INI files versus XML files - which one's better?

[TheSynapse]

If I'm trying to implement conversation trees, what should I use to store my data? Is there any difference functionally between using INI files or XML?

[Fanotherpg]

INI - multiplatform.

[TheSynapse]

Do you mean the INI object?

The problem with that is that I understand that INI files don't do sub-groups. I need sub-groups if data's going to be organised well enough to be edited and constructed. Or have I got that wrong?

[Fanotherpg]

No they don't, but order in Ini doesn't matter and you can always 'force' subgroups by adding numbers like GroupName_X_X Where X is any number for group and second one is subgroup or anything like that.

[TheSynapse]

But doesn't the INI object delete all the white space out of the file and make it difficult to read/edit after it's used it? Or is that just the INI++ object that does that?

[LB]

In either case, it is only if you attempt to write back to the INI. I am not 100% sure about this with the default INI object as it uses Windows behavior, which could change from OS to OS.

[Fanotherpg]

And do you really need to see all thise white spaces? An't you make application to edut them? Either way INI file will stay the way you will save it If I recall it correctly. So if you save INI with whitespaces whitespaces should stay.

[TheSynapse]

Not up to the level of making an application to edit it yet. But I do remember there being some kind of tutorial about it. But that wouldn't matter if the game itself saved it wrong.