VMware THINAPP 4.6 - Page 80

ThinApp User’s Guide
80 VMware, Inc.
TheVirtualDrivesparameterincludesthefollowinginformation:
 Drive–SinglecharacterbetweenAandZ.
 Serial–8digithexnumber.
 Type–FIXED,REMOVABLE,CD‐ROM,orRAMDISK.
 FIXED–Indicatesfixedmedia.
Forexample,aharddriveorinternalFlashdrive.
 REMOVABLE–Indicatesremovablemedia.
Forexample,adiskdrive,thumbdrive,orflashcardreader.
 CD‐ROM–IndicatesaCD‐ROMdrive.
 RAMDISK—IndicatesaRAMdisk.
Virtualdrivesareusefulwhenapplicationsrelyonhard‐codedpathstodrivelettersthatmightnotbe
availableonthedeploymentsystems.Forexample,legacyapplicationsmightexpectthattheD:driveisa
CD‐ROMandthatthedatafilesareavailableatD:\media.
Virtualdrivesettingsoverridethephysicalpropertiesofthedriveonthephysicaldeploymentsystem.Ifthe
VirtualDrivesparameterdefinesadrivetypeasCD‐ROM,andthephysicaldriveisaharddisk,the
applicationonthedeploymentsystemdetectsthatdriveasaCD‐ROMdrive.
Isolation Modes for Virtual Drives
Virtualdrivesarevisibleonlytoapplicationsrunninginthevirtualenvironment.Virtualdrivesdonotaffect
thephysicalWindowsenvironment.Virtualdrivesinheritisolationmodesfromthedefaultisolationmodeof
theprojectunlessyouoverridethemodewitha##Attributes.inifileinthedrivefolderwithintheproject
directory.
Ifyoucopyfilestothe%drive_D%folderbeforebuildingtheapplication,youcanuseFullisolationmodefor
thisdrive.Theapplicationalwaysreadsfromthevirtualdriveanddoesnottrytoreadfromany
correspondingphysicalCD‐ROMdriveonthedeploymentsystem.
Ifyoudonotcopy
filestothe%drive_D%folderbeforebuildingtheapplication,youcanuseMergedor
WriteCopyisolationmodesforvirtualdrivefoldersdependingonwhetheryouwanttoreadfromandwrite
tothephysicaldriveonthedeploymentsystem.
IfyouassignMergedisolationmodetoyourvirtualdrive,anywrite
operationstothatdrivefailifthatdrive
doesnotexistonthephysicaldeploymentsystem.ThinAppdoesnotdirectchangestothesandboxbecause
MergedisolationmodeinstructsThinApptowritetothephysicaldrive.Whentheapplicationcannotwriteto
thephysicaldriveasdirected,thewriteoperations
fail.
TheVirtualDrivesparameterdoesnotoverrideisolationmodesettings.Avirtualapplicationmightnot
detectfilesonaphysicaldrivebecauseofisolationmodesettings.
Modify Virtual Drive Isolation Modes
Youmightmodifyisolationmodesforvirtualdriveswhenyouwanttooverridethedefaultisolationmodeof
theproject.
Modify virtual drive isolation modes
1Addthe%Drive_<letter>%directorytoyourThinAppproject.
2 Createa##Attributes.inifilethatincludesanisolationmodeentryforthedriveletter.
[Isolation]
DirectoryIsolationMode=<isolation_mode>
3Placethe##Attributes.inifileinthe%Drive_<letter>%directory.