set_config_string(3)

✨ set_config_string ✨

okay bestie, so this one is from the Allegro manual — yes, the Allegro game programming library, the whole set_config_string(3) moment 💖

🌸 NAME 🌸

set_config_string — writes a string in the configuration file, brought to you by the Allegro game programming library 🎀

🌈 SYNOPSIS 🌈

#include <allegro.h>

void set_config_string(const char *section, const char *name, const char *val);

💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

so basically, this function writes a string variable into your current config file. it replaces any existing value that variable might already have, no hesitation, no drama. and if val is NULL? bestie it removes the variable entirely. gone. deleted. not me being the cleanup crew 😭

the section name can be set to NULL if you want to write the variable to the root of the file instead, or you can use it to control exactly which section the variable gets inserted into. you're the main character, you decide 👑

now here's the thing — the altered file gets cached in memory, it does not actually get written to disk until you call allegro_exit(). so don't go opening the file and panicking that nothing's there yet, it's just chilling in RAM. also, heads up: you can only write to files this way, so this function will literally have no effect if the current config source was specified with set_config_data() rather than set_config_file(). like, zero. nada. vibe check failed 💀

🫶 special case alert! variable or section names that begin with a # character are treated specially and will not be read from or written to the disk. addon packages can use this little trick to stash version info or other status information into the config module, from where it can be read with the get_config_string() function. iconic behavior honestly.

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

• set_config_file(3)
• get_config_string(3)
• set_config_float(3)
• set_config_hex(3)
• set_config_int(3)
• set_config_id(3)

and that's the whole page, bestie ✨ this was Allegro, version 4.4.3, and the page itself is set_config_string(3). go write some strings, you got this 🍓💜