This property page determines the .ini file settings that Novell® Application LauncherTM creates or deletes when distributing the application to a workstation.
INI Settings
The INI Settings tree displays the .ini file settings that will be modified
when the application is distributed to the workstation. If you used a .aot,
.axt, or .msi file when creating the Application object, the tree automatically
includes all .ini settings defined in those templates.
If there are additional settings you want created or deleted during distribution, you need to add the settings to the INI Settings tree and then specify the appropriate action (create or delete) in the Item Will field.
The INI Settings tree can include multiple .ini files and each file can include multiple sections. When you add a setting to the INI Settings tree, you must add it to a file and section. This means that you might need to add new files and new sections to the tree before you can add new settings.
For example, assume that you want to add a CLASSPATH= setting to the ENVIRONMENT section of the sample.ini file. You would 1) add a file entry to the INI Settings tree for the sample.ini file, 2) add an ENVIRONMENT section under the sample.ini file, 3) add the CLASSPATH= setting under the ENVIRONMENT section, and 4) select the CLASSPATH= setting and choose the appropriate Create action in the Item Will field.
If, instead of adding the CLASSPATH=setting, you wanted to delete it, you would follow the same process but then choose the appropriate Delete action in the Item Will field.
For Application objects created for AOT/AXT applications, the Novell Application Launcher (NAL) handles the distribution of the .INI settings and the distribution of the application. If you modify .INI settings for an AOT/AXT application and the .INI settings fail to distribute, the application itself will fail and NAL will roll back the application's installation.
For Application objects created for MSI applications, NAL handles the distribution of .INI settings and the Microsoft Windows Installer (MSI) handles distribution of the application. If you modify the Application object's .INI settings for a MSI application and the .INI settings fail to distribute, the application will be installed by Windows Installer. As a result, the application may or may not function properly, depending on how the .INI settings affect the application.
File
This option lets you search for files, sections, or values in the INI Settings tree, import settings into the tree, export settings from the tree, or view an .ini file's settings.
- Find: Click File > Find to search for specific files, sections, or values.
- Find Next: Click File > Find Next to find the next occurrence of the file, section, or value.
- Import: Click File > Import to import .ini file settings from another Application object's .aot or .axt file, or from a .ini file.
- Export: Click File > Export to export the settings to a .ini file. To export the settings to a .aot or .axt file, you must export the entire Application object using the Export Application Object option located on the Tools > ZENworks Utilities > Application Launcher Tools menu.
- View File: Select a file in the list, then click File > View File to see the .ini settings that will be modified (added to or deleted from) when the application is distributed.
Add
This option lets you add .ini settings to the INI Settings tree. Only settings displayed in the INI Settings tree are created or deleted when the application is distributed. You can add a file to the tree, a section to a file, or a value to a section.
- File: Click Add > File to add a file to the INI Settings tree. In addition to providing a file name, you can specify the target location for the file. By default, the %*WINDIR% macro is used, which represents the workstation's Windows directory (typically c:\windows or c:\winnt). After you add a file, you can begin adding sections to it.
- Section: Select a file in the INI Settings tree, then click Add > Section to add a section to the selected file. After you name the section, you can begin adding values to it.
- Value: Select a section in the INI Settings tree, then click Add > Value to add a value (setting) to the selected section. You must specify the value name and value data.
After you've added a value to the INI Settings tree, you can use the Distribution Options list to determine whether or not it is created or deleted from the workstation. If the value needs to be created but the file or section does not exist, Application Launcher will create the file or section before adding the value.
You can use a macro for a section name, value name, or value data.
Modify
You can modify a file's name, a section's name, or a value's name and data. Select the file, section, or value you want to modify, then click Modify.Delete
Select the file, section, or value you want to delete from the INI Settings tree, then click Delete. When deleting a file or section, everything subordinate to it is also deleted.
Distribution Options for the Selected Item
The distribution options let you determine how individual .ini settings (included
in the INI Settings tree) are handled during distribution of the application.
Item Will
Use this option to determine whether a setting is created or deleted when the application is distributed. Select a value in the INI Settings tree, then select one of the following options from the Item Will list:
- Create Always (Default): Creates the value regardless of whether the value currently exists in the section. If necessary, creates the section and the file.
- Create If Does Not Exist: Creates the value only if the value does not currently exist in the section.
- Create If Exists: Creates the value only if the value currently exists in the section.
- Create or Add to Existing Section: Creates the value if the value does not currently exist in the section. If the value exists, it adds this value to the section in addition to the one that already exists. This is useful, for example, if you need multiple values of the same type, such as two "DEVICE=" values.
- Create or Append to Existing Value: Creates the value if the value does not currently exist in the section. If the value exists, it appends the data for the new value to the existing value. The first character in the value data needs to be the separator character, such as a space.
- Delete: Deletes the value from the section.
- Delete or Remove from Existing Value: Deletes the value from the section, or, if the value has multiple data entries, removes this value's data entry from the value. For example, suppose the following setting is in the win.ini file: Run = sol.exe calc.exe. Using this option, you can remove just calc.exe, leaving the following: Run = sol.exe. The first character in the value data needs to be a separator character, such as a space.
Move Up / Move Down
Use these options to position sections and values in the order in which you want them to be created, modified, or deleted.In the INI Settings tree, select the section or value to move, then click Move Up or Move Down.
Distribute Always
By default, Application Launcher will only distribute the .ini file modifications defined in the INI Settings list at the following times:
- The first time the application is launched on a workstation.
- The first time the application is launched after the application's version number (Distribution Options tab > Options page) has been changed.
If the user has a NAL cache directory on his or her local machine, Application Launcher uses the information stored in the NAL cache directory to make the .ini file modification. If the user does not have a NAL cache directory (for example, the user is running Application Launcher through a terminal server client session) or if writing to the cache has been disabled for the user (User object > ZENworks tab > Launcher Configuration page > Enable Writing to Cache option), Application Launcher uses the information stored in Novell eDirectoryTM.
To force Application Launcher to distribute an .ini file modification each time the application is launched, select the .ini setting in the INI Settings list, then select Distribute Always.
NOTE: After you save the Application object and open it again, settings that you mark as Distribute Always are grouped after settings that are not marked Distribute Always, regardless of their creation order or their forced order (by using the Move Up and Move Down arrows).
For example, if you have a section with two Distribute Always values (DAValue1 and DAValue2) and two non-Distribute Always value (Value3 and Value 4), the values are listed in the following order: Value3, Value4, DAValue1, DAValue2.
You can use the Move Up and Move Down arrows to change the order within the two groupings, but the Distribute Always group is always listed second. For example, using the previous ordering (Value3, Value4, DAValue1, DAValue 2), you could change the order of the first two values and the order of the second two values to get the following order: Value4, Value3, DAValue2, DAValue1. However, if you change the order to list the Distribute Always values first (DAValue2, DAValue1, Value4, Value3), when you save the Application object the order reverts to Value4, Value3, DAValue2, DAValue1).
Track Distribution Per User
If you have implemented roaming user profiles, use this option to ensure that particular .ini file settings are distributed to each workstation a user logs in to. You should enable this option for all .ini file settings that are not saved as part of roaming user profiles.In the INI Settings list, select the desired .ini modification, select Track Distribution Per User.
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