> On 20 Aug 2020, at 21:12, 15 knots <fifteenknots505@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> I can see that
> CBuildConfiguration uses osgi.service.prefs.Preferences to store the
> project settings.
Since I don't know the scope of CBuildConfiguration, I might be completely off topic, and in this case disregards my comment, but please be sure you preserve the distinction between configuration and preferences.
A configuration is a set of definitions specific to the project. The file(s) used to store it must be portable, in other words it should not store absolute paths or other platform specific definitions, and generally should be valid on all platforms (Windows, macOS, GNU/Linux). Configuration files can be safely stored in repositories.
Preferences are definitions specific to a platform. They can include absolute paths and other information specific to the developer or the developer environment. Preferences should not be stored in repositories, since they generally collide with other team member preferences.
I think that is not the universal definitions in CDT for preferences vs configuration. It is complicated by the fact that Preferences is an API as well as a concept - more below.
As an example, .project and .cproject are configuration files, and should be stored in the repository (assuming they include portable definitions), and the files in the .settings folder should generally not be saved in a repository.
I think this is an interesting point and I would appreciate some more insight on your views on this. The irony of my role is I spend all my time in Java land and end up more familiar with JDT as a user than CDT itself.
I 100% agree that if there is an absolute path in a setting it should not (generally) be checked in, equally indexer settings related to performance and scalability. But most of what I generally see checked in .settings are things like formatter preferences, codan settings, language settings and other more minor stuff.
There are those that advocate that even .cproject/.project should not be checked in - but I think this camp is mostly when team members are not all using Eclipse CDT.
Thanks for your insights.
Jonah
