quakeforge/doc/config.dox

//unfortunately, have to wrap the docs in a C comment for doxygen
// vim:tw=74:formatoptions-=l
/**
\page run_config Runtime Configuration.

\li \subpage cvars
\li \subpage filesystem
\li \subpage dirconf
\li \subpage tracklist
\li \subpage key_binding
\li \subpage cshift_cvars
\li \subpage server_timestamps

*/

/**
\page cvars Configuration variables

The core of \QF's configurabitly is the cvar.

\section cvar_value Cvar values.
Depending how the engine's use of the cvar, the value will be treated as a
string, a floating point value, an integer value or even a vector value.

If a space is needed in the value, the value must be "quoted".

\section cvar_type Cvar types.
From the user's perspective, there are three types of cvar:
\li plain cvar: the value can be displayed or set, but will not be
automatically saved.
\li archive cvar: like a plain cvar, the value can be displayed or set, but
the cvar will be automatically saved to \c config.cfg by the engine on
shutdown or gamedir change (quakeworld).
\li read-only cvar: the value can be displayed but not changed in any way
(value or flags). If the cvar also happens to be an archive cvar (the
archive flag was set before the read-only flag), then the cvar will be
saved to \c config.cfg.

\section cvar_cmds Cvar related commands.
<code>\<cvar\> [value]</code><br>
Display the current value of the specified cvar. If \c value is given, set
the cvar to \c value. Does not create a new cvar.

<code>set \<cvar\> \<value\></code><br>
Set the specified cvar to the specified value. If the cvar does not already
exist, a new cvar will be created.

<code>seta \<cvar\> \<value\></code><br>
Set the specified cvar to the specified value. If the cvar does not already
exist, a new cvar will be created. Sets the cvar's archive flag so it will
be automatically saved to \c config.cfg by the clients.

<code>setrom \<cvar\> \<value\></code><br>
Set the specified cvar to the specified value. If the cvar does not already
exist, a new cvar will be created. Sets the cvar's read-only flag so it can
no longer be modified in any way (not even by \c reset or \c resetall).

<code>toggle \<cvar\></code><br>
Treat the cvar as a boolean value, changing it from off to on, or on to
off. Any non-zero integer value is considered to be on, while zero and
any string that parses as zero (does not start with a non-zero number) will
be treated as off. The new value will always be either one (1) or zero (0).
\note values smaller than 1 will be treated as off.

<code>cvarlist [foo]</code><br>
Print a list of all cvars known to the engine (engine created or user
created). If the foo parameter is given (any value), then extra
information (cvar description, flags) will also be printed.

<code>cycle \<cvar\> \<value list\></code><br>
Cause the cvar to cycle through the list of values. Each time this command
is executed, the cvar will change to the value immediately after the cvar's
current value in the list, cycling back to the beginning when the current
value is the last value in the list. If the current value is not in the
list, the cvar will be set to the first value in the list.

<code>inc \<cvar\> [amount]</code><br>
Add one (1) to the cvar's current numeric value. If the optional amount is
given, add that value to the cvar's current numeric value. Using -1
(<code>inc \<cvar\> -1</code>), this can be used as a \c dec command.

<code>reset \<cvar\></code><br>
Reset the specified cvar to its default (engine specified) value.

<code>resetall</code><br>
Reset all cvars to their default (engine specified values).

\section cvar_rom Read-only cvars.
Many cvars in \QF are read-only because changing them at runtime would
either have little meaning or be difficult to implement. However, there
<em>is</em> a way to change even a read-only cvarsing the \c set command,
the cvar can be created with the desired value before the engine creates
the cvar (and sets its read-only flag). There are exactly three places
where the cvar can be created before the engine does:
\li the command line (eg <code>nq-glx +set snd_rate 48000</code>)
\li the global configuration file specified by the \c fs_globalcfg cvar.
\li the user configuration file specified by the \c fs_usercfg cvar.

The global and user configuration files are normal quake scripts, but only
\c set, \c seta, and \c setrom commands are executed.

It might seem strange to have the global and user configuration files
specified by cvars, but \QF's startup sequence is quite intense:
\li execute any \c set commands given on the command line. This way, \c
fs_globalcfg can be set.
\li execute any \c set commands in the global configuration file. This way,
\c fs_usercfg can be set.
\li re-execute any \c set commands given on the command line. Thus it is
possible to override \c fs_usercfg if it is set by the global configuration
file (unless \c setrom is used: BOFH).
\li execute any \c set commands in the user configuration file. Any cvars
set in the user configuration file override those set in the global
configuration file.
\li once again, re-execute any \c set commands given on the command line.
Thus cvars set on the command line override those set in either the user
configuration file or the global configuration file (or both).

During the above process, the only cvars created by the engine are \c
fs_globalcfg (just before reading the global configuration file) and \c
fs_usercfg (just before reading the user configuration file). Thus, it is
possible to set <em>any</em> cvar in \QF.

*/