AppWave Studio Appendix

Predefined Virtual Folders

When modifying registry keys it is important to know the system variables. You need to know what variables can be used that will be replaced with the correct path when an app is loaded on a machine.

The following tables list the physical paths for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and 8. This enables the user to check the differences in folder visualization and investigate issues more effectively.

• Table 1: Template Mapping Samples
• Table 2: Remarks Table
• Table 3: Directory Templates for #Defines
• Table 4: Variable Path Substitution
• Table 5: System X64 Directory Templates
• Table 6: Special Windows 7 Folders

Install, Uninstall and "Folder CleanUp"

One of the Recommended best practices when mastering an application to ensure a clean state is the following:

• If possible, master in a Virtual Machine environment with a clean OS. Use the “snapshot” functionality to capture a clean state before mastering is begun. This makes it very easy to redo a mastering task or start the next mastering task from a clean state by reverting to previous snapshot. For more information see: Best Mastering Practices

• If you are not using AppWave Studio in a virtual machine, when you uninstall and reinstall AppWave Studio, at times it is recommended to remove some files and directories. This ensures a clean starting place for your next install.

• The following files should be removed before reinstalling AppWave Browser:
  • Windows XP
  • C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Embarcadero\AppWaveBrowser\plugins
  • C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Embarcadero\AppWaveStudio\Output\ - the default Output folder path can be changed by the user
  • Windows 7 or 8
  • C:\ProgramData\Embarcadero\AppWaveBrowser\plugins\
  • C:\Users\<user>\Embarcadero\AppWaveStudio\Output\ - the default Output folder path can be changed by the user

Files

The files listed below are the mandatory files to be delivered in the app process.

App File

.app is the filename extension for AppWave-Enabled application files. It is an application that was mastered with AppWave and must adhere to all of the App Mastering Acceptance Criteria App Mastering Acceptance Criteria .

App means that applications can be streamed from the AppWave and then run locally on the desktop without installation. This option also allows applications to be run on locked-down desktops. There are no conflicts with other applications, no writing to the system areas of their registry or modifying shared dlls. Application data such as Configuration and license information is stored locally on the hard disk, and is separate from the executable itself.

.aw File

The AppWave Template file offers a model for mastering an application, and contains branding information and information on which filter to run on the installer for the application. It must respect all of the Acceptance criteria .

The AppWave Template file (.AW) is created by the PADE Product Manager and is used to add Instant AppWave Mastering support to a server.

.msi installer File

MSI files are database files, used by Windows Installer. They contain information about an application which is divided into features and components, and every component may hold files, registry data, shortcuts etc. The MSI file also contains the UI that is to be used for installing, and various other data such as any prerequisites to look for, custom actions to execute, the order of the installation procedure, whether to support Administrative installations, etc. MSI files are the current recommended way of doing installations on Windows.

The .msi files provided must have the ability to run in Unattended mode.

.stp File

STP File is created after the author masters the application and can be found in the output folder. This file is the outer layer that encapsulates the other application components. It is encrypted and stores the files, folders, and registry settings needed to reproduce the application being mastered on the end users machine.

The .stp file includes:

File Type	Description
Aib (application installation blueprint)	This file contains all the files’ metadata (filename, file path, file size, etc) and registry information (registry keys and values) for the mastered application.
Stc (streaming content file)	The code and other configuration information that comprises most of the application.
Tok (token)	Token Files are comprised of security data and general information about the mastered application
Ico	icon file
htm	EULA file

None of the files contained in the .stp file need to be altered or deleted.

Studio File

The Studio or .tca file is the project file in the AppWave Browser.The .tca contains the registry and folder and files structure captured during a software installation along with resources, launch points, and registry settings required to run a product.It also contains information about the product such as the version, name, and editions. Every time a user needs to master an App, a .tca file is created.

Log Files

Log files are the text files which contain all the log entries saved by AppWave and AppWave Browser.

