Where to put common writable application files?

Question

Hello all,

I thought that CSIDL_COMMON_APPDATA\company\product should be the place to put files that are common for all users of the application and that the application can modify, however, on Vista this is a read-only location, unless modified by the installer (as per MSDN - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms995853.aspx), so... what's best? Modify the location's security settings to allow writing or use CSIDL_COMMON_DOCUMENTS\company\product instead? Maybe there's a third option?

Also, is there an "official" Microsoft recommendation on this somewhere?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

I think this post may answer some questions, but it seems a difficult problem for many.

Apparently, CSIDL_COMMON_DOCUMENTS provides a common workaround

Answer 2

Modify just the security on a specific sub-directory of the AppData directory (this is from the link you provided):

CSIDL_COMMON_APPDATA This folder should be used for application data that is not user specific. For example, an application may store a spell check dictionary, a database of clip-art or a log file in the CSIDL_COMMON_APPDATA folder. This information will not roam and is available to anyone using the computer. By default, this location is read-only for normal (non-admin, non-power) Users. If an application requires normal Users to have write access to an application specific subdirectory of CSIDL_COMMON_APPDATA, then the application must explicitly modify the security on that sub-directory during application setup. The modified security must be documented in the Vendor Questionnaire.

Answer 3

Guidelines for Vista/UAC can be found here. Search that page for "CSIDL" and you'll find some "official" answers.