The desktop uses search paths to locate applications and their associated desktop files.help search pathSee also search pathactionssearch path, See database search path search paths defined by desktop The desktop provides five search paths, described in . Search Path Description Applications Used to locate applications. Application Manager uses the application search path to dynamically populate its top level when a user logs in. Database Used to specify additional locations for action and data type definition files (*.dt files) and Front Panel files (*.fp files). Icons Used to specify additional locations for icons. Infolib Used to specify additional locations for information libraries. Help data Used to specify additional locations for desktop help data. The search paths can include both local and remote directories. Thus, the search paths play an important role in the networking architecture of the desktop. For example, a system finds applications on an application server because that application server is listed in the application search path. When a search path includes a remote location, you must configure remote file access to the location. For more information, see . The desktop search paths are created at login by the desktop utility dtsearchpath. The dtsearchpath utility uses a combination of environment variables and built-in locations to create the search paths. search paths input variables input variables The environment variables that dtsearchpath reads are called input variables. These are variables set by the system administrator or end user. The input variables use the naming convention DTSP*. When dtsearchpath runs at login time, it assembles the values assigned to these variables, adds built-in locations, and creates values for output variables. There is an output variable for each search path.search pathsoutput variablesoutput variables Search Path For: Output Environment Variable System-Wide Input Variable Personal Input Variable Applications DTAPPSEARCHPATH variable definition DTAPPSEARCHPATH variable definition DTAPPSEARCHPATH DTSPSYSAPPHOSTS variable definition DTSPSYSAPPHOSTS DTSPUSERAPPHOSTS variable definition DTSPUSERAPPHOSTS Actions, data types, and Front Panel definitions Datatabase DTDATABASESEARCHPATH variable definition DTDATABASESEARCHPATH DTSPSYSDATABASEHOSTS variable definition DTSPSYSDATABASEHOSTS DTSPUSERDATABASEHOSTS variable definition DTSPUSERDATABASEHOSTS Icons XMICONSEARCHPATH, XMICONBMSEARCHPATHXMICONSEARCHPATH variabledefinitionXMICONBMSEARCHPATH variabledefinition DTSPSYSICONDTSPSYSICON variabledefinition DTSPUSERICONDTSPUSERICON variabledefinition Infolibs DTINFOLIBSEARCHPATHDTINFOLIBSEARCHPATH variabledefinition DTSPSYSINFOLIBDTSPSYSINFOLIB variabledefinition DTSPUSERINFOLIBDTSPUSERINFOLIB variabledefinition Help data DTHELPSEARCHPATHDTHELPSEARCHPATH variabledefinition DTSPSYSHELPDTSPSYSHELP variabledefinition DTSPUSERHELPDTSPUSERHELP variabledefinition Components use the values of the output variables. For example, Application Manager uses the value of the application search path (DTAPPSEARCHPATH) to locate application groups. You can modify the search paths on a system-wide or personal basis. Modifications are done by setting values for the system-wide or personal input variables. Any modifications you make are added to the built-in search path locations. Use the dtsearchpath command to display the current values for the search paths: To obtain the value for the current (login) user, execute: dtsearchpath -v dtsearchpath To obtain the value for a different user, execute: dtsearchpath -u user Search path values include these variables: %I%I Used in DTINFOLIBSEARCHPATH. The name of the default information library. %H%H Used in DTHELPSEARCHPATH. The help volume name. %B%B Used in XMICONSEARCHPATH. The base name of an icon file. %M%M Used in XMICONSEARCHPATH. The size of the icon file (.l, .m, .s, .t) %L%L Value of the LANG environment variable. Open HomeDirectory/.dtprofile for editing. Add or edit a line defining a value for the personal input variable. For example, the following line adds a location to the user's personal application search path: DTSPUSERAPPHOSTS=/projects1/editors To make the change take effect, log out and back in. Log in as root. If the file /etc/dt/config/Xsession.d/0010.dtpaths doesn't exist, create it by copying /usr/dt/config/Xsession.d/0010.dtpaths. Open /etc/dt/Xsession.d/0010.paths for editing. Add or edit a line defining a value for the system-wide input variable. For example, the following line adds a location to the system-wide help search path: DTSPSYSHELP=/applications/helpdata Inform all users on the system that