Path Processing

Path Logic in Skyscraper¶

This page describes how Skyscraper processes the different paths and especially how the absolute path is calculated when a you provide a relative path.

Do not get confused by the lenghty flow diagram below. It covers game list folder, input folder and media folder handling. You wiil notice that input folder and media folder are processed in the same manner.

Ah, good you made it to the end of the flow.

Pay attention to the connectors A-A, B-B and C-C in the diagram.

Normalization means any surplus ./ and ../ are removed from the path. However, at this stage it is not verified if the filepath does exists. Also, any symbolic links are not resolved.

Remember the precedence of CLI and configuration options when you read through this document.

Now, let's see how Skyscraper handles relative path configuration options.

Computing the Absolute Path From a Relative Path¶

The next subsections are summarizing the absolute path calculation Skyscraper applies for the different path and file options.

By Using Current Working Directory¶

The current working directory (CWD) is the directory from where you run Skyscraper. The absolute path is computed as <CWD>/<parameter-value> for these CLI parameters and their values:

-a <artwork.xml>
-c <configfile>
-g <gamelistfolder>
-d <cachefolder>

This means the first part of the flow diagram (resolution of Gamelist folder) also applies to -a and -d options and their configfile counterparts.

In contrast, when you use one of the three parameters (<artwork.xml>,<gamelistfolder> and <cachefolder>) in a configuration INI-file the absolute path it determined from the absolute path of the config file. See below.

By Using Skyscraper's Built-in Config Directory¶

This is usually /home/<USER>/.skyscraper/ (=base). With XDG it is slightly different. The files provided with these options

--excludeFrom <excludes.txt>
--includeFrom <includes.txt>

are searched by concatenating the base and for example the exclude file. If not found, Skyscraper tries to access it with the current working directory as base. If it is not found in any of these locations Skyscraper end with an error message.

By Using the Gamelist Folder¶

If you define a relative path Gamelist folder either via -g or via gameListFolder= (INI-file) and are using a frontend for EmulationStation (or any other frontend, which is not Pegasus) then the configuration for input folder must be provided absolute and can not be relative. In turn, the media folder, if it is a relative path, is then assumed to be relative to the input folder.

However, if you selected the Pegasus frontend then the input folder may be relative. The input folder and media folder, when relative, are then interpreted by Skyscraper to be relative to the game list folder.

This is also depicted in the diagram above.

By Using the Input Folder (ROM-/gamefile-path)¶

The files provided with these options

--startAt <ROM-or-game-file-A>
--endAt <ROM-or-game-file-B>

are first searched in the current working directory. If not found, Skyscraper tries to access them in the input folder. If they are not found at all Skyscraper silently assumes that --startAt respective --endAt are not set.

By Using an Option in a Configuration INI File¶

When you have set one of the four following parameters in the default configuration file (/home/<USER>/.skyscraper/config.ini) or in a custom config file defined with -c <configfile> the path is calculated from the absolute path of the location of the config INI-file.

artworkXml=<artwork.xml>
gameListFolder=<gamelistfolder>
cacheFolder=cachefolder>
importFolder=<importfolder>

Remember, that the path calculation for the paramters artworkXml, gameListFolder and cacheFolder differs when using their CLI counterparts, see CLI options above.

Note

The importFolder= parameter has no counterpart on the command line.