User:David Hedlund/Generation of configuration files

Conventional approach

A widely adopted method for generating and modifying configuration files using bash scripts involves the following steps:

1. Delete the existing default configuration file.
2. Temporarily launch the software to create a new default configuration file.
3. Edit the generated configuration file as needed.

Example

For instance, consider a software application named "foo" that produces a configuration file called `configure.xml`:

# Delete the existing default configuration file.
rm ~/.configure/foo/configure.xml

# Temporarily launch the software to create a new default configuration file.[1]
timeout 1 foo

# Edit the generated configuration file as needed.
sed -i "
s|<setting3>true</setting3>|<setting3>false</setting3>|;
s|<setting8>true</setting8>|<setting8>false</setting8>|;
s|<setting9>true</setting9>|<setting9>false</setting9>|;
" ~/.configure/foo/configure.xml

1: Default configure.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<content>
    <setting1>true</setting1>
    <setting2>true</setting2>
    <setting3>false</setting3>
    <setting4>true</setting4>
    <setting5>true</setting5>
    <setting6>true</setting6>
    <setting7>true</setting7>
    <setting8>false</setting8>
    <setting9>false</setting9>
    <setting10>true</setting10>
</content>

Improved approach

An enhanced method simplifies the process by directly creating a configuration file that includes only the desired settings. This approach not only streamlines the configuration process but also:

• Provides a clearer overview of the settings being applied, as compared to applying patches (`patch "config.xml" < "config-patch.xml"`) to an existing configuration file.
• May be required by some software. For example, LibreOffice does not generate all default settings in ~/.config/libreoffice/4/user/registrymodifications.xcu. After you have figured out the settings[1] can add them with a script.

By generating a fresh configuration file with only the necessary parameters, users can easily understand and manage their configurations without the clutter of irrelevant settings.

Example

# Create a new configuration file that contains only the specified lines.
tee ~/.config/foo/configure.xml > /dev/null << EOF
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<content>
    <setting3>false</setting3>
    <setting8>false</setting8>
    <setting9>false</setting9>
</content>
EOF

Start the program, it add the default settings:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<content>
    <setting1>true</setting1>
    <setting2>true</setting2>
    <setting3>false</setting3>
    <setting4>true</setting4>
    <setting5>true</setting5>
    <setting6>true</setting6>
    <setting7>true</setting7>
    <setting8>false</setting8>
    <setting9>false</setting9>
    <setting10>true</setting10>
</content>

This streamlined approach is more efficient and reduces unnecessary steps, resulting in a cleaner configuration process.

1:

• Run: rm ~/.config/libreoffice/4/user/registrymodifications.xcu; timeout 5 soffice && cd ~/.config/libreoffice/4/user/ && cp -a registrymodifications.xcu registrymodifications.xcu.default
• Open any libreoffice application and configure it which will modify registrymodifications.xcu
• Run: diff -u registrymodifications.xcu registrymodifications.xcu.default