A typical RetroPlatform installation on
Windows groups files into four locations
(shared vs. application-specific
executables, shared vs. application-specific
data files):
- Shared RetroPlatform Windows
executables are located in "C:\Program
Files (x86)\Common
Files\Cloanto\RetroPlatform" (or
similar, depending on operating system,
language and x86 vs. x64 architecture)
- Package-specific Windows executables
are located inside "C:\Program Files
(x86)\Cloanto\Amiga Forever" (or
similar)
- Shared RetroPlatform data files are
located in the default system data
folder at
"C:\ProgramData\Cloanto\RetroPlatform"
(or similar)
- All other data
files, including files meant to be executed in an emulation
environment (Amiga, C64, etc.), are stored inside the
public user data folder at
"C:\Users\Public\Documents\Amiga Files"
or similar ("Amiga Files",
etc.)
This structure achieves two goals:
- It avoids duplication and simplifies
maintenance when multiple RetroPlatform
packages are installed (e.g.
Amiga Forever,
C64
Forever and/or custom packages)
- It adheres to the latest security
best practices (to contrast malware,
Windows program files should be
installed or modified only with
administrative privileges, but
administrative privileges should not be
required for other operations, including
for example running an emulated system
with read/write access to the emulated
system)
Environment Variables
Cloanto's RetroPlatform-powered installers
(e.g for Amiga Forever) define a number of
environment variables which make it possible to locate the
installation (e.g. from batch files) without accessing the registry. In the
"%%" notation used in directory paths, the
four variables corresponding to the
directories introduced before are:
- %RETROPLATFORMROOT%
- %AMIGAFOREVERROOT%,
%C64FOREVERROOT%, etc.
- %RETROPLATFORMDATA%
- %AMIGAFOREVERDATA%,
%C64FOREVERDATA%, etc.
The RetroPlatform variables are set from
version 2009.1 and higher of the software.
%AMIGAFOREVERROOT% was first set in Amiga
Forever 6.0. %AMIGAFOREVERDATA% was first
set in Amiga Forever 2005.
System Registry Values
The %RETROPLATFORMROOT% and %RETROPLATFORMDATA% environment
variables are also respectively stored in the "Path" and "DataPath"
values of the "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Cloanto\RetroPlatform" registry
key. There is no version-specific branch.
The %AMIGAFOREVERROOT% path is
also stored in the "Path" value of the "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Cloanto\Amiga
Forever\#.#" registry
key, where "#.#" is the version number. Version numbers used so far
in the registry are "1.0", "1.1", "2.0", "3.0", "4.0", "5.0", "6.0",
"2005.0", "2006.0", "2008.0", "2009.0" and "2010.0". In case of multiple
entries, higher numbers should be given priority.
The %AMIGAFOREVERDATA% path is
also stored in the "AmigaFiles" value of the "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Cloanto\Amiga
Forever\#.#" registry
key. The "AmigaFiles" value was introduced in Amiga Forever 2005.
Version numbers used so far in the registry are "2005.0", "2006.0",
"2008.0", "2009.0" and "2010.0". In case of multiple entries, higher numbers
should be given priority.
C64 Forever uses versioned values that
are a close match to those of Amiga Forever.
Amiga Forever - Additional Information
The following article explains how to programmatically find
the "Amiga Files" directory on Windows, independently of an
Amiga Forever installation:
The following article explains where other files, including
floppy disk image files, are located:
The following article has a focus on locating ROM and
operating system files, both in an Amiga Forever installation, and on CD:
