linux - What is the simplest way for my C program to receive some file paths from configuration? -

i have application configurable via command line arguments

myprog  -foofile 'foo.txt' -barfile 'bar.txt' 

command line parameters bit cumbersome want allow other avenues these configurations bit disappointed looking more complicated taught should be.

solution 1: use environment variables

i make program myprog_foo_file , myprog_bar_file envorinment variables. implementation getenv env variables global , add clutter , hard configure. specially gui apps because many window managers don't source ".profile" during initialization.

solution 2: use configuration file

since foofile , progfile kind of static configuration values, seems better put in configuration file somewhere:

foofile = /home/hugomg/foo.txt barfile = /home/hugomg/bar.txt 

but afaik there no easy way in c read arbitrarily long string file. need make loop keeps reallocing buffer this?

alternatively, since values file names, there #define somewhere specifying maximum size of path string?

your configuration file approach simple syntax looks me.

since on linux, use getline read file. can handle lines of arbitrary length , manages memory allocation you.