SlickEdit User Guide

Configuration Directories and Files
User Configuration Directory
CONFIGURATION DIRECTORIES AND FILES
Your SlickEdit® configuration directory contains configuration files representing the changes you have
made through setting editor options, and it preserves the state of SlickEdit by using the state file,
vslick.sta.
You should make periodic backups of your SlickEdit configuration directory. If you experience a problem in
the editor, you can often solve it by using a saved config directory.
Configuration changes are saved when you exit the editor. Note that SlickEdit cannot save configuration
changes when another instance is running. If you attempt to close an instance that contains configuration
changes, while another instance is running, a Save failed message is displayed, then a prompt asks
whether or not to exit anyway.
Configuration Directory Location
By default, the user configuration directory is located in My Documents/My SlickEdit Config on
Windows, and $HOME/.slickedit on UNIX, Linux, and Mac. SlickEdit® creates a versioned config
subdirectory for each version of SlickEdit you run.
You can view the path to the config directory by clicking Help > About SlickEdit. When SlickEdit displays
the config directory, it includes the versioned subdirectory. For example: C:\Documents and
Settings\SlickEditUser\My Documents\My SlickEdit Config\13.0.0\.
If you want to use a different directory for your config files, set the SLICKEDITCONFIG environment
variable (see Environment Variables), or specify the location by using the -sc invocation option on the
command line (see Invocation Options). In both cases, SlickEdit will create a versioned subdirectory below
the specified directory.
Resetting the Configuration Directory
For troubleshooting purposes, it is sometimes helpful to reset the configuration directory to the defaults.
SlickEdit Product Support may also ask you to use a default configuration to help debug problems. To
reset to the default configuration:
1. Exit any instances of SlickEdit® that are running.
2. Make a backup of the user config directory and store the backup in a safe location.
3. Delete the contents of the versioned config directory (i.e. 13.0.0) but NOT the directory itself.
4. Start SlickEdit.
After completing these steps, SlickEdit opens with the default configuration settings. Note that you will be
prompted for all of the initial setup information just as if you were running SlickEdit for the first time (see
Running SlickEdit® for the First Time).
NOTE If, instead of deleting the contents of the directory, you delete the directory itself, SlickEdit will
attempt to migrate your settings from a previous version.
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