'general' settings section works incorrectly

Dmitriano

If I set general/serviceMode key to 'true' using QSettings in this way:

static const char * serviceModeKey = "general/serviceMode";

QSettings qSettings(settingsFileName(), QSettings::IniFormat);

bool val =  qSettings.value(serviceModeKey, false).value<bool>();

bool other_val = true;

qSettings.setValue(serviceModeKey, other_val);

'general' section is duplicated, so settings file looks like this:

[%General]
serviceMode=true

...

[%General]
serviceMode=true

...

and the value is false when the app starts next time.

if I rename the key with 'app/serviceMode', for example, it seems to work fine.

I use QT 5.9.1, Ubuntu Linux

JonB

@Dmitriano
I know nothing, but is there an issue with your key being "general... and your file containing [%General...?

Dmitriano

@JNBarchan Yes, it not clear enough what is the issue, but at least looks like something is wrong with QSettings.

JonB

@Dmitriano
I use QSettings under Linux but there is no % in the .ini file (all my sections/items start with uppercase though)....

Dmitriano

@JNBarchan did you try 'general' section? Probably it is a special case.

JonB

@Dmitriano
Yep, I see. Please try naming your key "General/... instead of "general/... ? You also need to look at:

The INI file format has severe restrictions on the syntax of a key. Qt works around this by using % as an escape character in keys. In addition, if you save a top-level setting (a key with no slashes in it, e.g., "someKey"), it will appear in the INI file's "General" section. To avoid overwriting other keys, if you save something using a key such as "General/someKey", the key will be located in the "%General" section, not in the "General" section.

If you still have trouble, suggest removing the leading "general" from your key entirely and change .ini entry to [General] and and see if that resolves better.

Dmitriano

@JNBarchan at least I did not name my section '%General'. Where to report 'General' section duplication as a bug?

jsulm

@Dmitriano https://bugreports.qt.io/secure/Dashboard.jspa

Dmitriano

@jsulm reported this as a bug here https://bugreports.qt.io/browse/QTBUG-63694

SGaist

Hi,

From a quicklook, general is a keyword used in the Qt sources in qsettings.cpp.