Do standard windows .ini files allow comments?

Question

Are comments allowed in Windows ini files? (...assuming you're using the GetPrivateProfileString api functions to read them...)

[Section]
Name=Value   ; comment

; full line comment

And, is there a proper spec of the .INI file format anywhere?

Thanks for the replies - However maybe I wasn't clear enough. It's only the format as read by Windows API Calls that I'm interested in. I know other implementations allow comments, but it's specifically the MS Windows spec and implementation that I need to know about.

Answer 1

Windows INI API support for:

• Line comments: yes, using semi-colon ;
• Trailing comments: No

The authoritative source is the Windows API function that reads values out of INI files

GetPrivateProfileString

Retrieves a string from the specified section in an initialization file.

The reason "full line comments" work is because the requested value does not exist. For example, when parsing the following ini file contents:

[Application]
UseLiveData=1
;coke=zero
pepsi=diet   ;gag
#stackoverflow=splotchy

Reading the values:

• UseLiveData: 1
• coke: not present
• ;coke: not present
• pepsi: diet ;gag
• stackoverflow: not present
• #stackoverflow: splotchy

Update: I used to think that the number sign (#) was a pseudo line-comment character. The reason using leading # works to hide stackoverflow is because the name stackoverflow no longer exists. And it turns out that semi-colon (;) is a line-comment.

But there is no support for trailing comments.

Answer 2

USE A SEMI-COLON AT BEGINING OF LINE --->> ; <<---

Ex.

; last modified 1 April 2001 by John Doe
[owner]
name=John Doe
organization=Acme Widgets Inc.

Answer 3

I have seen comments in INI files, so yes. Please refer to this Wikipedia article. I could not find an official specification, but that is the correct syntax for comments, as many game INI files had this as I remember.

Edit

The API returns the Value and the Comment (forgot to mention this in my reply), just construct and example INI file and call the API on this (with comments) and you can see how this is returned.

Answer 4

Yes. Have a look at Wikipedia and Cloanto Implementation of INI File Format (see bottom of page).