dtappgather
user cmd
dtappgather
gather application files for presentation by the
Application Manager
dtappgather
-r
DESCRIPTION
The
Application Manager
presents personal, system, and factory applications in
an easy-to-access window.
The
Application Manager
is implemented as a special File Manager view of a
subdirectory that is built on a per-user, per-session basis.
The
dtappgather utility is responsible for creating and refreshing
the user's
Application Manager
subdirectory.
The
dtappgather utility
is run at login and whenever the user invokes the
ReloadApps action.
The user's individual subdirectory for the
Application Manager,
/var/dt/appconfig/appmanager/$DTUSERSESSION, is opened when the user presses the Application Manager control
on the Front Panel.
The sequence of events is as follows:
When the user logs in, the Xsession script sources in the
Xsession.d script that sets the DTUSERSESSION environment
variable.
Xsession then invokes the
dtsearchpath
utility to set the DTAPPSEARCHPATH environment variable.
After
dtsearchpath
returns with the DTAPPSEARCHPATH assembled,
the Xsession script calls
dtappgather.
As its main function,
dtappgather traverses the DTAPPSEARCHPATH,
examining each possible source of applications and, where
there are existing source subdirectories, creates symbolic links between
the source and the user's DTUSERSESSION subdirectory.
Finally,
dtappgather turns off write permissions on the resulting subdirectory to ensure its
integrity.
A similar sequence occurs when the user double-clicks the ReloadApps
action after logging in.
Although the value of the DTAPPSEARCHPATH can be modified in a
local shell, the
Application Manager
view based on its value is not functional until you log out and
log back in.
Since this can be a tedious venture, you can verify the
Application Manager
view by executing
&cdeman.dtsearchpath; and
dtappgather in the local shell.
For
example, to add host
trout as a system-wide
application server, set the
&cdeman.dtsearchpath; input environment variable,
DTSPSYSAPPHOSTS: DTSPSYSAPPHOSTS=trout: Then, execute
&cdeman.dtsearchpath; to update the
DTAPPSEARCHPATH environment
variable.
eval `dtsearchpath` Finally, gather the new applications by executing
dtappgather. The
Application Manager
will show the new application groups but will not be functional.
OPTIONS
The
-r
option causes
dtappgather to retain the previous contents of the Application Manager, although
discarding broken links.
At login,
dtappgather destroys the user's previous DTUSERSESSION subdirectory before
creating a new one.
At ReloadApps time, the -r option
is used to minimize visual disruption of any opened
Application Manager
views.
RETURN
The command always returns 0 (zero) for successful completion.
ENVIRONMENT
DTAPPSEARCHPATH
Set by the
&cdeman.dtsearchpath; utility.
DTAPPSEARCHPATH controls the places
where
dtappgather will gather applications.
The default locations consist of
$HOME/.dt/appmanager (for end users),
/etc/dt/appconfig/appmanager/$LANG (for system administrators), and
/usr/dt/appconfig/appmanager/$LANG (for factory applications).
DTUSERSESSION
Controls the location of the end user's subdirectory where the
Application Manager will be rooted.
The subdirectory name includes
both the user's $LOGNAME and $DISPLAY in order to
ensure the user's view of the Application Manager remains consistent
across sessions.
LOCALES
When searching for system administrator and factory default
Application Manager
files,
dtappgather always uses a value of $LANG equal to C.
When the
user picks a language at login, the corresponding $LANG
subdirectories are searched.
If multiple $LANG subdirectories exist
in /etc/dt/appconfig/appmanager, all $LANG subdirectories will
appear in the Application Manager; however, if multiple $LANG
subdirectories exist in
/usr/dt/appconfig/appmanager then the
language-specific subdirectory based on the current value of $LANG is
chosen instead of the C subdirectory.
Regardless of locale, all the action files that exist under the user's
$HOME/.dt/appmanager subdirectory will be symbolically linked
to the user's
Application Manager
subdirectory.
FILES
/usr/dt/bin/Xsession
Among its tasks at login,
the Xsession script invokes
&cdeman.dtsearchpath;, and then
dtappgather.
/var/dt/appconfig/appmanager/$DTUSERSESSION
This subdirectory is where
dtappgather assembles the
Application Manager
view for the particular user and CDE session.
NOTES
In the case of multiple search locations having the same name,
dtappgather picks only the first and discards the rest.
For example, if the
system administrator sets
DTSPSYSAPPHOSTS=tuna:,trout:
and if both hosts, tuna and trout, have an
/etc/dt/appconfig/appmanager/C/Editors folder, then only the
Editors folder from tuna (the first host) will appear
in the user's Application Manager.
After building the user's DTUSERSESSION,
dtappgather turns off write permissions on that subdirectory to disallow alteration
by the end user.
Although the end user can resize the
window and rearrange the icons within the window, the Application
Manager is intended to be a read-only source of local
and networked applications.
SEE ALSO
&cdeman.dtappintegrate;, &cdeman.dtsearchpath;.