When a user launches MAE, without any options, MAE looks at that user's HOME environmental variable for their home directory. MAE will then look at their home directory, and if there is no System Folder there (which will be the case the first time a user launches MAE), MAE will build a System Folder. Keep in mind that by default, MAE looks for a directory (in their home directory) called "System Folder". If a user renames their system folder, MAE won't recognize it.
There are two things that can affect where MAE looks for a System Folder.
The HOME variable. A user could change their home variable to another location. For example, root could change its HOME to point to /tmp, thereby alleviating the long desktop rebuilds associated with launching MAE as root. A user may also want to temporarily change their home directory from a NFS mounted directory to one that is local, for MAE performance benefits.
The -sysfol option to MAE. For example, a developer may want two different system folders in their home directory, one for production use, and one for testing new extensions. By default, they would have a system folder in their home directory called "System Folder". They may have another system folder called "Really Cool System Folder". Launching MAE with no options would cause it to use "System Folder". But launching MAE with the -sysfol option would cause MAE to use the alternate system folder. Following is an example:
/appledir/bin/mae -sysfol /export/home/user/Really\\ Cool\\ System\\ Folder
In the above example, MAE will still use the user's HOME directory, .mac directory, to retain desktop attributes.
Note: The easiest way to generate another system folder is to rename your current system folder to something else, then launch MAE. MAE will see that there is no directory called System Folder in your home directory, and will generate a new one.
Article Change History:
14 May 1996 - Added more information to second point.