TechniSolve Software

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With the advent of Windows, a certain file format was introduced.  I refer here to the INI file.  This file was meant to store program initialization data and was often named programname.ini.  If you look in your Windows folder, you will find many of these type of files.  This use has been largely replaced by the use of the registry but the file format still remains and has some useful features beyond its intended application.

The INI File Format

The file is simple text and has no formatting characters, so you can view these files with any text editor ( even the most basic NotePad that comes with Windows ).

The information in the file is broken into sections, where each section is identified by square brackets.  For example, if I were to create an INI file for my IniPad program, I would call it IniPad.ini and it may have the following sections:

[History]

File0=sample.ini

File1=another.ini

[Edit]

Color=Green

Within each section you can add as many items as necessary.  These are called keys and are written in the format

Key=value

 Using the INI File Format for Data

Why would this format be useful for data?  Well, it is easy to create, easy to edit, easy to view with a simple editor, easy to upgrade to add more data...  Need I say more?

I have now adopted this file structure to store lots of basic program information and even in some small applications, replaced the use of complex databases.

What is this progam

As the name suggests, this is a simple editor similar to NotePad.  I have called it IniPad since it has been developed to enhance the editing of INI files.  It does this by hilighting and color coding the sections and the keys.