Application

This property page determines general options to be used by Novell^® Application Launcher^TM when running the application on a workstation.

Install Only (No Executable Needed)
Select this option if the distribution does not include an executable file for Application Launcher to launch after the distribution. For example, you would want to use this option if the Application object's only purpose is to update some files on the workstation, such as a driver or font, or to make modifications to some workstation settings, such as the registry settings.

Path to File
Enter, or browse for, the path to the executable that Application Launcher will run after the application is distributed. Typically, this path is defined when you create the Application object and should already contain the path to where the executable is located on the network or where it will be located on the user's workstation after distribution. If you enter the path, make sure to include the .exe extension on the application executable filename (for example, enter notepad.exe, not notepad).

IMPORTANT: The ZENworks^® Desktop Management Agent and Middle Tier Server do not support launching of applications from a network location. If the executable is located on the network, you should only use this option if users have a network client (Novell Client^TM or Microsoft* Client for Networks) installed that enables launching from a NetWare^® or Windows* server.

You can also enter the path for a file type other than .exe. If you do so, when the user double-clicks the Application object, Application Launcher passes the file to the Windows system, which can then use the application associated with that file type to open the file. For example, if you entered a .txt file, the application associated with .txt files is used to open the file.

The following path syntaxes are valid:

server\volume:path
\\server\volume\path
volume_object_name:path
directory_map_object_name:path
drive_letter:\path

You can also use macros in this field.

Parameters
Specify any command line parameters that need to be passed to the executable specified in the Path to File field. The field limit is 250 characters.

Application Launcher simply passes the parameters exactly as they are entered. Therefore, the parameter syntax you use must exactly match the syntax the executable requires. For example, if word.exe has a /f=filepath parameter that requires paths with spaces to be enclosed in quotation marks, you would enter the following:

c:\word.exe /f=”c:\my docs\sample.doc”

Working Directory
Specify the working directory of the executable you specified in the Path to File field. Typically, this is the directory in which the executable file is located. However, if another directory contains additional files required by the application to run, specify that directory. See your Windows documentation for more information.

The following path syntaxes are valid:

server\volume:path
\\server\volume\path
volume_object_name:path
directory_map_object_name:path
driveletter:\path

You can also use macros in this field.

Run Application Once
Check this option to have Application Launcher run the application one time only and then remove the Application object's icon from the workstation. If the Application object's version number (Distribution Options > Options page) changes, the Application object icon appears again so that the new version can be distributed.

This option can be useful when an Application object's only purpose is to install software to a workstation. Having the Application object's icon remain after the application has been installed can be confusing to users, especially if you have an application shortcut or program group icon created during the distribution (see the Distribution Options > Icons/Shortcuts page).

This option can also be used in combination with other Application object settings. For example, if the application is specified as Force Run on the Associations page (meaning that without any user involvement, the application runs when it becomes available to Application Launcher), the application is forced to run only one time.

Force Run As User If Application Is Workstation Associated
With workstation-associated applications that are marked as Force Run (Associations tab > Associations page), the Workstation Helper launches the application as soon as the workstation is started, typically before the user has logged-in to Windows. This means that the only workstation-associated applications you would want to force run would be applications that don't require user interaction.

Check this option if you want to delay the force running of a workstation-associated application until Application Launcher starts. In this case, Application Launcher, not Workstation Helper, distributes and launches the application. Application Launcher uses the workstation's file system rights to distribute the application and the user's file system rights to launch it.

Basically, this option enables workstation-associated applications that you are force running to function the same as user-associated applications that you force run.

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