How to always get "C:\ProgramData" type location from QStandardPaths ...

[tmason101]

Hello,

I am in need of getting the standard configuration directory that my application can write to system-wide.

I have the following code snippet that sort of works for this purpose, with one major problem:

@
QStandardPaths* PathsToStandardLocations;

QStringList FolderPaths = PathsToStandardLocations->standardLocations(QStandardPaths::ConfigLocation);

GLint NumberOfPaths = FolderPaths.count();

std::string CompletePath = FolderPaths[1].toStdString();
@

So, I get the configuration as requested, EXCEPT I get four (4) locations back, with some of them being user directory locations!

Is there something I am missing with QStandardPaths? How can I get JUST the system-wide location that my application can write to without generally worrying about permission stuff for all users?

Thank you.

[chrisaverage]

The documentation is clear on the QStandardPaths::ConfigLocation:

bq. Returns a directory location where user-specific configuration files should be written. This may be either a generic value or application-specific, and the returned path is never empty.

Also, very important note:

bq. The first path is the writable path (unless noted). Other, additional paths, if any, represent non-writable locations

The thing is in modern OSes there is no such thing as "without worrying about permission stuff for all users". A user is always logged in with certain permissions and your app always runs as a specific user and you do have to worry about that. Most of the "standard paths" are thus user-specific.
The ProgramData (which can be located anywhere really) folder is not always accessible to all users. It's a location where a user with administrative privileges can setup a folder with permissions it chooses. This is usually done by the installer.
If you want a single, writable location for the running app use writableLocation() instead of standardLocations().