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Concept
INI file
Summary
An INI file is a for computer software that consists of a text-based content with a structure and syntax comprising key–value pairs for properties, and sections that organize the properties. The name of these configuration files comes from the INI, for initialization, used in the MS-DOS operating system which popularized this method of software configuration. The format has become an informal standard in many contexts of configuration, but many applications on other operating systems use different file name extensions, such as conf and cfg.
The primary mechanism of software configuration in Windows was originally a text file format that comprised text lines with one key–value pair per line, organized into sections. This format was used for operating system components, such as device drivers, fonts, and startup launchers. INI files were also generally used by applications to store individual settings.
The format was maintained in 16-bit Microsoft Windows platforms up through Windows 3.1x. Starting with Windows 95 Microsoft favored the use of the Windows Registry and began to steer developers away from using INI files for configuration. All subsequent versions of Windows have used the Windows Registry for system configuration, but applications built on the .NET Framework use special XML .config files. The initialization-file functions are still available in Windows and developers may still use them.
Besides Windows software, platform-agnostic software may use this file format for configuration. Some Unix-like config files also use a similar format. INI is human-readable and simple to parse, so it is a usable format for configuration files that do not require much greater complexity.
Desktop.ini files determine the display of directories in Windows, e.g., the icons for a directory.
Git configuration files are similar to INI files.
The freedesktop.org format, which provides a link to an application, uses a similar format. Other examples with Unix-like system software include systemd service files and .
Official source
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