1. Directory and File Layout

The basic directory layout of each portable app consists of a main directory, AppNamePortable which contains three directories: App, Data and Other.

AppNamePortable
+ App
  + AppInfo
  + AppName
  + DefaultData
+ Data
+ Other
  + Help
    + Images
  + Source

AppNamePortable: contains the main application launcher, typically named AppNamePortable.exe and the main help file help.html. No other files are present in this directory by default.

App: contains all the binary and other files that make up the application itself, usually within a directory called AppName. The other directory called AppInfo (discussed in section 2) contains the configuration details for the PortableApps.com Platform as well as the icons used within the menu. It may also contain the launcher.ini configuration file used for the PortableApps.com Launcher. The third directory, DefaultData is usually used as a container for the default files to be placed within the Data directory. Generally, the launcher, when run, will check if there is a set of files within Data and, if not, will copy them from DefaultData. The next release of the PortableApps.com Installer will do the same.

Data: contains all the user data for the application including settings, configuration and other data that would usually be stored within APPDATA for a locally installed application. The applications released by PortableApps.com typically contain the settings in a settings subdirectory, profiles for Mozilla apps in a profiles subdirectory. No application components (binary files, etc) should be contained within the Data directory. The launcher or application must be able to recreate the Data directory and all required files within it if it is missing.

Other: contains files that don’t fit into the other categories. The additional images and other files used by help.html included in the main AppNamePortable are included in a Help subdirectory in the Other directory. Images for the help file would be included in an Images subdirectory within the Help subdirectory.

Any source code or source code licensing as well as the source files for the PortableApps.com Installer (if desired) are included within the Source subdirectory. This may include the source for the AppNamePortable.exe launcher, a readme.txt file detailing the usage of the launcher, license information and other files.