The most flexible solution would be to, yes, ask us where we would like to save our formats at first start up. Great idea.
I'd make the default, initial suggested location:
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%USERPROFILE%/FileBot Formats/FileBot Formats.txt
$HOME/FileBot Formats/FileBot Formats.txt
or something similar.
(
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_directory)
FileBot starts...
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Please chose a location to save your Formats, to ensure they're backed up, not lost.
Tip: Choose your DropBox or Google Drive folder perhaps!
This file location should be easily changed from your Preferences dialog.
FileBot could also just set the working formats directory without asking us. But have the same item to customise it in preferences.
The fact that when reinstalling FileBot on a clean system, with the user's files restored, and FileBot starts up with our formats already there, that'll be a very nice feature!
If the app needs to get permission to save a file outside of it's application data folder, then so be it, request permission, and indicate why, that FileBot saving your formats in your profile such that you don't lose them.
Lots of other apps use our user profile folders for storing all sorts of different stuff... Adobe, etc, etc. Even for settings. But our formats are not 'settings', they're our creations.
If you hit File - Save in any software, it'll default to your user profile folder. Or perhaps the Pictures folder if it saving a picture, they all vary. They're not going to initially present you with a program data folder.
I can't see that any of your users, customers objecting to FileBot saving or offering to save their Formats in a file in their user profile.
Nobody want to lose their hard work, their creations.
How many FileBot users, like me, have lost all their formats before???
Probably many. But only a tiny fraction of them will search the forums for answers, and even less will post about it.
I searched this forum when i lost mine, but didn't learn anything at the time... I then just searched the registry and found where my recreated formats were hiding, so backed up them.
But assuming that your users already backup their formats is not right. Any backup will have to be actively done, and not easy to automatically do. There's no settings in your GUI to aid this.
Good software is designed to make our tasks easier. Great software will automatically be set such that you don't stupidly lose all your work after a mishap.
If FileBot saves them in our userprofile by default, no one with any normal kind of backup will lose them.
And your customers will thank you for this feature.