4.5

Table Of Contents
ThinApp User’s Guide
90 VMware, Inc.
Configuring Sandbox Storage and Inventory Names
YoucanmodifyThinAppparameterstoconfigurethesandboxwhereallchangesthatthecapturedapplication
makesarestored.TheThinAppinventorynamemightaffecttheneedtochangethesandboxname.
Formoreinformationaboutthesandboxplacementandstructure,seeChapter 6,“LocatingtheThinApp
Sandbox,”onpage 93.
InventoryName
TheInventoryNameparameterisastringthatinventorytrackingutilitiesuseforpackageidentification.
This parameterdeterminesthedefaultnamesoftheprojectfolderandsandboxduringtheapplicationcapture
process.
TheapplicationcaptureprocesssetsadefaultvaluefortheInventoryNameparameterbasedonnewstrings
createdunderoneofthe
followinglocations:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Uninstall
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Uninstall
Thethinreg.exeutilityandThinAppMSIfilesreferencetheinventorynametodeterminetheproductname
fordisplayintheAddorRemoveProgramscontrolpanel.Forexample,iftheinve nt o r ynameisSuperAppand
youinstallanMSIfileorregisterapackagewiththethinreg.exeutility,theAdd
orRemoveprogramslist
displaysaninstalledapplicationwiththeSuperApp (VMware ThinApp)string.ThinAppappendsVMware
ThinApptotheinventorynametodistinguishapplicationsthatarevirtualizedduringinventoryscans.
Youcanusethesameinventorynameacrossdifferentversionsofthesameapplicationtoensurethatonlythe
mostrecentversionappears
inAddorRemoveProgramslist.Theapplicationsoverwriteeachotherinthe
AddorRemoveProgramslistandpreventyoufromuninstallingalloftheregisteredpackages.Ifyouwantto
uninstallmorethanoneversion,useadifferentinventorynameforeachversion.Forexample,useMicrosoft
Office
2003andMicrosoftOffice2007asinventorynamesratherthanjustMicrosoftOffice.Whenyou
maintaindifferentversionsofavirtualapplicationinthesameenvironment,youmightwanttochangethe
SandboxNameparametertoensurethatanewversionhasisolatedusersettingsinadifferentsandbox.
Ifyouhave
apackagethatincludesotherapplications,youmightupdatetheinventorynamemanuallyto
reflectthetruecontentsofthepackage.Forexample,ifyoucapturetheSuperAppapplicationandthepackage
includesJavaRuntime,theInventoryNamevaluemightappearasJava Runtime Environment 1.5instead
ofSuperApp.TheAddorRemovePrograms
listdisplaysthefirstapplicationinstalledwithinthepackage.
Examples
YoucanmodifytheInventoryNameparametertoMicrosoftOffice2003.
[BuildOptions]
InventoryName=Microsoft Office 2003
RemoveSandboxOnExit
TheRemoveSandboxOnExitparameterdeletesthesandboxandresetstheapplicationwhenthelastchild
processexits.
ThinAppstoresallapplicationchangestotheregistryandfilesystemlocationswithWriteCopyorFull
isolationmodeinthesandbox.ThinAppsetsaninitialvalueoftheRemoveSandboxOnExitparameterthat
maintainsconsistentsettingsfor
thesandboxdirectoryacrossmultipleapplicationruns.
Iftheapplicationcreateschildprocesses,ThinAppdoesnotdeletethesandboxuntilallchildprocessesexit.
Applicationsmightbedesignedtoleavechildprocessesinplacethatcanblockthecleanupoperation.
For example,MicrosoftOffice2003leavesthectfmon.exeprocess.Youcanuse
ascripttoendthe
ctfmon.exeprocessandchildprocessestoforcethecleanupoperationtooccur.