Config XML (Advanced)

The RomVault3cfg.xml file contains all of the global, directory, and filter settings used by the application. The settings for ToSort directories are not stored in this XML. ToSort directory definitions are stored in the cache and are not editable outside of the RomVault UI.

Some RomVault settings are only enabled or configurable by directly editing the XML file, including:

Dark Mode for those people who prefer a darker RomVault UI
Files Only Mode to prevent RomVault from scanning archive contents
ZSTD compression for 7z archives
Game launching and artwork display for certain collections like MAME
Changing the cache file name and location if you do not want it stored in the RomVault directory

Do NOT edit this file directly unless you know exactly what you are doing. Any features accessible solely through direct configuration XML edits should be considered experimental.

Settings Summary

SETTING				DESCRIPTION	CONTROLLABLE IN UI
<Settings>				Top level grouping for all settings
	<FilesOnly>			Global setting to enable RV in files only mode	No
	<zstd>			Enables ZSTD compression algorithm to be used in place of LZMA for RV7z archives	No
	<DatRoot>			Path to your folder containing DATs	Yes
	<CacheFile>			Path and name of your RomVault cache file	No
	<FixLevel>			The level used for fix operations, applied globally	Yes
	<DatRules>			Grouping for all DAT rules
		<DatRule>		Grouping of settings for an individual DAT rule
			<DirKey>	Directory key for the DAT rule based on where the DAT resides in the DATRoot	Auto-created
			<DirPath>	Relative or absolute directory path to where your ROMs for the DAT are located	Yes
			<Compression>	Preferred compression setting	Yes
			<CompressionOverrideDAT>	Force the preferred compression setting regardless of what is specified in the DAT	Yes
			<Merge>	Preferred set merging setting	Yes
			<Filter>	Filter for collecting ROMs, CHDs, or both	Yes
			<HeaderType>	Preferred ROM header type	Yes
			<MergeOverrideDAT>	Force the preferred merging type regardless of what is specified in the DAT	Yes
			<SingleArchive>	Group sets into a single archive	Yes
			<SubDirType>	Grouping option for Single Archive mode	Yes
			<MultiDATDirOverride>	Disable automatically creating subdirectories when multiple DATs share the same directory	Yes
			<UseDescriptionAsDirName>	Use the DAT `Description` value instead of `Name` value for automatic directory names	Yes
			<IgnoreFiles>	Rules for files to ignore. Files are still scanned, but not removed if unneeded.	Yes
		</DatRule>
	</DatRules>
	<IgnoreFiles>			Rules for files to ignore. Files matching these rules are not scanned at all.	Yes
	<EInfo>			Grouping for all configured emulators
		<EmulatorInfo>		Grouping for all settings for an individual emulator
			<TreeDir>	Path in your RomRoot used for ROMs. Omit the “RomRoot” portion of the full path.	No
			<ExtraPath>	Path in your RomRoot used for Artwork. Omit the “RomRoot” portion of the full path.	No
			<WorkingDirectory>	Full path for the emulator working directory	No
			<ExeName>	Emulator executable in the working directory	No
			<CommandLine>	Commandline parameters to use when launching the game	No
		</EmulatorInfo>
	</EInfo>
	<DatVault>			Grouping for all DatVault settings
		<bUseDefaultMasterDirectories>		Preference to use Master Directories when adding DATs	Yes
		<bUseDefaultSubDirectories>		Preference to use Subdirectories when adding DATs	Yes
		<bImportNewDATsWithJsonSeeds>		Preference to use download DATs at the time of adding JSON seeds	Yes
	</DatVault>
	<DoubleCheckDelete>			Ensures RomVault does not delete files mistakenly due to an out of sync cache	Yes
	<DebugLogsEnabled>			Enables debugging logging	Yes
	<DetailedFixReporting>			Enables detailed fix reporting in the status window	Yes
	<CacheSaveTimerEnabled>			Enables auto-saving the cache at regular intervals during a scan or fix	Yes
	<CacheSaveTimePeriod>			Time in minutes between cache backups	Yes
	<ConvertToTrrntzip>			Converts all regular zip files to TorrentZip files	Yes
	<ConvertToRV7Z>			Converts all regular 7z flles to RV7z files	Yes
	<chkBoxShowCorrect>			Last game grid filter value for “Show correct sets”	Yes
	<chkBoxShowMissing>			Last game grid filter value for “Show incomplete sets”	Yes
	<chkBoxShowFixed>			Last game grid filter value for “Show sets with fixes”	Yes
	<chkBoxShowMerged>			Last game grid filter value for “Show merged / deduped”	Yes
	<DATUpdateKey>			Your personal DATVault key - Keep this safe and do not share	Yes
	<MIAAnon>			Enables anonymous “MIA Found” reporting - Only relevant for DATVault users	Yes
	<MIACallback>			Enables “MIA Found” reporting back to the DatVault server	Yes
	<Darkness>			Enables Dark Mode	No
	<CheckCHDVersion>			Toggles re-verifying if CHD version info is missing from cache (default: true)	No
</Settings>

