IniParser++

A small, modern C++11 header-only library for read, write and modify .INI configuration files with help of std::map

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Content

• IniParser++
  • Content
  • - License
  • Motiviaton
  • ## Documentation
    • Namespace
    • Typedefs
  • | inimap | Typedef for std::map<std::string, std::map<std::string, std::string>> |
    • Class IniParser
      • Constructors
      • Destructor
      • Private Member
      • Private Methods
      • Public Methods
      • Setters (Configuration)
  • Examples
    • Read and write .ini file
    • Create new .ini file
    • Hanlde comments
  • More examples are in the unit tests under test/unit.cpp
  • Unit Tests
  • License

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Motiviaton

This project was highly inspired from the C# ini-parser by rickyah and its good usability.

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Documentation

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Namespace

ini

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Typedefs

Type	Description
inimap	Typedef for std::map<std::string, std::map<std::string, std::string>>

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Class IniParser

Constructors

Signature	Description
IniParser()	Creates new instance of IniParser
IniParser(std::string file_path)	Creates new instance and reads file content
IniParser(std::string file, inimap& data)	Creates new instance, reads file and parse data to inimap by reference

Destructor

Name	Description
~IniParser()	clears all private container

Private Member

Signature	Type	Description
_lines	std::vector<std::string>	Stores all lines by reading file/string data
_values	ini::inimap	Stores _line values to std::map during parsing
_keyValueDelim	std::string	Stores default key value delimiter of ini file (default "=")
_lineSeparator	std::string	Stores default separator for ini data, default is newline ("\n")
_comments	bool	used for that parser knows if it needs to handle comments (read/write)
_commentSign	char	Line prefix for comment lines in ini file

Private Methods

Signature	Return Value	Description
_split(std::string delimiter)	std::vector<std::string>	Splits a string into parts

Public Methods

Signature	Return Value	Description
parse()	ini::inimap	Parses data which was red before
parseFile(std::string file_path)	ini::inimap	read file if exists and parses data
parseString(std::string& data)	ini::inimap	read string and parse
readFile(std::string file_path)	bool	reads file and store values internal, if successful returns true
readString(std::string data)	bool	reads string and store values internal, if successful returns true
writeFile(std::string file_path)	bool	writes data into file
writeString(std::string file_path)	bool	writes data into std::string

Setters (Configuration)

Because INI files are not standardized there are different configuration setters which you can adjust.

Signature	Return Value/Type	Description
setKeyValueDelimiter(std::string delimiter)	void	Set the delimiter between keys and values (default is "=" )
setLineSeparator(std::string seperator)	void	Set the seperator for the ini lines
setAllowComments(bool b)	void	Set if comments are saved in the inimap data (default false)
setCommentSign(char c)	void	Set which sign is used for comments in the INI file (default is ';' )
setSectionOpen(char c)	void	Set which opening sign is used for a INI section
setSectionClose(char c)	void	Set which closing sign is used for a INI section
setSectionTag(char c1, char c2)	void	Set opening and closing tag for a INI section

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Examples

Read and write .ini file

# comment
path=/home/test/config.txt
; comment
[Test]
value=120
exe=/home/test/bin

#include "iniparser.h"
using IniParser = ini::IniParser;
// ...

// first example (savest)
IniParser ipa;
if(ini.readFile("test.ini")) {
    // only if file is successful red
    // parse value to std::map
    auto ini_data = ipa.parse(); 

    std::string val = ini_data["Test"]["value"] // "120"
    ini_data["Test"]["value"] = "90" // set value
    ini_data
    // add new value
    ini_data["New"]["counter"] = 20;

    //remove value from existing
    ini_data["Test"].erase("value");

    if(ipa.writeFile("test.ini", ini_data)) {
        // do something if writing was successful ...
    }
}

// second example (less code)
IniParser ipa("test.ini"); // be sure that file exists
auto ini_data = ipa.parse(); 
// etc.

// third example (fast written but unsafe)
ini::inimap ini_data;
// be sure that file exist and data is in INI format
IniParser("test.ini", data);
std::string val = ini_data["Test"]["value"] // "120"
// etc.

// ...

Output:

path=/home/test/config.txt

[New]
counter=20

[Test]
exe=/home/test/bin

Create new .ini file

#include "iniparser.h"
using IniParser = ini::IniParser;
// ...

IniParser ipa;
ini::inimap ini_data;

ini_data[""]["example"] = "hello";
ini_data["Settings"]["path"] = "/home/usr/dir";
ini_data["Settings"]["bin"] = "/home/usr/dir/bin";
ini_data["Counter"]["read"] = "10";
ini_data["Counter"]["write"] = "5";

ipa.WriteFile("test.ini", ini_data);

Output (test.ini):

example=hello 

[Settings]
path=/home/usr/dir
bin=/home/usr/dir/bin

[Counter]
read=10
write=5

Hanlde comments

Two kinds of comments are supported:

• On top of the file
• On top of the each section

Attribute specific comments are unfortunately not supported.

Ini file (comments.ini)

# this is a example to read and write comments
# some additional information

[Settings]
# here are the settings
path=/home/usr/dir

IniParser p;
p.setAllowComments(true);
p.setCommentSign('#');
ini::inimap data = p.parseFile("commments.ini");
// please remember that the prefix (#) depends to the set commment sign
data[""]["#0"]; // --> # this is a example to read and write comments
data[""]["#1"]; // --> # some additional information
data["Settings"]["#0"]; // --> here are the settings
data["Settings"]["#1"] = "# a new comment";
p.writeFile("comments.ini", data);

Output:

# this is a example to read and write comments
# some additional information

[Settings]
# here are the settings
# a new comment
path=/home/usr/dir

More examples are in the unit tests under test/unit.cpp

Unit Tests

In subdir test are several unit tests written with the Catch2 C++ unit test library. To call the tests you can use GNU Make with make && make run

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License

MIT