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 X-Launcher How to add C:\ProgramData\ ? |
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| sl23 |
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   Utente registrato #39172 Registrato il: ven 30 lug 2010 - 21:42Provenienza: a Galaxy S7 far far away... Messaggi: 25 | Hi I'm new here and love your X-launcher. If you could help i'd be greatful. I'm trying to make my own launcher for an app, and i'm no programmer, but I have figured out the basics of X-Launcher's ini file. Two problems: 1. When the app starts, via the launcher, it says it can't find 2 files located in the folder C:\ProgramData\**\**\***.dat (and **\**\***.xml). How do I get X-Launcher to save these in the relevant folder? 2. How do I get X-Launcher to save the reg settings in the relevant folder? I'm using Vista32HP. I've checked the tutorial but not being a programmer don't understand a lot of it!  I've asked X-L to save AppData=true but this doesn't save the ProgramData folder Thanks for a brilliant app. Scott [ Modificato ven 30 lug 2010 - 23:36 ] | ||
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| Danix |
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   Utente registrato #1 Registrato il: ven 29 dic 2006 - 05:38Provenienza: Sassari Messaggi: 12956  | Welcome to winPenPack, sl23  In this way it's very difficult to help, can you tell us what is the program? | ||
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| sl23 |
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Utente registrato #39172 Registrato il: ven 30 lug 2010 - 21:42Provenienza: a Galaxy S7 far far away... Messaggi: 25 | Thank you for your reply. Well I suppose I should have put the app but not sure if you'll help. It's Infix PDF Editor. I want the Launcher for personal use only and I want to learn how to use it properly. I know you only support Open Source, but I have many apps that aren't. In my opinion all software should be portable, without exception. I understand if you can't help just thought i'd give it a go. Thanks again for a fantastic program though  | ||
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| sl23 |
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Utente registrato #39172 Registrato il: ven 30 lug 2010 - 21:42Provenienza: a Galaxy S7 far far away... Messaggi: 25 | Any chance of some help? Or at least acknowledgement of inability to help would be nice thanks | ||
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| ZioZione |
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  Utente registrato #74 Registrato il: dom 21 gen 2007 - 11:31Provenienza: Tradate (VA) Messaggi: 3821 | sl23 ha scritto ... Any chance of some help? Or at least acknowledgement of inability to help would be nice thanks Hi sl23, unfortunately, you are right: for our license, we can deal exclusively with open source software. This means also that we not publish any X-Launcher for not open source programs. But, of course, if you are really interested to resolve your problem, there are a lot of X-Software that use AppData, i.e. (I simply read alphabetically the list...) X-ANote -Link-  . Take a look to the file X-ANote.ini (expecially the sections [Functions] and [RunAfter]) and maybe you will have an answer to your questions... Best Regards ZioZione | ||
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| sl23 |
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Utente registrato #39172 Registrato il: ven 30 lug 2010 - 21:42Provenienza: a Galaxy S7 far far away... Messaggi: 25 | ok thanks for reply, I thought that might be the case. I'll have a look at that app, thanks again. EDIT: ok checked out X-Anote.ini trouble is, and i'm not sure if this infringes on your rules but i'm now asking for help about the actual .ini file, I don't understand the instructions in the file. Let's take the RunAfter instruction set as an example: [RunAfter] DirCopy=@AppDataDir@\$AppName$|%SettingsDir%|o DirRemove=@AppDataDir@\$AppName$ DirCopy=@AppDataDir@\$AppName$_backup|@AppDataDir@\$AppName$|o DirRemove=@AppDataDir@\$AppName$_backup I assume 'RunAfter' means after the app has launched? Ok I understand that AppName is the name of the app in question but what do all the symbols represent? In the first instruction: DirCopy=@AppDataDir@\$AppName$|%SettingsDir%|o DirCopy= I take this to mean a folder will be copied? to the location specified. @AppDataDir@\$AppName$|%SettingsDir%| No idea what all this means, other than it's the folder to be copied perhaps? o - that one's easy! overwrite. What do the symbols @ \ $ % represent? How do I add the vertical line? My keyboard has a key with that on but if I press it this appears ( ` ) If I press it with shift I get ( ¬ ) If I press it with AltGr I get ( ¦ ) Is the vertical bar character important? I can copy and paste it but that's the only way I can insert it into the text. I have read the tutorial, but there is a lot I don't understand in it. It seems as though some prior knowledge is needed in order to understand it fully. Hopefully you can help me with this as it's not a question regarding the above mentioned app but rather about getting to know X-Launcher itself. As the tutorial states - getting to know X-Launcher means understanding the .ini file, but I don't! Thanks Scott [ Modificato ven 13 ago 2010 - 18:34 ] | ||
