4.5

Table Of Contents
ThinApp User’s Guide
70 VMware, Inc.
TypeFIXED,REMOVABLE,CDROM,orRAMDISK.
FIXEDIndicatesfixedmedia.
Forexample,aharddriveorinternalFlashdrive.
REMOVABLEIndicatesremovablemedia.
Forexample,adiskdrive,thumbdrive,orflashcardreader.
CDROMIndicatesaCDROMdrive.
RAMDISK—IndicatesaRAMdisk.
Virtualdrivesareusefulwhenapplicationsrelyonhardcodedpathstodrivelettersthatmightnotbe
availableonthedeploymentsystems.Forexample,legacyapplicationsmightexpectthattheD:driveisa
CDROMandthatthedatafilesareavailableatD:\media.
Virtualdrivesettingsoverridethephysicalpropertiesofthedriveonthephysicaldeploymentsystem.Ifthe
VirtualDrivesparameterdefinesadrivetypeasCDROM,andthephysicaldriveisaharddisk,the
applicationonthedeploymentsystemdetectsthatdriveasaCDROMdrive.
Isolation Modes for Virtual Drives
Virtualdrivesarevisibleonlytoapplicationsrunninginthevirtualenvironment.Virtualdrivesdonotaffect
thephysicalWindowsenvironment.Virtualdrivesinheritisolationmodesfromthedefaultisolationmodeof
theprojectunlessyouoverridethemodewitha##Attributes.inifileinthedrivefolderwithintheproject
directory.
Ifyoucopyfilestothe%drive_D%folderbeforebuildingtheapplication,youcanuseFullisolationmodefor
thisdrive.Theapplicationalwaysreadsfromthevirtualdriveanddoesnottrytoreadfromany
correspondingphysicalCDROMdriveonthedeploymentsystem.
Ifyoudonotcopy
filestothe%drive_D%folderbeforebuildingtheapplication,youcanuseMergedor
WriteCopyisolationmodesforvirtualdrivefoldersdependingonwhetheryouwanttoreadfromandwrite
tothephysicaldriveonthedeploymentsystem.
IfyouassignMergedisolationmodetoyourvirtualdrive,anywrite
operationstothatdrivefailifthatdrive
doesnotexistonthephysicaldeploymentsystem.ThinAppdoesnotdirectchangestothesandboxbecause
MergedisolationmodeinstructsThinApptowritetothephysicaldrive.Whentheapplicationcannotwriteto
thephysicaldriveasdirected,thewriteoperations
fail.
TheVirtualDrivesparameterdoesnotoverrideisolationmodesettings.Avirtualapplicationmightnot
detectfilesonaphysicaldrivebecauseofisolationmodesettings.
Modify Virtual Drive Isolation Modes
Youmightmodifyisolationmodesforvirtualdriveswhenyouwanttooverridethedefaultisolationmodeof
theproject.
To modify virtual drive isolation modes
1Addthe%Drive_<letter>%directorytoyourThinAppproject.
2 Createa##Attributes.inifilethatincludesanisolationmodeentryforthedriveletter.
[Isolation]
DirectoryIsolationMode=<isolation_mode>
3Placethe##Attributes.inifileinthe%Drive_<letter>%directory.
Examples
TheVirtualDrivesparameterisasinglestringthatcanholdinformationaboutmultipledriveletters,and
optionalparametersforthosedriveletters.Theparameterusessemicolonstoseparateinformationassigned
todifferentdrivelettersandcommastoseparateparametersforindividualdriveletters.ThinAppassignsa
serialnumberandtheFIXED
typetothedrive.