General: What is the %APPDATA% folder?

[Su-Laine Yeo]

XMetaL support staff often refer to folder paths starting with %APPDATA%. It looks geeky, but it makes things easier, because it will take you to the correct folder in all versions of Windows and works for all user names. To use a folder path starting with %APPDATA%, paste the entire folder path into the address bar of a Windows Explorer window, then press Enter.

For example, say you paste %APPDATA%\SoftQuad\XMetaL into an address bar as shown below:



After you press Enter, the following folder will appear, assuming you are using the English versions of the operating systems in their default configurations:

• In Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\SoftQuad\XMetaL
• In Windows 7: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\SoftQuad\XMetaL

Note that depending on your organization's IT policies, you might not be able to see the contents of the %APPDATA% folder.

For additional background information, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Folders

[Derek Read]

See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environment_variables#Default_Values_on_Microsoft_Windows

[sirajrangwala]

Thanks, yes I had the IT configure Environment Variable in my Win7Pro Workstation. Even though the XM6 & XM7 worked well as standalone applications, but when integrated with Siemens Teamcenter XM6 was unsuccessful until the environment variables were set. Still waiting for XM7 to be integrated with Siemens Teamcenter.