> There are no env variables with anything like a home directory. Apparently
> it's not "the windows way".
It may not be the Windows OT way, but it sure seems to be the Windows NT
way - $USERPROFILE (or, Windows-style, %USERPROFILE%) is set on NT 4.0
and NT 5.0^H^H^H^H^H^HWindows 2000.
Unfortunately, the recommended way of getting the path of the
application data directory, using "SHGetFolderPath()" with a
CSIDL_APPDATA argument doesn't recommend
1) where to get this wonderful magical coated-with-pixie-dust
"shfolder.dll" file to install on Tired Old Windows releases
that lack it and lack "SHGetFolderPath()";
2) when to install that (always? If the OS doesn't have its own
"shfolder.dll"?)
> Probably the user's "home" is supposed to be pulled
> from the registry.
Not the user's home directory. The user's home directory is an
Unspeakably Evil place to put the configuration files on Windows - trust
me on this one, it's been a continual source of pain in the pre-0.9.0
releases.
> I did try setting $HOME in a command shell to my user
> profile dir and then running ethereal from that shell, just to see if
> it would behave like a unix app.
Try setting $USERPROFILE instead.