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Most of the file names used in Lisp programs are entered by the user.
But occasionally a Lisp program needs to specify a standard file name
for a particular use--typically, to hold customization information
about each user. For example, abbrev definitions are stored (by
default) in the file `~/.abbrev_defs'; the completion
package stores completions in the file `~/.completions'. These are
two of the many standard file names used by parts of Emacs for certain
purposes.
Various operating systems have their own conventions for valid file
names and for which file names to use for user profile data. A Lisp
program which reads a file using a standard file name ought to use, on
each type of system, a file name suitable for that system. The function
convert-standard-filename makes this easy to do.
The recommended way to specify a standard file name in a Lisp program
is to choose a name which fits the conventions of GNU and Unix systems,
usually with a nondirectory part that starts with a period, and pass it
to convert-standard-filename instead of using it directly. Here
is an example from the completion package:
(defvar save-completions-file-name
(convert-standard-filename "~/.completions")
"*The file name to save completions to.")
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On GNU and Unix systems, and on some other systems as well,
convert-standard-filename returns its argument unchanged. On
some other systems, it alters the name to fit the system's conventions.
For example, on MS-DOS the alterations made by this function include converting a leading `.' to `_', converting a `_' in the middle of the name to `.' if there is no other `.', inserting a `.' after eight characters if there is none, and truncating to three characters after the `.'. (It makes other changes as well.) Thus, `.abbrev_defs' becomes `_abbrev.def', and `.completions' becomes `_complet.ion'.
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