[BetterRed]

When I first install an application the first thing I do is to explore its Menus and Preferences (Settings, Options, Hamburger button, whatever).

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

In all honesty... there probably shouldn't have been a real file-path in the text box to begin with. The default value is "<SIGIL_DEFAULT_TEMP_HOME>." It should only be changed from that default to address some very specific issues (mentioned above).

I assumed the <SIGIL_DEFAULT_TEMP_HOME> was an oblique reference to an Environment Variable. I discovered it wasn't after some experimentation with an environment variable editor; took me a while to fathom it is probably an oblique reference to a #define in the code.

AFAIK: the conventions of using all-caps for both Environment Variable and #define names is an unfortunate coincidence.

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Manually editing files in Sigil's scratch directory with other software while Sigil has them open is a surefire fire way to mess things up badly (including lost content). That's why we stopped showing the actual path in the text box in the first place. I can't stress enough how those files should be left entirely alone.

The Open With <whatever> feature can be used to open the selected file safely in the temporary sub-directory Sigil creates in the designated directory. See post #8 for further details.

Here's me editing one of the xhtml files in an epub using Notepad++ that I initiated via Sigil's Open With feature.

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

... (or you're trying to work around a MacOS issue where epubs left open in Sigil for days can have their temp files harvested by the OS).

Does that explain why it's not an environment variable, i have had Mac users tell me, disdainfully, that Macs don't have environment variables because they (envars) are another 'crappy' Windows 'thing' Ψ³

OT and FWIW: The environment variable SIGIL_PREFS_DIR can be used to relocate the location of Sigil's Preferences directory - even on a MacOS system.

BR