Understanding SnAppShot

SnAppshot records the changes that occur on a workstation as an application is installed. As the installation proceeds, snAppShot captures the differences between the workstation's pre-installation configuration state and the workstation's post-installation state, compares the two pictures, and creates an application installation package that consists of two Application object template (.AOT or .AXT) files, one or more application source (.FIL) files, and one file definition (FILEDEF.TXT) file.

Application Object Templates

You use the Application object template file to create the Application object in NDS^®. Both Application object template (.AOT and .AXT) files contain the same information, which is used to populate the Application object property fields during creation of the object:

• The NDS name and workstation shortcut name to be given the Application object.
• The modifications that need to be made to the workstation's configuration settings (registry settings, INI settings, text file modifications, and so forth) during installation of the application.
• The macro definitions to use during installation.
• The list of application files to copy to the workstation during installation, including the source location to copy the files from and the target location to copy the files to.

The .AOT file is a binary file that cannot be edited; the .AXT file is a text file that can be modified with a text editor. If you need to modify the Application object template after snAppShot has created it, you should modify the .AXT file and use it to create the Application object. Otherwise, you should use the .AOT file because data from the .AOT file is imported more quickly.

Application Source Files

SnAppShot also tracks all of the application files that are copied to the workstation. These files, which become the application source files, are copied to a network source location, renamed numerically starting with 1, and given a .FIL file extension (for example, 1.FIL). Novell^® Application Launcher^TM/Explorer uses these source files when installing the application to the workstation.

Application File Definition File

To map the .FIL files to their original files, SnAppShot creates a file definition (FILEDEF.TXT) file. This text file not only maps the .FIL files to the original files, but also specifies the target location and name to be used when installing the files to the workstation. For example:

1.fil=C:\DMI\WIN32\_DEISL1.ISU
2.fil=C:\DMI\WIN32\bin\Wdmiutil.dll