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The new Windows launcher included in Platform 6.7 changed the default location of the user directory for a platform application from %APPDATA% to %USERPROFILE%. In versions up to 6.5.1, the variable ${HOME} in default_userdir was expanded to the content of the environment variable %APPDATA% which is, supposedly, the place where applications should put their data. In versions 6.7 and later, ${HOME} is expanded to the content of the environment variable %USERPROFILE% which points to a different directory. This change negatively affects users deploying platform-based applications on Windows and wishing to update their platform to a later version. Of course, this issue is only relevant when executing a platform application on a Windows system. Also, the IDE is not affected since it already installed its userdir under %USERPROFILE%. The ${HOME} expansion should be reverted to the old behavior; if this is deemed unfeasible, an option should be provided to keep compatibility with the old behavior, for instance a ${APPDATA} variable.
To reproduce the issue, I did the following in Netbeans IDE 6.5: - create a new platform using the platform-6.5.1 and harness-6.5.1 zip files; use "Harness supplied with platform"; call the platform "NetBeans Platform 6.5.1" - create a new "NetBeans Platform Application" project, using the platform "NetBeans Platform 6.5.1" - run "Build ZIP Distribution" - execute the application on Windows - expected result: the userdir is "C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Application Data\.app651" - create a new platform using the platform-6.8m1 and harness-6.8m1 zip files; use "Harness supplied with platform"; call the platform "NetBeans Platform 6.8m1" - create a new "NetBeans Platform Application" project, using the platform "NetBeans Platform 6.8m1" - run "Build ZIP Distribution" - execute the application on Windows - expected result: the userdir is "C:\Documents and Settings\Username\.app68m1" The directory locations may change depending on OS version, localization and user preferences. Platforms 6.7 and 6.7.1 have the same behavior of version 6.8 M1, but they are also affected by issue 168935.
The change was not intentional. Fixed in core-main #b8bdbc36c8c5
Integrated into 'main-golden', will be available in build *200909010201* on http://bits.netbeans.org/dev/nightly/ (upload may still be in progress) Changeset: http://hg.netbeans.org/main-golden/rev/b8bdbc36c8c5 User: Tomas Holy <t_h@netbeans.org> Log: #171154: Userdir location changed from $APPDATA to $USERPROFILE