Text Files

This property page determines the modifications that Novell^® Application Launcher^TM makes to text files (such as config.sys and autoexec.bat) when distributing the application to a workstation. You can add text to a file, delete text from a file, or search and replace text in a file. If you add text to a file that does not exist on the workstation, Application Launcher creates the file and then adds the text.

Text Files
The Text Files tree shows the text files that Application Launcher will modify. Each modification (addition, deletion, or replacement) to a file is displayed subordinate to the file.

File
This option lets you search for files or text in the Text Files tree and import files into the tree.

Find: Click File > Find to search for specific files or text.

Find Next: Click File > Find Next to find the next occurrence of the file or text.

Import: Click File > Import to import files from another Application object's .aot or .axt file.

Add
This option lets you add text file modifications to the Text Files tree. Only the modifications displayed in the Text Files tree are made when the application is distributed.

File
To add a text file to the tree, click Add > File to create the file entry. You can type the filename or the path and filename (for example, autoexec.bat or c:\autoexec.bat). Only local workstation drives, UNC server paths, and macros are valid.

You should specify a path if possible. If you specify only the filename, Application Launcher searches all directories specified in the workstation's PATH environment variable. If it does not find a matching filename, it assumes the file doesn't exist and creates it in the first directory specified in the PATH variable.

Change
To add a change to a file that is in the Text Files list, select the file, then click Add > Change to display the Edit Text File dialog box. Make the desired changes. Click Help in the Edit Text File dialog box for information about each of the dialog box fields.

You can add multiple modifications to a text file. For example, you might want to make one modification that replaces text in the file and another modification that adds text to the end of the file. Each modification you add is displayed beneath the text file in the Text Files list.

Modify
To change the name of a text file, select the file in the Text Files tree, click Modify, then enter the new name.

To edit one of the text file's modifications, select the modification in the Text Files tree, click Modify to display the Edit Text File dialog box, then make the desired changes. Click Help in the Edit Text File dialog box for information about each of the dialog box fields.

Delete
In the Text File tree, select the text file or text file modification you want to delete, then click Delete.

Distribution Options for the Selected Item
Use these options to set individual distribution options for text files and text file modifications. The options change depending on whether you have selected a text file or a text file modification in the Text Files tree.

No Reboot Needed If Modified
This option appears only when you have selected a text file. Select this option if you don't want users to reboot after you make changes to the selected text file. The Reboot and Prompt Reboot options on the Distribution Options > Options page override this setting.

Move Up / Move Down
These options appear only when you have selected a text file modification. Click Move Up or Move Down to position the modification according to the order in which you want it applied.

Distribute Always
By default, Application Launcher distributes the text file modifications defined in the Text Files 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 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 eDirectory^TM.

To force Application Launcher to distribute a text file modification each time the application is launched, select the modification in the Text Files list, then select Distribute Always.

NOTE: After you save the Application object and open it again, modifications that you mark as Distribute Always are grouped after modifications 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 file with two Distribute Always modifications (DAMod1 and DAMod2) and two non-Distribute Always modifications (Mod3 and Mod4), the modifications are listed in the following order: Mod3, Mod4, DAMod1, DAMod2.

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 (Mod3, Mod4, DAMod1, DAMod 2), you could change the order of the first two modifications and the order of the second two modifications to get the following order: Mod4, Mod3, DAMod2, DAMod1. However, if you change the order to list the Distribute Always modifications first (DAMod2, DAMod1, Mod4, Mod3), when you save the Application object the order reverts to Mod4, Mod3, DAMod2, DAMod1).

Track Distribution Per User
If you have implemented roaming user profiles, use this option to ensure that particular text file modifications are distributed to each workstation a user logs in to. You should enable this option for all modifications that are not saved as part of roaming user profiles.
In the Text Files list, select the desired modification, then select Track Distribution Per User.

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