4.6.1

Table Of Contents
ThinApp User’s Guide
80 VMware, Inc.
VirtualDrives
TheVirtualDrivesparameterspecifiesadditionaldrivelettersthatareavailabletotheapplicationat
runtime.
ThinAppmakesthevirtualenvironmentresemblethephysicalcaptureenvironmentandmimicsthephysical
drivesthatareavailableonthecapturesystem.ThinApprepresentsvirtualdrivesthroughthe
VirtualDrivesparameterandaprojectfolder,suchas%drive_<drive_letter>%,thatcontain
sthevirtual
filesonthedrive.Thisprojectfoldercanresideinthereadonlyfilesystemofthepackageandinthesandbox
whenwriteoperationscannotoccuronthephysicaldrive.
TheVirtualDrivesparameterpresentsthedriv estotheapplicationatruntime.TheVirtualDrives
parameterdisplaysme
tadataaboutthedrive,suchasatheserialnumberandtypeofdrive.Forexample,
ThinAppdetectsthephysicalC:driveonthecapturesystemandentersitintotheparameterasaFIXEDtype
ofdrivewiththeserialnumber.
TheVirtualDrivesparameterincludesthefollowinginformation:
DriveSinglecharacterbetweenAandZ.
Serial8digithexnumber.
TypeFIXED,REMOVABLE,CDROM,orRAMDISK.
FIXEDIndicatesfixedmedia.
Forexample,aharddriv eorinternalFlashdrive.
REMOVABLEIndicatesremovablemedia.
Forexample,adiskdrive,thumbdrive,orflashcardreader.
CDROMIndicatesaCDROMdrive.
RAMDISK—IndicatesaRAMdisk.
Virtualdrivesareusefulwhenapplicationsrelyonhardcodedpathstodrivelettersthatmightnotbe
availableonthedeploymentsystems.Forexample,legacyapplicationsmightexpectthattheD:driveisa
CDROMandthatthedatafilesareavailableatD:\media.
Virtualdriv
esettingsoverridethephysicalpropertiesofthedriveonthephysicaldeploymentsystem.Ifthe
VirtualDrivesparameterdefinesadrivetypeasCDROM,andthephysicaldriveisaharddisk,the
applicationonthedeploymentsystemdetectsthatdriveasaCDROMdrive.
Isolation Modes for Virtual Drives
Virtualdrivesarevisibleonlytoapplicationsrunninginthevirtualenvironment.Virtualdrivesdonotaffect
thephysicalWindowsenvironment.Virtualdrivesinheritisolationmodesfromthedefaultisolationmodeof
theprojectunlessyouoverridethemodewitha##Attributes.inifileinthedrivefolderwithintheproject
directory.
Ifyo
ucopyfilestothe%drive_D%folderbeforebuildingtheapplication,youcanuseFullisolationmodefor
thisdrive.Theapplicationalwaysreadsfromthevirtualdriveanddoesnottrytoreadfromany
correspondingphysicalCDROMdriveonthedeploymentsystem.
Ifyoudonotcopyfilestothe%dri
ve_D%folderbeforebuildingtheapplication,youcanuseMergedor
WriteCopyisolationmodesforvirtualdrivefoldersdependingonwhetheryouwanttoreadfromandwrite
tothephysicaldriveonthedeploymentsystem.
IfyouassignMergedisolationmodetoyourvirtualdrive,anywriteoperat
ionstothatdrivefailifthatdrive
doesnotexistonthephysicaldeploymentsystem.ThinAppdoesnotdirectchangestothesandboxbecause
MergedisolationmodeinstructsThinApptowritetothephysicaldrive.Whentheapplicationcannotwriteto
thephysicaldriveasdirected,thewriteoperationsfail.
TheVirt
ualDrivesparameterdoesnotoverrideisolationmodesettings.Avirtualapplicationmightnot
detectfilesonaphysicaldrivebecauseofisolationmodesettings.