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Setup

Platform-Specific Paths​

EFM provides several utility functions to get common directories. Use these to ensure your paths work across platforms:

FunctionReturns
GetGameSavedDirectory()YourProject/Saved/
GetGameContentDirectory()YourProject/Content/
GetGameExecutableDirectory()YourProject/Binaries/PLATFORM/
GetGameDirectoryRoot()Platform-specific game root
GetGameUprojectRoot()YourProject.uproject path

Best Practice: Always use GetGameSavedDirectory() for runtime writes​

// Correct - writes to Saved/
SaveDir = GetGameSavedDirectory() + "MyGame/"
CreateDirectory(SaveDir)

// Avoid - hardcoded paths may not work on all platforms
SaveDir = "C:/Users/..."

Path Utilities​

EFM provides comprehensive path manipulation functions:

// Normalize path separators for current platform
Normalized = NormalizePath("C:/some\\path/file.txt")

// Convert relative to absolute
Absolute = GetAbsolutePath("Saved/Config/file.ini")

// Convert absolute to relative
Relative = GetRelativePath("C:/Project/Saved/file.ini", "C:/Project/")

// Combine multiple path segments
FullPath = CombinePaths(["C:", "Project", "Saved", "file.ini"])

// Get parent directory
Parent = GetParentDirectory("C:/Project/Saved/Config/file.ini")

// Change extension
NewPath = ChangePathExtension("file.txt", "json")

// Remove extension
NoExt = RemovePathExtension("file.txt")

// Check if path is absolute
IsAbs = IsAbsolutePath("C:/Project/Saved/")

// Validate path
IsValid = IsPathValid("C:/Valid/Path")

File Types and Extensions​

Use GetExtensionFromString() to extract file extensions:

Ext = GetExtensionFromString("C:/path/to/file.json")
// Returns: "json"

Diagnostics​

Run the built-in diagnostic function to verify all EFM functions work correctly:

RunEFMDiagnostics()

This tests every function and logs pass/fail results to the Output Log. Use this:

  • After installation to verify everything works
  • After engine upgrades to catch breaking changes
  • When debugging file operation issues
YourProject/
├── Config/
│   └── DefaultGame.ini          # Store game config here
├── Content/
│   └── ...
├── Saved/
│   ├── MyGame/                   # Your game's runtime data
│   │   ├── Saves/                # Save files
│   │   ├── Config/               # Runtime config
│   │   ├── Downloads/            # Downloaded content
│   │   └── Logs/                 # Game logs
│   └── ...
└── Plugins/
    └── EFM/

Create these directories at game startup:

SavedDir = GetGameSavedDirectory() + "MyGame/"
CreateDirectoryTree(SavedDir + "Saves/")
CreateDirectoryTree(SavedDir + "Config/")
CreateDirectoryTree(SavedDir + "Downloads/")
CreateDirectoryTree(SavedDir + "Logs/")