## 2.2 The user's initialisation file

After the necessary system initialisation the system consults (see consult/1) the user's startup file. The base-name of this file follows conventions of the operating system. On MS-Windows, it is the file `pl.ini` and on Unix systems `.plrc`. The file is searched using the file_search_path/2 clauses for `user_profile`. The table below shows the default value for this search-path.

| Unix | Windows
local | `.` | `.`
home | `` | `%HOME%` or `%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%`
global |  | SWI-Home directory or `%WINDIR%` or `%SYSTEMROOT%`

After the first startup file is found it is loaded and Prolog stops looking for further startup files. The name of the startup file can be changed with the `-f file' option. If File denotes an absolute path, this file is loaded, otherwise the file is searched for using the same conventions as for the default startup file. Finally, if file is `none`, no file is loaded.