Altirra: Any way to set "home" path for Alt-B?

[Foebane]

Maybe it could be done in the Altirra.ini file?

 

I just get fed up of having to hit Tab x 4, "../" and Enter every time I want to get to the folder with all my A8 software in it.

 

[Mclaneinc]

IIRC Altirra normally stores the last location you used to load etc something

 

Edit: That is indeed the case, there's no default directory setting I'm afraid....

 

I suppose you could have a shortcut to an alternate ini file where the MRU pointer is set to what you want to call the default directory

Edited October 5, 2017 by Mclaneinc

[Foebane]

IIRC Altirra normally stores the last location you used to load etc something

 

Edit: That is indeed the case, there's no default directory setting I'm afraid....

 

I suppose you could have a shortcut to an alternate ini file where the MRU pointer is set to what you want to call the default directory

It doesn't work that way for me. Everytime I refresh the Altirra emulator, I get put into the Altirra folder itself.

 

How can I set an MRU pointer?

[Mclaneinc]

I just played with the making of a portable alt ini version but unfortunately it updates the alternative ini upon closing Altirra so if you browsed out of the home folder before you shut down altirra it would save that as the last place its been to so not that helpful...

 

As for why yours is not saving the last place its been to you will need to ask Avery about that, maybe its your PC OS as Altirra definitely does save the last used location..

 

Maybe you can ask for a home dir feature but most people like the fact it remembers where you were last as the chances are in most cases it will be some where in your collection.

[Foebane]

Right, let me explain:

 

I have the emulators and software for each platform I use put in separate folders labelled with the code I use for the platform (like A8 for Atari 8-bit). There are also zipped versions of the files which are extracted from a source folder into a target folder. With the emulators, I split the zipped files up into the main emulator app, any extras like ROMs or additional apps, and lastly, the settings. This way they can be easily changed without affecting the other parts, and when they are extracted into the target folder, they are all put together in a working form. However, every time I extract a particular folder, the original contents of the target folder are deleted first. This is what I call a "fresh install", so to speak. I have a small set of batch files dedicated to doing things this way, and it works for those other emulators that use MRUs. But not with Altirra. Could my way of doing things be the cause?

 

My spec is: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP 1. I use the 32-bit version of Altirra.

[Foebane]

OK, at least let me know if there's any keyboard shortcuts for the "Load" screen? They would be invaluable, since I use the keyboard for A8 emulation exclusively.

[phaeron]

Altirra keeps the last used folder for each open/save type in its settings. If those settings are absent, then it falls back to the default Windows behavior, which is to use the last used directory stored for the program if there are matching files there, or Documents if not. The behavior you're seeing suggests that you're restoring an INI file that contains last used folder settings already in it and you need to either modify or remove those settings.

[Foebane]

Altirra keeps the last used folder for each open/save type in its settings. If those settings are absent, then it falls back to the default Windows behavior, which is to use the last used directory stored for the program if there are matching files there, or Documents if not. The behavior you're seeing suggests that you're restoring an INI file that contains last used folder settings already in it and you need to either modify or remove those settings.

I see. Can you tell me what I should be looking for in the Altirra.ini file itself?

[Foebane]

I found the entry, after using a file comparison tool called Diff Checker to compare before-and-after configurations.

 

The entry is:

[User\Software\virtualdub.org\Altirra\Saved filespecs]
"6c6f6164" = ""

And of course, because it was blank, it was defaulting to Altirra's path. But I am now able to choose whatever path I like.

 

Thanks for your info, it helped!

[Mclaneinc]

Argh.....I actually typed out a reply that was my last post where I went in to detail about what entries were what but as I found out the alternate ini also got updated I edited the post right down....Sorry, it would have saved you that search, basically its the last bit of info in the ini....

[Foebane]

basically its the last bit of info in the ini....

So it's not what I said? What do you mean? I don't understand.

[Mclaneinc]

On my ini its the last part of it, it may be different on yours...It makes no odds, what you posted looks exactly the same...

 

If memory serves me there's two pointers in the ini, one for the last directory used to load etc and another for the last normally bootable file loaded ie ATR's Roms XFD's etc and not files like XEX's and BAS which are injected by altirra..

 

Hope that does not confuse...

Edited October 6, 2017 by Mclaneinc

[Foebane]

 

If memory serves me there's two pointers in the ini, one for the last directory used to load etc and another for the last normally bootable file loaded ie ATR's Roms XFD's etc and not files like XEX's and BAS which are injected by altirra..

 

Yes, when I compared the ini files before and after the change of path, there were two changes, these ones you've mentioned, and the second one mentioned MRU. However, I'd rather just change the one I mentioned, it should suffice.

 

Thank you once again.

[Mclaneinc]

There's no need to change the other one unless you always want to boot a particular disk every time..

 

Glad to have helped a bit..

 

Paul..

[Foebane]

UPDATE: Strange thing since I've upgraded to Windows 10: the entry in the .ini I mentioned above is still there in the file, but now the MRU (which I can't see in the .ini) seems to have taken over. Does Altirra have a MRU in the Registry, at all?

[Mclaneinc]

I don't use Win 10 myself so it might be its workings but the way Altirra works is that if there's an ini present in its root directory it uses that, if not it uses the registry which has the exact same info as the ini.

[Foebane]

Yeah, but for a while it was always starting in the path I specified in the parameter mentioned above, but now it just starts in the folder where I last opened an Atari image, very much like a MRU would do. That means all my emulators now use MRU, like WinUAE, VICE and Spectaculator. Oh well...

[Mclaneinc]

Vice actually uses an ini in the root dir of the emulator but yes WinUAE uses the registry although it does pull some settings from certain dirs if they exist. The only reason Altirra might go back to the registry is if the settings have been reset or the ini removed. From a technical point, all the settings in the ini mirror the registry but as the emulator updates either the ini or the registry when it closes you will lose a stated directory if you load something. I can't remember if Altirra updates an alternate ini on close of just the usual one / registry, I guess you could make the alt ini read only?

 

To be honest, I'm a very big user of LOTS of emulators and the common tactic used is to open the last directory used as Altirra does, you are facing an uphill climb..

[phaeron]

Strange, I develop on Windows 10 and haven't seen this behavior. Altirra only uses the registry or the INI, never both.

 

Keep in mind, the entry above is only for one of the types of file requests. Specifically, the key name is hex for 'LOAD'. Other types of file requests will use a different history entry. If a history entry doesn't exist, then the emulator will end up falling back to Windows' default behavior.