User settings are all stored under '~/.tucs'. For each element in the locator there is a corresponding directory. For example, the file storing the group 'app.myeditor' should be in '~/.tucs/app/myeditor'.
Note that although it is possible to edit config files directly, this is recommended to only advanced users only. See also question 1.6
Finally, note that all the above is valid only if you use the default text files storage layer. Other storage layers might use files in a completely different way, or not use files at all.

1.4. What is the simple file storage layer?

1.5. What is a storage layer?

1.6. Is it possible to edit the configuration files directly?
Yes, this is possible. One can edit the configuration files directly, using any text editor (if using the simple file storage). However, one should be aware of the text file format. See also question 1.3

2. Developer-specific questions

2.1. How do I open a specific configuration file?
You cannot. TUCS handles automatically in which file(s) to store a certain configuration group, and there is no way to change this. Instead of thinking in terms of files, just think in terms of setting groups, which are more abstract. Most of the time you don't need to know about the files themselves.
See also question 1.3

This document is maintained by the TUCS team. See the online homepage at http://tucs.sourceforge.net.