INI
The config format that refused to die.
Where it came from
INI traces back to MS-DOS and Windows 3.x, where "initialization" files stored program settings in plain text. There was never a formal spec — every app bent the rules a little, and that casualness is exactly why INI spread everywhere.
It outlived its era: git uses it (.git/config), Python still ships configparser, and PHP php.ini is INI to this day. Simplicity beat standardization.
How it works
Structure is flat sections in brackets — [database] — followed by key=value lines. Comments start with ; or #. Values are usually strings; typeless by default.
The lack of nesting is INI's ceiling: you fake hierarchies with section names like [server.cache]. UWC maps sections to objects and round-trips INI through JSON, YAML and TOML without losing the tree.
Convert INI
INI → JSON/YAML/TOML for scripts and docs — parsed in your browser, nothing uploaded.