Registry

This property page determines the registry modifications that Novell^® Application Launcher^TM makes when distributing the application to a workstation.

Registry Settings
The Registry Settings tree displays all settings that will be modified when the application is distributed to a workstation. If you used a .aot, .axt, or .msi file when creating the Application object, the tree automatically includes all registry settings that are defined in those templates.

If there are additional registry settings you want created or deleted during distribution, you need to add the settings to the Registry Settings tree and then specify the appropriate action (create or delete) in the Item Will field.

For Application objects created for AOT/AXT applications, the Novell Application Launcher (NAL) handles the distribution of the registry settings and the distribution of the application. If you modify registry settings for an AOT/AXT application and the registry 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 registry settings and the Microsoft Windows Installer (MSI) handles distribution of the application. If you modify the Application object's registry settings for a MSI application and the registry 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 registry settings affect the application.

File
This option lets you search for keys or values in the Registry Settings tree, import settings into the tree, and export settings from the tree.

• Find: Click File > Find to search for specific keys, value names, or value data in the registry.
• Find Next: Click File > Find Next to find the next occurrence of the key, value name, or value data.
• Import: Click File > Import to import registry settings from another Application object's .aot or .axt file, or from a registry file (.reg).
  
• Export: Click File > Export to export the registry settings to a registry file (.reg). To export the settings to a .aot or .axt file format, you must export the entire Application object using the Export Application Object option located on the Tools > ZENworks Utilities > Application Launcher Tools menu.
  

Add
This option lets you add registry settings to the Registry Settings tree. Only settings displayed in the Registry Settings tree will be created or deleted when the application is distributed.

• Key: Select a registry folder, then click Add > Key to add a key to the selected registry folder.
  
• Binary: Select a key, then click Add > Binary to Add a binary value to the selected key.
  
• Expand String: Select a key, then click Add > Expand String to add an expand string value to the selected key. This setting does not exist in the Windows 98 registry; if you use this setting, it is changed to a String setting during distribution to Windows 98 workstations.
  
• Default: Select a key, then click Add > Default to add a default string value to the selected key.
• DWORD: Select a key, then click Add > DWORD to add a DWORD value to the selected key.
• Multi-Value String: Select a key, then click Add > Multi-Value String to add a multi-value string to the selected key. This setting does not exist in the Windows 98 registry; if you use this setting, it is changed to a Binary setting during distribution to Windows 98 workstations.
• String: Select a key, then click Add > String to add a string value to the selected key.

After the key or value is added to the Registry Settings tree, you can use the Distribution Options list to determine whether or not the key or value is created in the workstation's registry or deleted from the registry.

You can use a macro for a key name, value name, or value data.

Modify
You can modify a key's name and a value's name or data. Select the key or value, then click Modify.

Delete
Select the key or value you want to delete, then click Delete. When you delete a key, everything subordinate to the key will also be deleted.

Distribution Options
The distribution options let you determine how individual registry settings (included in the Registry Settings tree) are handled during distribution of the application.

Item Will
In the Registry Settings tree, select the setting, then select the action that you want to occur for the setting when the application is distributed:

• Create Always: The setting is always created in the registry, even if it already exists. If it exists, the setting's current values are overwritten. For example, if PATH=C:\ already exists, PATH=C:\TEMP replaces it.
• Create If Does Not Exist: The setting is created only if it does not already exist.
• Create If Exists: The setting is created only if it already exists. The setting's current values are overwritten. For example, if PATH=C:\ already exists, PATH=C:\TEMP replaces it.
• Delete: The setting is deleted. If the registry setting has subordinate settings, Application Launcher deletes the subordinate settings also.
• Append If Exists Otherwise Create: This option applies only to string values (String, Default String, Expanded String, and Multi-Value String). The string value's data is added to the existing string as the last entry. If the string value (or its key) does not exist, it is created.
  
  When specifying the string value, you must include a semi-colon (;) delimiter before the value if the string has existing values. For example, assume that the registry already includes a string1=value1 setting. You want to append a second value (value2). When specifying the string value, you must specify ;value2 so that the resulting string is string1=value1;value2.
• Prepend If Exists Otherwise Create: This option applies only to string values (String, Default String, Expanded String, and Multi-Value String). The string value's data is added to the existing string as the first entry. If the string value (or its key) does not exist, it is created.
  
  When specifying the string value, you must include a semicolon (;) delimiter after the value if the string has existing values. For example, assume that the registry already includes a string1=value1 setting. You want to prepend a second value (value2). When specifying the string value, you must specify value2; so that the resulting string is string1=value2;value1.

Track Distribution Per User
If you have implemented roaming user profiles, use this option to ensure that particular registry settings are distributed to each workstation a user logs in to. You should enable this option for all registry settings that are not saved as part of roaming user profiles.

In the Registry Settings list, select the desired registry modification, then select Track Distribution Per User.

Distribute Always
By default, Application Launcher only distributes the registry modifications defined in the Registry 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.

To force Application Launcher to distribute a registry modification each time the application is launched, select the registry setting in the Registry Settings list, then select Distribute Always.

If the user has a NAL cache directory on his or her local machine, Application Launcher uses the setting information stored in the NAL cache directory to modify the registry. 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 setting information stored in Novell eDirectory^TM.

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