Embed or launch ConfigUI

Three integration levels

Engine only

Depend on uniconfig-core; register vocabulary; build your own UI.

Component (future)

Depend on form model + a toolkit binder when split from the desktop shell.

Full ConfigUI

Ship or invoke the uniconfig binary; users get the registry tree + generic panel.

Detect an existing install

Before bundling another copy, check for ConfigUI on the machine:

  • Sibling uniconfig.exe / uniconfig next to your app

  • %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\ConfigUI\uniconfig.exe (Windows)

  • uniconfig on PATH

The D helper findConfigUiExecutable() (in the ConfigUI app sources today; moving to a shared embed module) returns the path or an empty string.

Policy: prefer the user’s existing install when versions are compatible; bundle only when none is found or you require a pinned version.

Launch modes

Full ConfigUI

Open the main tree. Your registered catalog appears when the user opens matching files:

uniconfig "C:\Users\me\AppData\Local\MyApp\myapp-settings.toml"

Your app can spawn that after registerCatalogSource on startup.

Scoped to your profile (planned)

Pass a profile filter so the left tree highlights your section first:

uniconfig --profile com.mycompany.myapp/settings path\to\file

(Flag wiring is roadmap; registration + open path works today.)

Pared-down shell (roadmap)

Embed only the form binder inside your window — same engine + vocabulary, no global registry chrome. See Components.

Bundle ConfigUI with your installer

  1. Ship uniconfig + fallback-catalog/ beside your exe or install to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\ConfigUI\.

  2. On first run, call registerCatalogSource — do not rely on the installer alone unless it writes the same catalog-index.sdl entry.

  3. Add an in-app Settings… action that launches ConfigUI on your config path.

In-process engine (no window)

import uniconfig.core;

auto ctx = makeOpenContext(); // resolver + bundled fallback
auto doc = openDocument("settings.toml", ctx);
// read doc.merged, render your own controls, saveDocument(doc)

Use this when you want native settings UI without shipping the full desktop shell.

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