they must log out and back in for the change to take effect. The application search path is the primary search path used by the desktop to locate applications on the local system and on application servers throughout the network. When locations are added to the application search path, the other search paths (database, icon, and help) are automatically updated to reflect the corresponding locations for that data; thus, the application search path provides relatively simple administration for applications and their desktop configuration files. See . The default application search path includes personal, system-wide, and built- in locations. The default language is C. Personal location HomeDirectory/.dt/appmanager System-wide location /etc/dt/appconfig/appmanager/language Built-in location /usr/dt/appconfig/appmanager/language The application search path is assembled from the built-in locations and the following input variables: DTSPSYSAPPHOSTS System-wide application search path input variable DTSPUSERAPPHOSTS Personal application search path input variable The assembled search path is specified by the output variable DTAPPSEARCHPATH variable assembling DTAPPSEARCHPATH. The syntax for the variables DTSPSYSAPPHOSTS variable syntax DTSPSYSAPPHOSTS and DTSPUSERAPPHOSTS variable syntax DTSPUSERAPPHOSTS is: VARIABLE=location [,location...] where location can have the syntax: /path Specifies a directory on the local (session server) system. Use this syntax to add a local directory. hostname: Specifies the system-wide directory /etc/dt/appconfig/appmanager/language on system hostname. Use this syntax to add an application server. hostname:/path Specifies a directory on the remote system hostname. localhost: The local system-wide location. This keyword is used to alter the precedence of the local system-wide location. See . The value of the application search path ( DTAPPSEARCHPATH variable assembling DTAPPSEARCHPATH) is created by assembling the following locations, listed in order of precedence: Locations specified using the DTSPUSERAPPHOSTS variable The default personal location: HomeDirectory/.dt/appmanager The default location: /etc/dt/appconfig/appmanager/language Locations specified using the DTSPSYSAPPHOSTS variable /usr/dt/appconfig/appmanager/language The syntax: hostname: is expanded to specify the directory /etc/dt/appconfig/appmanager on system hostname. By default, the local system-wide location (/etc/dt/appconfig/appmanager/language) has precedence over remote locations. Thus, local application groups have precedence over remote groups with the same name. For example, if both the local and remote systems have Printer application groups (/etc/dt/appconfig/appmanager/language/Printers), the local group is used. The application search path input variables provide syntax for specifying the precedence of the local system-wide application groups: localhost: For example, suppose your system must access application servers SysA, SysB, and SysC, and you want the system-wide application groups on SysB to have precedence over any local groups with the same name. The following value for DTSPSYSAPPHOSTS creates this behavior: DTSPSYSAPPHOSTS=SysB:,localhost:,SysA:,SysC: Additions to the application search path automatically add corresponding locations to the database, icon, infolib, and help search paths. This provides the ability to add an application server to a search path by setting only the application search path input variable. For example, if you set DTSPSYSAPPHOSTS as follows: DTSPSYSAPPHOSTS=servera: then the following search paths are affected: Search Path Directory Added to Search Path Applications servera:/etc/dt/appconfig/appmanager/language Database servera:/etc/dt/appconfig/types/language Icon servera:/etc/dt/appconfig/icons/language Infolib servera:/etc/dt/infolib/language Help servera:/etc/dt/appconfig/help/language Similarly, if you set DTSPSYSAPPHOSTS as follows: DTSPSYSAPPHOSTS=/projects1/apps then the following search paths are affected: Search Path Directory Added to Search Path Applications /projects1/apps/appmanager/language Database /projects1/apps/types/language Icon /projects1/apps/icons/language Infolib /projects1/apps/infolib/language Help /projects1/apps/help/language The database search path directs the desktop to search specified locations for files containing: Action and data type definitions (*.dt files) Front Panel definitions (*.fp files). You may need to modify the database search path when you create a database server, or when you add a local location for database files. The default database search path includes personal, system-wide, and built-in locations. The