VMware THINAPP 4.6 - Page 55

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Chapter 4 Updating and Linking Applications
Application Sync Effect on Entry Point Executable Files
TheApplicationSyncutilityupdatesentrypointexecutablefiles.Forexample,assumeyoudeploya
Microsoft Office2007packagethatdoesnotincludeMicrosoftPowerPoint.TheMicrosoft Office
PowerPoint 2007.exeentrypointdoesnotexistfortheoriginalpackage.Ifyourebuildthe
Microsoft Office 2007packagetoincludeMicrosoftPowerPoint,andyouusetheApplication
Syncutilityto
updateclientmachines,theenduserscanaccessanentrypointexecutablefileforMicrosoftPowerPoint.
Updating thinreg.exe Registrations with Application Sync
Ifyouregistervirtualapplicationsonthesystemusingthinreg.exeandupdateapplicationswiththe
ApplicationSyncutility,youcanupdateregistrationsbyplacingacopyofthinreg.exe,locatedin
C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware ThinApp,alongsidetheupdatedpackageontheserver.
Maintaining the Primary Data Container Name with Application Sync
TheApplicationSyncutilityrequiresthatthenameoftheprimarydatacontainer,thefilethatstoresvirtual
filesandregistryinformation,isthesamefortheoldandnewversionsofanapplication.Forexample,you
cannothaveanoldversionwithMicrosoft Office Excel 2003.exeastheprimarydatacontainername
while
thenewversionhasMicrosoft Office 2007.datastheprimarydatacontainername.Toverifythe
nameoftheprimarydatacontainer,seetheReadOnlyDataparameterinthePackage.inifile.Formore
informationabouttheprimarydatacontainer,see“DefiningEntryPointsasShortcutsintotheVirtual
Environment”onpage 17.
Completing the Application Sync Process When Applications Create Child Processes
Whenacapturedapplicationcreateschildprocesses,ThinAppcannotcompletetheApplicationSyncprocess.
Forexample,youmightcreateMicrosoftOffice2003andMicrosoftOffice2007packages,modifythe
AppSyncURLparameterinthePackage.inifileforbothpackages,andcopytheMicrosoftOffice2007package
toaWebserverandthe
MicrosoftOffice2003packagetoaclientmachine.
IfyoustarttheMicrosoftOffice2003packagebeforetheexpirationtimesetintheAppSyncExpirePeriod
parameterofthePackage.inifile,ThinAppcandownloadtheupdateinthebackgroundasyouworkwith
theapplicationbutunabletoshowtheupdatedversion
thenexttimeyoustarttheapplication.Ifyoustartthe 
applicationafterthepackageexpires,ThinAppisunabletodownloadtheupdateintheforegroundandrestart
theapplicationwhenthedownloadisready.
MicrosoftOffice2003andMicrosoftOffice2007areexamplesofapplicationsthatcreatechildprocesses.
ThinApp
cannotcompleteApplicationSyncupdatesuntilallchildprocessesstop.Youcanperformoneofthe
followingtaskstoresolvetheissue:
 Logoutandlogintothemachinetostopthechildprocesses.
 Createascripttoendthechildprocesses.
Forexample,youcancreateascripttoendthectfmon.exeandmdm.exechildprocessesassociatedwith
MicrosoftOffice2003andMicrosoftOffice2007.
 Preventthestartupofthechildprocess,suchasthectfmon.exeprocessassociatedwithMicrosoftOffice
andInternetExplorerapplications.
Prevent the Startup of the ctfmon.exe Process for Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer
Preventingthestartupofthectfmon.exeprocessrequiresknowledgeoftheThinAppsandboxand
sbmerge.exeutility.Forinformationaboutthesbmerge.exeutility,see“UpdatingApplicationswith
RuntimeChanges”onpage 61.