GP2X Standardise Directory Tree For Gp2x?

[^RaZ]

I'm completely new to GP2X and love the idea of the console and homebrew scene! I just thought I'd put forward an idea to elp out the new people and probably the developers too so that our GP2X file structures can be nice and clean!

Could the community put forward/come up with a standard place to put different files? (not restricting ppl to the tree but makes things easier if u do, like the larger Linux communicaty do)

i.e. define locations for

roms -> megadrive - SNES - GBA - PSX etc...
games
photos
etc....

not only would it be easier for new people and avoid silly posts, it would be easier to write and maintain the wiki and help devs improve comatibility between their software!

 

[lintsniffer]

I've been wondering about something like this. All of the emulators have different ways to quit like start+select, L+R+down, which gets a little confusing. I think it would be a good feature to have customizable controls or have a standard to quit.

blah blah I'm bored.

 

[Yod4z]

mutch of the emulator have option to search rom in mnt/sd/roms/NameOfSystem or in the roms directory between the gpe file. In the wiki you have some page to help of the standardisation of the controls for dev

 

[PokeParadox]

It is probably a good idea to standardise certain aspects of GP2X programs.
I think standard rom dirs, is fine, so long as it does give you the option to change if you so wish.

 

[iignotus]

Config files goddamnit.

 

[^RaZ]

i just thought if a standard was set up and devs sick to it in writing their confs, new users could simply plug and play a program more easily. Should stop some of the more silly questions asked which appear to annoy ppl around here =) don't get me wrong im all for letting everyone set up directories as they see fit, as you can through conf files (im familiar with).

If there is a standard directory structure created and followed in the conf files that are bundled with software, newbies wouldn't need to edit them = less questions while still maintaining flexibility. besides it would keep stuff tidy =)

 

[Feeg]

I think once the programs mature a bit it won't be a problem. IMO config driven is the way to go, but programmers should be adding options to their programs which make adding (for example) ROM directories to the config file easy.

Also, if programs accepted command-line filenames a standardised launcher would make the process of running ROMs easy.

Another alternative, programs could assume that things like roms appear in subdirectories of their own working directory, and it would just be a matter of soft linking to the actual rom directory.

Finally, what about environment variables?

Environment variables and config files seem to be the most "Linux-ey" way to go. Better than making assumptions about the directory structure, forcing people to conform to an arbitrary "/mnt/sd/roms/" path.

Again, if a program wants to remain newbie friendly it should have a script or runtime option to set this stuff up.

It should down to the individual project as to how they handle data, and we should consider it the mark of a good program if it's easy to run it however you have your filesystem structured.

 

[sephiroth111]

*snip*
i.e. define locations for
roms -> megadrive - SNES - GBA - PSX etc...
games
photos
etc....

one thing is, linux is case sensitive. which is irritating, 'cause DrMDX uses /Roms/megadrive as the directory, whereas, everything else uses /roms. the trade off? working the emulators that have configs use /Roms/{system here} instead of the usual /roms/ or, dont do anything and avoid the emulator.

my file structure is already set up in that method, though i like keeping emulators seperate from the rom images (easier to clean out that way).

 

[slygamer]

As usual, this whole discussion is centred around ROMs and emulators. If the writers of the emulators can agree on a standard, good for them. Writers of original software for the GP2X should use their best judgement as to layout. But then, properly written applications should not care what the folder layout is outside their own folder. All paths should be relative to the applications own data files, and if you want files such as ROMs shared, then be able to specify the paths to the common files.

 

[lintsniffer]

*snip*
i.e. define locations for
roms -> megadrive - SNES - GBA - PSX etc...
games
photos
etc....

one thing is, linux is case sensitive. which is irritating, 'cause DrMDX uses /Roms/megadrive as the directory, whereas, everything else uses /roms. the trade off? working the emulators that have configs use /Roms/{system here} instead of the usual /roms/ or, dont do anything and avoid the emulator.

my file structure is already set up in that method, though i like keeping emulators seperate from the rom images (easier to clean out that way).

Dr.MD doesn't use Roms, it uses roms.

It's just a little annoying to sit and try all of the usual 'exit' combos to try and get to the menu because they are all different. customizeable .cfgs would be a big bonus.

 

[Feeg]

Yep, and they should all come with an "execute on quit" command in their cfg, for those people who aren't running from the GPH menu. Hardcoding a return to the main menu is a real cludge.