GetProfileString

Description

Gets an initialization file entry. An initialization file assigns values to configuration variables, also known as entries, that are set when the system boots, the operating system comes up, or an application starts. An initialization file has the suffix INI; for example, boot.ini, Win32.ini.

Returns

An entry in an initialization file, as a string. If there is no value, returns an empty string.

History

ColdFusion 11: Added the encoding attribute.

Function syntax

GetProfileString(iniPath, section, entry, [encoding])

Parameters

Parameter	Description
iniPath	Absolute path (drive, directory, filename, extension) of initialization file; for example, C:\boot.ini
section	Section of initialization file from which to extract information
entry	Name of value to get
encoding	Encoding of the initialization (ini) file. For instance "UTF-8". For a list of encodings, see cffile action = "read"

Example

<h3>GetProfileString Example</h3>
Uses GetProfileString to get the value of timeout in an initialization file. Enter
the full path of your initialization file, and submit the form.

<cfif Isdefined("Form.Submit")>
<cfset IniPath = FORM.iniPath>
<cfset Section = "boot loader">
<cfset timeout = GetProfileString(IniPath, Section, "timeout")>
<h4>Boot Loader</h4>

<p>Timeout is set to: <cfoutput>#timeout#</cfoutput>.</p>
</cfif>
<form action = "getprofilestring.cfm">
<table cellspacing = "2" cellpadding = "2" border = "0">
<tr>
<td>Full Path of Init File</td>
<td><input type = "Text" name = "IniPath" value = "C:\myboot.ini">
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><input type = "Submit" name = "Submit" value = "Submit"></td>
<td></td>
</tr></table>
</form>