settings-key

name	settings-key
description	Add a persisted option to ClamAV UI — a settings.ini key with LoadSettings/SaveSettings wiring, migration for old settings files, and a control on the Settings page (absolute-positioned card layout). Use when adding a toggle, selector, or any state that must survive restarts.

Adding a settings.ini key (and its Settings-page control)

settings.ini lives next to the exe: plain key=value lines, no sections, written as UTF-8 without BOM. Everything is in src/MainForm.Settings.cs.

Steps

1. Field in src/MainForm.cs with the other state fields, with a comment stating the meaning and the default (e.g. int schedMode = 2; // 0 = off, 1 = daily, 2 = weekly (the default)).

2. Parser line in LoadSettings(). Follow the existing else if chain. Two idioms:

   • flags/enums: only parse values that differ from the default (else if (t == "sched=off") schedMode = 0; — the default needs no line);
   • timestamps/numbers: t.StartsWith("lastsched=") + long.TryParse on the substring; ignore unparsable values (never throw).

3. Writer line in SaveSettings() — always written, so the file is self-documenting.

4. Degrade gracefully: an old settings.ini without the key must behave sensibly. If the new feature needs one-time initialization on upgrade, follow the migration-flag pattern (watchinit=1/2/3, modeasked) or anchor pattern (if (lastScheduledScan == DateTime.MinValue) lastScheduledScan = DateTime.Now; after the parse loop).

5. UI control in BuildSettingsPage() (src/MainForm.Ui.cs). The card uses absolute positions:

   • left column: toggles at x=20, rows step by 36 px (y = 56, 92, 128…), created with MakeCheck(text, x, y); wire CheckedChanged to SaveSettings();
   • right column: x=520, ~310 px of width available before the card edge at the minimum window size. Radio-style selectors are rows of ModernButtons with ●/○ markers — copy the perf/sched pattern (SetPerfMode/UpdatePerfButtons, SetSchedMode/UpdateSchedButtons).
   • Add every new control to cardSettingsPanel.Controls.
   • Inserting mid-column means shifting the y of everything below it — check the whole column down to the STATUS block.

6. Localization: label/status strings go through Lang.T and persistent controls get re-texted in ApplyLanguage() — see the localization skill.

7. Loading order: LoadSettings() runs after BuildUi(), so controls exist; setting chk*.Checked fires CheckedChanged, which is why handlers early-return on the loadingSettings flag via SaveSettings(). Reflect loaded state of custom selectors explicitly (the UpdatePerfButtons() / UpdateSchedButtons() calls near the end).

Gotcha

SaveSettings() early-returns while loadingSettings is true — safe to call from anywhere. Never write settings.ini directly.