One of the great things about App-V 5 is that they have eliminated so many things that were not documented nor well understood. For so many years, my OSD Illustrated and OSD Reference e-book were the only place to find the full OSD file syntax.
So it has been sort of disappointing to find a similar lack of documentation for some of the replacements. Microsoft does have some information, but it tends to fall more into the category of some example syntax with some description of purpose on the more high-level options. To make full use of App-V 5, we will want to know how to make effective modifications to these files. A full and complete description of each element, the options available, and accurate information for what it does is needed.
As a start, I have released the initial version of my XML Schemas for the three XML based files needed at the Client:
- The ConnectionGroup file, used to add a new connection group.
- The DeploymentConfig file, used to modify machine wide extension points and scripts
- The UserConfig file, used to modify extension points and scripts on a per-user basis.
The full known syntax are included in these schemas. At this point, they would be useful for validation of an edited XML file, and for loading into an XML editor to help it understand the syntax. Where possible, I have added annotation/documentation on the elements and attributes. Much more work in this area will be needed over the next year, much of which will involve prodding Microsoft for missing details and just trying likely things out to see what works.
As always, email with anything you find wrong or if you learn something new.
Tim
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