5.1

Configuring Dependent Applications
Using the Application Utility 18
The Application Link utility keeps shared components or dependent applications in separate packages. In
the Package.ini file, you can use the OptionalAppLinks and RequiredAppLinks entries to dynamically
combine ThinApp packages at runtime on end-user computers. This process enables you to package,
deploy, and update component pieces separately and keep the benefits of application virtualization.
ThinApp can link up to 250 packages at a time. Each package can be any size. The links must point to the
primary data container of a package.
Sandbox changes from linked packages are not visible to the base package. For example, you can install
Acrobat Reader as a standalone virtual package and as a linked package to the base Firefox application.
When you start Acrobat Reader as a standalone application by running the virtual package and you change
the preferences, ThinApp stores the changes in the sandbox for Acrobat Reader. When you start Firefox,
Firefox cannot detect those changes because Firefox has its own sandbox. Opening a .pdf file with Firefox
does not reflect the preference changes that exist in the standalone Acrobat Reader application.
This chapter includes the following topics:
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“Application Link Pathname Formats,” on page 61
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“RequiredAppLinks Parameter,” on page 62
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“OptionalAppLinks Parameter,” on page 63
Application Link Pathname Formats
The Application Link utility supports the following pathname formats
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Path names can be relative to the base executable file. For example,
RequiredAppLinks=..\SomeDirectory results in C:\MyDir\SomeDirectory when you deploy the base
executable file to c:\MyDir\SubDir\ Dependency.exe.
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Path names can be absolute path names. An example is RequiredAppLinks=C:\SomeDirectory
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Path names can use a network share or a UNC path. An example is
RequiredAppLinks=\\share\somedir\Dependency.exe.
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Path names can contain system or user environment variables that dynamically expand to a specific
location for each user or computer. An example is RequiredAppLinks=%MyEnvironmentVariable
%\Package.dat.
The risk of using environment variables is that a user might change the values before starting the
application and create an Application Link dependency other than the one that the administrator set
up.
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Path names can contain ThinApp folder macros. An example is RequiredAppLinks=%SystemSystem
%\Package.dat.
VMware, Inc.
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