Enforcing Property Types 2.8.2. Describing Properties 2.8.3. Reusable Property Definition Groups 2.9. Including Other Property Files 3. To date, there are many configuration file formats employed by almost as many programs in use.
Many programs even have multiple configuration file formats.
Some operating systems, such as Microsoft's Windows, have tried to consolidate configuration information into a central location, but usually with limited success and several problems. Program configuration is such a common task that a common standard should exist. This document aims to define an open standard for the formatting of configuration files to ease users' learning curves and to enable the creation of configuration tools that can configure many different programs with a common interface. This document also aims to provide a mechanism by which configuration information can be centralized, but without forcing such centralization when it is not desired. This standard also strives to make the software developer's job of program configuration easier by providing a robust format that can handle many needs.