AppWave Browser logs:

• StudioLog.log
  • Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Embarcadero\Log\AppWaveBrowser\<user>\
  • Windows 7 or higher: C:\ProgramData\Embarcadero\Log\AppWaveBrowser\<user>\
• StreamingCore.log
  • Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Embarcadero\Log\AppWaveBrowser\
  • Windows 7 or higher: C:\ProgramData\Embarcadero\Log\AppWaveBrowser\
• Installation.log
  • Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Embarcadero\Log\AppWaveBrowser\
  • Windows 7 or higher: C:\ProgramData\Embarcadero\Log\AppWaveBrowser\

AppWave logs:

• Server folder's logs:
  • Windows XP, 7 or higher: C:\Program Files\Embarcadero\AppWave\<version>\logs
• Error.log
  • Windows XP, 7 or higher: C:\Program Files\Embarcadero\AppWave\<version>\elc\logs
• Info.log
  • Windows XP, 7 or higher: C:\Program Files\Embarcadero\AppWave\<version>\elc\logs

Stopping Services

During mastering, extra services related to the app you are mastering may be launched. At the end of the mastering process, Studio will attempt to shutdown any services it detects, but in some cases Studio cannot detect those services and you must shut them down manually before broadcasting the App.

You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators group in order to complete this procedure. If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings might also prevent you from completing this procedure.

Managing services

To start, stop, pause, resume, or restart a service:

1. Open Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services
2. In the details panel, right-click the service, and then click Start, Stop, Pause, Resume, or Restart.

Important

• If you stop, start, or restart a service, any dependent services are also affected.
• Changing the default service settings might prevent key services from running correctly. It is especially important to use caution when changing the Startup Type and Log On As settings of services that are configured to start automatically.
• To configure startup parameters for a service, right-click the service, click Properties, and then type the parameters in Start parameters before you click Start. These settings are used only once and are not saved. (A backslash (\) is treated as an escape character; type two back slashes for each back slash in a parameter.)

App Mastering Acceptance Criteria

You can find here the information of the Standards applied by Embarcadero in the App Validation Process.

This App Validation Process is applied to vendors apps before being available in the AppWave Public Store.

General Rules

Auto Update feature:

• The application must not perform auto-update. This feature can be done in various ways:
  • During recording: by un-checking anything related to the auto-update;
  • During mastering process by updating registry entries or files accordingly or using CAE scripts.

Note: If the Auto-Update feature cannot be disabled then verify that it does not give errors when updating.

Naming Requirements

APP filename: Format: <productname><version><edition>

• Must be lowercase characters only

TCA filename: Project saved from Studio

• Must have the same name as the Product Name
• Must be lowercase characters only
• Trademark characters or special characters must not be used in tca filename

Mandatory Fields

The Product Name and Display Name must respect the manufacturer’s identity and trademark/copyright . For example if the name is RadRails on the website, the name must be written the same in the AppWave Browser.

Product Version must not contain build number. If no Product Version is specified in the installer or website then it will have the default value set to “1.0” :

• Product Version must not contain build number. The accepted format is a.b.c.d (c and d values are optional)
• Example: Valid versions : 1.0, 1.0.1, 1.0.1.1
• Invalid Versions: 1.0.1234, 1.0.1.12345 ( should be modified to be 1.0 and 1.0.1 )

The EULA file must take the filename of the .aib and .stc files.

• If the application requires prerequisites (like dotNet Framework, MSVC 2005/2008, J#, MDExplorer, Adobe Flash, etc.) then the correspondent EULA file should be included as well; product Eula must appear first.

A screenshot of the main window of the application must be in the .png format. You can check to see if it is the correction format two different places:

• Open the .tca file and verify the following information:

<ProductAppearance Icon=“icon.png "><ScreenShots><ScreenShot Name="screen.png"/></ScreenShots></ProductAppearance>

• Open the metadata.xml file:

<version name="1.0"><screenshot url="screen.png"/><buildFileList>

The Product Description cannot containt copyrighted material.

The long description cannot contain copyrighted material and cannot contain the information in the Product Description.

Product Icon must be in a .png file format.

Product release date of the app file must match the one of the template.

Note: for information about Mandatory Fields see Launch and Brand Fields

Conditionally Required Fields

These are fields that must be completed if the information is available.

System Requirements: mandatory to contain the name of the prerequisites if the app needs them; if no pre-requisites are needed then it will contain a phrase like “Windows XP and higher” and the information available on vendor’s website.

Support Contacts

Edition

Recommended

• When mastering an application, it is best practice to install in a folder which is not on a network share.
• Remove all empty folders, log files, installer artifacts, computer specific info or temporary files. Attention is needed when empty folders are used for writing files after the application is started;
• Note: Some .lnk files are needed by the application(links in help section, etc) so you must be careful when removing them.

See Also

• Using AppWave Studio