default language is C. Personal location HomeDirectory/.dt/types System-wide location /etc/dt/appconfig/types/language Built-in location /usr/dt/appconfig/types/language When a location is added to the application search path, the appropriate database subdirectory is automatically added to the database search path (see ). For example, if the application server hosta: is added to the application search path, the directory hosta:/etc/dt/appconfig/types/language is automatically added to the database search path. The database search path is assembled from the built-in locations and the following input variables: DTSPSYSDATABASEHOSTSDTSPSYSDATABASEHOSTS variabledefinition System-wide database search path input variable DTSPUSERDATABASEHOSTSDTSPUSERDATABASEHOSTS variabledefinition Personal database search path input variable Use these input variables to specify locations outside the application search path. The assembled database search path is specified by the output variable DTDATABASESEARCHPATH variable assembling DTDATABASESEARCHPATH. The syntax for the variables DTSPSYSDATABASEHOSTS variable syntax DTSPSYSDATABASEHOSTS and DTSPUSERDATABASEHOSTS variable syntax DTSPUSERDATABASEHOSTS is: VARIABLE=location [,location...] where location can have the syntax: /path Specifies a directory on the local (session server) system. Use this syntax to add a local directory. hostname: Specifies the system-wide directory /etc/dt/appconfig/types/language on system hostname. hostname:/path Specifies a directory on the remote system hostname. The value of the database search path ( DTDATABASESEARCHPATH variable assembling DTDATABASESEARCHPATH) is created by assembling the following locations, listed in order of precedence: Locations specified using the DTSPUSERDATABASEHOSTS variable Locations derived from the DTSPUSERAPPHOSTS variable The default personal location: HomeDirectory/.dt/types The default location: /etc/dt/appconfig/types/language Locations specified using the DTSPSYSDATABASEHOSTS variable Locations derived from the DTSPSYSAPPHOSTS variable /usr/dt/appconfig/types/language The syntax: hostname: is expanded to specify the directory /etc/dt/appconfig/types on system hostname. The icon search path directs the desktop to search specified locations for files containing bitmap and pixmap image files used by the desktop. The default icon search path includes personal, system-wide, and built-in locations. The default language is C. Personal location HomeDirectory/.dt/icons System-wide location /etc/dt/appconfig/icons/language Built-in location /usr/dt/appconfig/icons/language When a location is added to the application search path, the appropriate icon subdirectory is automatically added to the icon search path (see ). For example, if the application server hosta: is added to the application search path, the directory hosta:/etc/dt/appconfig/icons/language is automatically added to the icon search path. The icon search path is assembled from the built-in locations and the following input variables: DTSPSYSICON System-wide icon search path input variable DTSPUSERICON Personal icon search path input variable Use these input variables to specify locations outside the application search path. The assembled icon search path is specified by two output variables: XMICONSEARCHPATHXMICONSEARCHPATH variableusage Used by color displays XMICONBMSEARCHPATHXMICONBMSEARCHPATH variableusage Used by monochrome displays The syntax for the variables DTSPSYSICON variable syntax DTSPSYSICON and DTSPUSERICON variable syntax DTSPUSERICON is: VARIABLE=location [,location...] where location can have the syntax: /path Specifies a directory on the local (session server) system. Use this syntax to add a local directory. To specify a location on another system, use its network file name—for example, /nfs/servera/projects/icons. The value of the icon search path ( XMICONSEARCHPATH variable assembling XMICONSEARCHPATH and XMICONBMSEARCHPATH variable assembling XMICONBMSEARCHPATH) is created by assembling the following locations, listed in order of precedence: Locations specified using the DTSPUSERICON variable Locations derived from the DTSPUSERAPPHOSTS variable The default personal location: HomeDirectory/.dt/icons The default location: /etc/dt/appconfig/icons/language Locations specified using the DTSPSYSICON variable Locations derived from the DTSPSYSAPPHOSTS variable /usr/dt/appconfig/icons/language The color and monochrome search paths differ only in the precedence given to pixmap and bitmaps. The XMICONSEARCHPATH variables lists pixmaps before bitmaps; XMICONBMSEARCPATH lists bitmaps before pixmaps. The infolib search path directs