VMware THINAPP 4.6 - Configuring Dependent Applications with Application Link; Application Link Pathname Formats

VMware, Inc. 91
Chapter 5 Configuring Package Parameters
Examples
IfyouhaveanapplicationonaUSBdrive,youcanmodifytheWorkingDirectoryvaluefromthedefaultUSB
locationtotheMy Documentsdirectoryonthedesktop.
[<app>.exe]
WorkingDirectory=%Personal%
ThelocationoftheMy Documentsdirectorydependsontheisolationmodesetting.Tomaptheworking
directorytotheMy Documentsdirectoryonthephysicalsystem,usetheMergedisolationmodesetting.To
maptheworkingdirectorytothesandboxonthelocalmachine,usetheWriteCopyorFullisolationmode
setting.
Configuring Dependent Applications with Application Link
TheApplicationLinkutilitykeepssharedcomponentsordependentapplicationsinseparatepackages.Inthe
Package.inifile,youcanusetheOptionalAppLinksandRequiredAppLinksentriestodynamically
combineThinApppackagesatruntimeonend‐usercomputers.Thisprocessenablesyoutopackage,deploy,
andupdatecomponentpiecesseparatelyandkeepthe
benefitsofapplicationvirtualization.
ThinAppcanlinkupto250packagesatatime.Eachpackagecanbeanysize.Thelinksmustpointtothe
primarydatacontainerofapackage.
Sandboxchangesfromlinkedpackagesarenotvisibletothebasepackage.Forexample,youcaninstall
AcrobatReader
asastandalonevirtualpackageandasalinkedpackagetothebaseFirefoxapplication.When
youstartAcrobatReaderasastandaloneapplicationbyrunningthevirtualpackageandyouchangethe
preferences,ThinAppstoresthechangesinthesandboxforAcrobatReader.WhenyoustartFirefox,Firefox
cannotdetect
thosechangesbecauseFirefoxhasitsownsandbox.Openinga.pdffilewithFirefoxdoesnot
reflectthepreferencechangesthatexistinthestandaloneAcrobatReaderapplication.
FormoreinformationabouttheApplicationLinkutility,see“A p p l i c a t i o n LinkUpdates”onpage 56,
“OptionalAppLinks”onpage 93,and“RequiredAppLinks”onpage 92.
Application Link Pathname Formats
TheApplicationLinkutilitysupportsthefollowingpathnameformats:
 Pathnamescanberelativetothebaseexecutablefile.Forexample,
RequiredAppLinks=..\SomeDirectoryresultsinC:\MyDir\SomeDirectorywhenyoudeploythe
baseexecutablefiletoc:\MyDir\SubDir\ Dependency.exe.
 Pathnamescanbeabsolutepathnames.AnexampleisRequiredAppLinks=C:\SomeDirectory.
 PathnamescanuseanetworkshareoraUNCpath.Anexampleis
RequiredAppLinks=\\share\somedir\Dependency.exe.
 Pathnamescancontainenvironmentvariablesanddynamicallyexpandtoanyoftheprecedingpath
names.AnexampleisRequiredAppLinks=%MyEnvironmentVariable%\Package.dat.
Theriskofusingenvironmentvariablesisthatausermightchangethevaluesbeforestartingthe
applicationandcreateanApplicationLinkdependencyotherthantheonethattheadministrator
setup.
 PathnamescancontainThinAppfoldermacros.Anexampleis
RequiredAppLinks=%SystemSystem%\Package.dat.
 Pathnamescanspecifymultiplelinksordependencieswithasemicolonthatseparatesindividual
filenames.AnexampleisRequiredAppLinks=Dependency1.exe; Dependency2.exe;.
 Pathnamescancontainasteriskandquerywildcardcharacters(*and?)infilenamesandpathlocations.
Forexample,RequiredAppLinks=WildPath*\WildFilename*.dat.
Ifapathcontainingawildcardcharactermatchesmorethanonedirectoryinthefilesystem,each
matchingdirectorynamewillbereturned,toenableadditionalpathorfilename
matching.