Global Settings

The following settings are controllable through the RomVault UI from the Settings > RomVault Settings menu.

XML Setting	UI Mapping	Accepted Values
DatRoot	DAT Root Directory	Any valid relative or absolute path
FixLevel	Fixing Level	`level1`, `level2`, or `level3`
IgnoreFiles	Filenames not to remove from Dirs	Refer to Global Settings documentation
DoubleCheckDelete	Double Check Delete	`true` or `false`
DebugLogsEnabled	Debug Logs Enabled	`true` or `false`
DetailedFixReporting	Detailed Fix Reporting	`true` or `false`
CacheSaveTimerEnabled	Save Cache On Timer…	`true` or `false`
CacheSaveTimePeriod	…Every XX Minutes	Integer number greater than 5
ConvertToTrrntzip	Convert all zips to trrntzips	`true` or `false`
ConvertToRV7Z	Convert all 7z to RV7z	`true` or `false`
MIAAnon	Send Found MIA Anonymously	`true` or `false`
MIACallback	Send Found MIA	`true` or `false`

For additional information, refer to the Global Settings documentation.

Directory Settings

The following settings are controllable through the RomVault UI from the Settings > Directory Settings menu.

XML Setting	UI Mapping	Accepted Values
DirKey	Rule Path	Auto-generated DATRoot path
DirPath	Dir Location	Valid relative or absolute directory path
Compression	Archive Type	`Dir`, `Zip`, or `SevenZip`
CompressionOverrideDAT	Archive Type Override DAT	`true` or `false`
Merge	Merge Type	`None`, `Split`, `Merge`, or `NonMerged`
Filter	ROM/CHD Filter	`KeepAll`, `RomsOnly`, or `CHDsOnly`
HeaderType	Header Type	`Optional`, `Headered`, or `Headerless`
MergeOverrideDAT	Merge Type Override DAT	`true` or `false`
SingleArchive	Single Archive	`true` or `false`
SubDirType	Single Archive setting	`KeepAllSubDirs`, `RemoveAllSubDirs`, `RemoveAllIfNoConflicts`, or `RemoveSubIfSingleFiles`
MultiDATDirOverride	Don't auto add DAT directories	`true` or `false`
UseDescriptionAsDirName	Use description (instead of name) for auto added paths	`true` or `false`
IgnoreFiles	Filenames not to remove from RomDirs	Refer to Directory Settings documentation

RomVault will process all descendent DATs and update the cache every time you update a Directory Rule in the UI. This can take a significant amount of time if you have a very large collection. If you need to make several changes you can edit the XML directly while RomVault is closed. If you take this approach to updating, be sure to Refresh All DATs to ensure all directory rules are processed.

For additional information, refer to the Directory Settings documentation.

DatVault Settings

The following settings are controllable through the DatVault UI from the Update DATs > DatVault Update menu.

XML Setting	UI Mapping	Accepted Values
DATUpdateKey	Login	Valid DATVault key
bUseDefaultMasterDirectories	Add Selected > Use Default Master Directories	`true` or `false`
bUseDefaultSubDirectories	Add Selected > Use Default Sub Directories	`true` or `false`
bImportNewDATsWithJsonSeeds	Add Selected > Import new DATs with JSON Seeds	`true` or `false`

Game List Filters

The following filters are controllable through the RomVault UI in the upper right corner of the Info Panel.