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Utente registrato #74 Registrato il: dom 21 gen 2007 - 11:31Provenienza: Tradate (VA) Messaggi: 3821 | Hi sl23, I think that you have to start from the basis... 1) First of all, take a look to the WHOLE .ini file... 2) Then, re-read the X-Launcher tutorial and try to understand as much as possible. 3) Finally, download all X-Programs you can, and study their .ini files, because these are the only ways for fully understanding the portabilization through X-Launcher. I must to advise you (but I think you are already aware of that) that such type of portatilizations need an advanced user skill, and are not easy to understand for a normal (or basic) PC user. Is not our habitude to explain things that are already depicted in details into our manuals (see Documentation section of our forum), but this evening I have just 10 minutes free, so... sl23 ha scritto ... I assume 'RunAfter' means after the app has launched? No, these commands are executed by X-Launcher after the END of the app (i.e. after that the app has closed). sl23 ha scritto ... Ok I understand that AppName is the name of the app in question but what do all the symbols represent? In the first instruction: DirCopy=@AppDataDir@\$AppName$|%SettingsDir%|o @AppDataDir@ is an AutoIt predefined macro (X-Launcher is written in that language) that indicates the path to current user's Application Data. %SettingsDir% is an environment variable (equivalent to the Windows PATH global variable). For understanding what %SettingsDir% means, please read the [Environment] section of the .ini file (keep in mind that $Home$ indicates the \User folder of X-Program) sl23 ha scritto ... DirCopy= I take this to mean a folder will be copied? to the location specified. Correct. sl23 ha scritto ... @AppDataDir@\$AppName$|%SettingsDir%| No idea what all this means, other than it's the folder to be copied perhaps? Because this happens after the end of the app, this means that the contents of the @AppDataDir@\$AppName$ folder are copied back into %SettingsDir%. sl23 ha scritto ... What do the symbols @ \ $ % represent? Please refer X-Launcher and AutoIt reference manuals... sl23 ha scritto ... How do I add the vertical line? My keyboard has a key with that on but if I press it this appears ( ` ) If I press it with shift I get ( ¬ ) If I press it with AltGr I get ( ¦ ) Is the vertical bar character important? I can copy and paste it but that's the only way I can insert it into the text. This depends on the layout of your keyboard. For Italian keyboards, the "|" character can be obtained Shift-ing the "\" key. An alternative is to use Windows Character Map (the "|" character is located between "{" and "}") sl23 ha scritto ... I have read the tutorial, but there is a lot I don't understand in it. It seems as though some prior knowledge is needed in order to understand it fully. Hopefully you can help me with this as it's not a question regarding the above mentioned app but rather about getting to know X-Launcher itself. As the tutorial states - getting to know X-Launcher means understanding the .ini file, but I don't! Thanks Scott As I wrote above, to fully understand the X-Launcher philosophy you need to study the tutorial and the other .ini files, then experiment, experiment a lot!  Best Regards ZioZione | ||
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| sl23 |
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Utente registrato #39172 Registrato il: ven 30 lug 2010 - 21:42Provenienza: a Galaxy S7 far far away... Messaggi: 25 | Thank you so much for taking the time to explain, it is appreciated May I just say, with respect to the author of the manuals, that if I were to make something like X-Launcher and write a manual I would explain it in it's entirety. I realise these people have put alot of work and effort into these for free and no doubt we all appreciate that no end. I just feel it could've been explained better for people like me who are interested in learning not just for those who already know. And looking from that point of view, isn't that the idea of a forum? For help with understanding, fixing problems etc? Sorry, I don't mean any disrespect as I said before, just think that X-Launcher should be more accessible. PortableApps.com format is far worse than X-Launchers for complexity but as you say it is meant for developers. It seems a shame though that something so easily accessible as X-Launcher is so difficult to use, all because it needs more explaining for us dimwits May I just comment now on your reply - 1) First of all, take a look to the WHOLE .ini file... 2) Then, re-read the X-Launcher tutorial and try to understand as much as possible. Already did this plenty, but none the wiser. It's like reading a book on advanced trigonometry, if you don't understand the terms used, the rest becomes just as meaningless! sl23 wrote ... I assume 'RunAfter' means after the app has launched? No, these commands are executed by X-Launcher after the END of the app (i.e. after that the app has closed). This is a perfect example! 3) Finally, download all X-Programs you can, and study their .ini files, because these are the only ways for fully understanding the portabilization through X-Launcher. That's ok but how do you figure out what is going where? I mean for example, suppose a program writes to the registry I imagine you look in the registry for the AppName or Company Name, yes? Is there likely to be any other entries? How do you locate them? Also, when a program is installed normally it would create folders in all sorts of places, X-Launcher obviously replicates this on each startup is that correct? Now how do you go about locating ALL the original installation? Is there a program that can monitor and list all files? And if you're going to tell me about RegFromApp, well that just simply does nothing whatsoever for me! Why I don't know. @AppDataDir@ is an AutoIt predefined macro (X-Launcher is written in that language) So really to understand how X-Launcher works I need to learn AutoIT? From what I can gather from the manual X-Launcher follows this process - 1. deletes original registry settings and folders of a possible installated version of the app 2. backs up those settings to the back up folder 3. copies the settings and folders required for the app to work to the locations specified 4. launches the app Have I missed anything? Is that the correct order? Is the order user specific or pre-programmed into X-Launcher? Thanks for your help. I hope you don't mind my comments just my thoughts that's all. It's hard getting things across without the possibility of it being taken the wrong way sometimes when communicating by text. | ||
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| ZioZione |
