Every PortableApp seems to be
organized into
3 subfolders
(App, Data, & Other).
Is it correct to assume that
PA puts
all (or most) of
the original program
(even original user data folders) into
the App folder, & then
redirects all (or most) user data into
the Data folder ?
Is this wrong, or much too simplistic ?
I am simply trying to grasp the way it works.
For example,
in some apps,
such as GIMP,
if you need to manually add some things (eg: brushes),
you need to know the correct (or best) folder
to put them in -
despite there often being more than one very similar folder(s) in
very different locations.
Thanks,
JKB
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Pretty close. You need to look at the subfolders of the App directory to get the full scale of it, though.
Data is the place for app settings, user data and anything else that belongs to the program but should be not be overwritten when updating the app. If you are installing something manually this is generally the place it would go.
Other is exactly what it sounds like, files that don't really fit anywhere. This folder includes images for the help file, Custom code segments for portability, licences, plus a few files regarding advanced settings.
App->AppInfo holds the stuff needed to make the app show in the platform such as icons, what it is and what version it is at, any special installation instructions (including the data needed for an online installer), along with language handling, data moving/redirection and other things that make the app portable.
App->DefaultData (where present) holds the basic data an app needs for when it hasn't been run before, or for if you want to start with a clean slate and delete the contents of the Data directory.
App->AppName is for the base app itself.
The complete format specification is available here. It outlines the folder structure.
https://portableapps.com/development/portableapps.com_format