the desktop to search specified locations for information libraries that will be registered on your system. The DTINFOLIBSEARCHPATH and DTINFOLIBDEFAULT environment variables are defined at installation time by the dtsearchpath utility. The default infolib search path includes system-wide and built-in locations. The default language is C. System-wide location /etc/dt/infolib/%L/%I.dti Built-in location /usr/dt/infolib/%L/%I.dti The value of DTINFOLIBDEFAULT is substituted for %I. The default value of DTINFOLIBDEFAULT is cde. When a location is added to the application search path, the appropriate infolib subdirectory is automatically added to the infolib search path (see ). For example, if the application server hosta: is added to the application search path, the directory hosta:/etc/dt/infolib/%L is automatically added to the infolib search path. The infolib search path is assembled from the built-in locations and the following input variables: DTSPSYSINFOLIB System-wide infolib search path input variable DTSPUSERINFOLIB Personal infolib search path input variable Use these input variables to specify locations outside the application search path. The assembled infolib search path is specified by the output variable DTINFOLIBSEARCHPATH. The syntax for the variables DTSPSYSINFOLIB and DTSPUSERINFOLIB is:DTSPSYSINFOLIB variablesyntaxDTSPUSERINFOLIB variablesyntax VARIABLE=location [,location...] where location can have the syntax: /path Specifies a directory on the local (session server) system. Use this syntax to add a local directory. To specify a location on another system, use its network file name—for example, /nfs/servera/projects/infolib. The value of the infolib search path (DTINFOLIBSEARCHPATH) is created by assembling the following locations, listed in order of precedence:XMinfolibSEARCHPATH variableassembling Locations specified using the DTSPUSERINFOLIB variable Locations derived from the DTSPUSERAPPHOSTS variable The default location: /etc/dt/infolib/%L/%I.dti Locations specified using the DTSPSYSINFOLIB variable Locations derived from the DTSPSYSAPPHOSTS variable /usr/dt/infolib/%L/%I.dti The help search path directs the desktop to search specified locations for files containing help information that will be registered on your system. The default help search path includes personal, system-wide, and built-in locations. The default language is C. Personal location HomeDirectory/.dt/help System-wide location /etc/dt/appconfig/.dt/help/language Built-in location /usr/dt/appconfig/help/language When a location is added to the application search path, the appropriate help subdirectory is automatically added to the help search path (see ). For example, if the application server hosta: is added to the application search path, the directory hosta:/etc/dt/appconfig/help/language is automatically added to the help search path. The help search path is assembled from the built-in locations and the following input variables: DTSPSYSHELPDTSPSYSHELP variable System-wide help search path input variable DTSPUSERHELP Personal help search path input variable Use these input variables to specify locations outside the application search path. The assembled help search path is specified by the output variable DTHELPSEARCHPATH. The syntax for the variables DTSPSYSHELP variable syntax DTSPSYSHELP and DTSPUSERHELP variable syntax DTSPUSERHELP is: VARIABLE=location [,location...] where location can have the syntax: /path Specifies a directory on the local (session server) system. Use this syntax to add a local directory. To specify a location on another system, use its network file name—for example, /nfs/servera/projects/help. The value of the help search path (DTHELPSEARCHPATH) is created by assembling the following locations, listed in order of precedence:DTHELPSEARCHPATH variableassembling Locations specified using the DTSPUSERHELP variable Locations derived from the DTSPUSERAPPHOSTS variable The default personal location: HomeDirectory/.dt/help The default location: /etc/dt/appconfig/help/language Locations specified using the DTSPSYSHELP variable Locations derived from the DTSPSYSAPPHOSTS variable /usr/dt/appconfig/help/language The output variables include entries for both localized and default (C) locations. For example, the default application search path is: HomeDirectory/.dt/appmanager /etc/dt/appconfig/appmanager/language /etc/dt/appconfig/appmanager/C /usr/dt/appconfig/appmanager/language /usr/dt/appconfig/appmanager/C where language is the value of the LANG environment variable. For each scope (system-wide and built-in), the language-specific location has precedence over the default location.