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Utente registrato #74 Registrato il: dom 21 gen 2007 - 11:31Provenienza: Tradate (VA) Messaggi: 3821 | Hi sl23, this thread seems to promise very much sl23 ha scritto ... Thank you so much for taking the time to explain, it is appreciated You are welcome, but keep in mind that now I am on vacancy, so I have more free time than the usual... sl23 ha scritto ... May I just say, with respect to the author of the manuals, that if I were to make something like X-Launcher and write a manual I would explain it in it's entirety. I realise these people have put alot of work and effort into these for free and no doubt we all appreciate that no end. I just feel it could've been explained better for people like me who are interested in learning not just for those who already know. I am not the author of the manual (that is also the X-Launcher author); my style is very verbose: I cannot write manuals in a such "criptic" style (but, believe me, there is all you need for portabilize programs with X-Launcher!). I agree with you: the X-Launcher manual should (and could) be written in a different manner. Unfortunately, this requires a complete rewrite and, at this moment, we are too busy for maintaining this project (and we are too few also for this unique task... we absolutely need help, but people prefers to download programs instead of support us for develop them...) sl23 ha scritto ... And looking from that point of view, isn't that the idea of a forum? For help with understanding, fixing problems etc? Sorry, I don't mean any disrespect as I said before, just think that X-Launcher should be more accessible. PortableApps.com format is far worse than X-Launchers for complexity but as you say it is meant for developers. It seems a shame though that something so easily accessible as X-Launcher is so difficult to use, all because it needs more explaining for us dimwits This forum, indeed, is a precious source of informations. Unfortunately for you, the most of them are in Italian language, but we would not be at this point if we had more visitors like you sl23 ha scritto ... May I just comment now on your reply - 1) First of all, take a look to the WHOLE .ini file... 2) Then, re-read the X-Launcher tutorial and try to understand as much as possible. Already did this plenty, but none the wiser. It's like reading a book on advanced trigonometry, if you don't understand the terms used, the rest becomes just as meaningless! sl23 wrote ... I assume 'RunAfter' means after the app has launched? No, these commands are executed by X-Launcher after the END of the app (i.e. after that the app has closed). This is a perfect example! I must not agree with you on this point  As the manual said"Mixed Functions – [RunAfter] The functions of the section [RunAfter] run after the closure of the program $PathToExe$, and are therefore only used if the option RunWait is enabled." I think that the only "obscure" word could be "$PathToExe$", but the rest is exactly what I have said. sl23 ha scritto ... 3) Finally, download all X-Programs you can, and study their .ini files, because these are the only ways for fully understanding the portabilization through X-Launcher. That's ok but how do you figure out what is going where? I mean for example, suppose a program writes to the registry I imagine you look in the registry for the AppName or Company Name, yes? Is there likely to be any other entries? How do you locate them? Also, when a program is installed normally it would create folders in all sorts of places, X-Launcher obviously replicates this on each startup is that correct? Now how do you go about locating ALL the original installation? Is there a program that can monitor and list all files? And if you're going to tell me about RegFromApp, well that just simply does nothing whatsoever for me! Why I don't know. What you want to do is to understand how to portabilize programs, isn't true? I think that this tutorial -Link- could clarify much... sl23 ha scritto ... @AppDataDir@ is an AutoIt predefined macro (X-Launcher is written in that language) So really to understand how X-Launcher works I need to learn AutoIT? Absolutely not! But if you search "macros" into the AutoIt help (and take also a look in the X-Launcher manual, in the Appendix II), you can find all the macros you can use into .ini files... sl23 ha scritto ... From what I can gather from the manual X-Launcher follows this process - 1. deletes original registry settings and folders of a possible installated version of the app 2. backs up those settings to the back up folder 3. copies the settings and folders required for the app to work to the locations specified 4. launches the app Have I missed anything? Is that the correct order? Is the order user specific or pre-programmed into X-Launcher? The correct order is: 2,1,3,4. When the app is closed, you must instruct X-Launcher to execute them in a reverse order, i.e. 1) copy the settings from AppData and/or registry into \User data 2) delete them from the host PC 3) restore the previous settings from backups (and then delete the backups) sl23 ha scritto ... Thanks for your help. I hope you don't mind my comments just my thoughts that's all. It's hard getting things across without the possibility of it being taken the wrong way sometimes when communicating by text. You are welcome, again... I am also sure that two or three people that (like you) wants to know much about a particular argument and talk about it, could be more useful than a thousand of tutorials or manuals... Best Regards ZioZione | ||
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| sl23 |
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Utente registrato #39172 Registrato il: ven 30 lug 2010 - 21:42Provenienza: a Galaxy S7 far far away... Messaggi: 25 | Whoa! Thanks for such a detailed reply  Not something I'm used to I'll check that link and keep in mind what you've said and... er, sorry yes I was wrong about that [RunAfter] bit! Thanks again Now where was I..... | ||
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