XML Setting	UI Mapping	Accepted Values
chkBoxShowCorrect	Show Complete Sets	`true` or `false`
chkBoxShowMissing	Show Incomplete Sets	`true` or `false`
chkBoxShowFixed	Show Sets with fixes	`true` or `false`
chkBoxShowMerged	Show Merged / Deduped	`true` or `false`

XML-Only Settings

FilesOnly

DO NOT CHANGE THIS SETTING IF ANY FILES WERE SCANNED. This setting should ONLY be changed with a new instance of RomVault before a cache file is created. Changing this setting after files have been scanned will result in unintended behavior and is not supported in any way.

This flag is used to enable RomVault in “Files Only” mode which treats all archives as files

Normal mode (Default):
```
<FilesOnly>false</FilesOnly>
```
Files Only mode:
```
<FilesOnly>true</FilesOnly>
```

When this setting is set to “true” then RomVault will not read the contents of any archives. Instead it will scan the 7z or zip archive as a single file. This is useful if you would like to run a separate instance of RomVault just for managing DATs that treat archives as files. Because this setting applies globally, its advised to set this with a clean instance of RomVault before any files are scanned.

CacheFile

This is the name and location of the RomVault cache file

Standard name and location (Default):

<CacheFile>RomVault3_1.Cache</CacheFile>

Example alternate name and location:

<CacheFile>X:\RomVault-Cache\RomVault3_1.Cache</CacheFile>

Although you can change the location of the cache file, its advised to choose a location on a fast SSD or NVME drive to ensure the best performance. This setting can be useful if you want to store your cache file in a different directory which is periodically backed up with a sync program of your choice.

zstd

This setting enables zstd compression for solid 7z archives instead of RV7Z.

ZSTD compression disabled (Default):
```
<zstd>false</zstd>
```
ZSTD compression enabled:
```
<zstd>true</zstd>
```

This feature is extremely experimental and should not be used outside of testing. The ZSTD compressed archive format is subject to change in future versions of RomVault. ZSTD is supported natively but it is not multi-threaded at this time. To use ZSTD with multi-threading you can include the libzstd.dll file in a subfolder called “x64” next to the RomVault executable.

EInfo

This section is used to configure viewing MAME artwork and launching MAME ROMs directly from the RomVault UI. Configuration settings should be nested into a node called EmulatorInfo as shown in the example. The following settings are configurable:

TreeDir: The path in your RomRoot used for MAME ROMs. Omit the “RomRoot” portion of the full path.
ExtraPath: The path in your RomRoot used for MAME Extras. Omit the “RomRoot” portion of the full path.
WorkingDirectory: The full path for the emulator working directory.
ExeName: The emulator executable in the working directory you would like to use for launching games.
CommandLine: The commandline parameters to use when launching the game.

The following tokens can be used with the CommandLine setting:

{gamename}: The game file name without the extension
{gamefilename}: The game file name with extension
{gamedirectory}: The game directory

Feature disabled (Default):
```
</EInfo>
```

Featured enabled example:

<EInfo>
  <EmulatorInfo>
    <TreeDir>Arcade\Various\MAME</TreeDir>
    <ExtraPath>Artwork\MAME Extras</ExtraPath>
    <WorkingDirectory>C:\Emulators\MAME</WorkingDirectory>
    <ExeName>mame.exe</ExeName>
    <CommandLine>{gamename}</CommandLine>
  </EmulatorInfo>
</EInfo>

This feature currently only works with MAME ROMs and the MAME Extras set.

Darkness

This flag is used to enable “Dark” mode which will change the theme of the entire application. Since RomVault currently uses WinForms, native dark mode capabilities of the OS are not supported. RomVault's dark mode should be considered experimental and a work in progress. Some components like scroll bars may appear the same between regular and dark mode.

Light mode (Default):
```
<Darkness>false</Darkness>
```
Dark mode:
```
<Darkness>true</Darkness>
```

The Darkness element may not be present in the configuration XML by default, but you can manually add it.

(Dark mode enabled using the Accessible graphics pack)

Table of Contents