HealthCast

Desktop Appearance

The options that can be customized for the ExactAccess desktop presentation are its appearance, display name and size, background image, and button icons.

Custom background and buttons can be defined to match an organizations corporate portal to give users a familiar experience. Application icons can also be custom sized to accommodate screen resolution and display.

Desktops

The desktops node of the XML document is a parent/container node for multiple Desktop nodes. The desktop list will appear as a context menu popup when right clicking on the XA Application Desktop background (not over links).

Desktop Node Settings

The individual Desktop nodes appear under the main Desktops collection node. Each grouping of settings describes a unique desktop configuration that an end user may choose.

The following settings are part of this node:

The Desktop settings must be on a single line and contain no line breaks. As this is an XML document, the formatting must appear as shown in the example below.

Related Settings for the Desktop node:
Table 3. Desktop Node Settings

Node Setting

Description

id="Default"

This is the "physical" name of the desktop and will appear as a menu item in the context menu.

ShowStatus="true"

This setting indicates if a status bar shows at the bottom of the desktop. The status bar will show physical paths to desktop links.

Icon="xasysicon.ico"

This setting indicates the icon file to use for the system menu of the window.

ForceToSize="true"

This setting indicates if the desktop should be resized to the settings indicated as opposed to allowing Windows to decide the initial size of a window when the user has not yet chosen a default desktop size.

AllowUserResize="true"

This setting indicates if a user is allowed to change the windows size. Each individual user may have their own preference for window width and height.

StartX="0"

This refers to the initial horizontal position of the window. If both the X and Y settings are 0, then the window will appear centered in the Default Monitor screen center.

StartY="0"

This refers to the initial vertical position of the window.

Width="800"

This is the initial width of the window. If the user is allowed to change the height and width, user preferences will override these values.

Height="600"

This is the initial height of the window. If the user is allowed to change the height and width, user preferences will override these values.



Example

<Desktop id="Default" ShowStatus="true" Icon="xasysicon.ico" ForceToSize="true" AllowUserResize="true" StartX="0" StartY="0" Width="800" Height="600">

Background Image

The BackgroundImage node is a sub-node of Desktop, and describes the display that links, with other information to appear over it.

Related Settings for the BackgroundImage node:
Table 4. BackgroundImage Node Settings

Node Setting

Description

ImageLocation="xa_app_background.bmp"

This indicates the file to use to show on the background. Typically, this is only a banner, but can include the full size of the Desktop.

Note

Note that the Links settings will layer on top of the desktop background, so details in the middle of the image may be hidden if the image is the size of the desktop.

PictureDisplay="none"

This setting describes what effect to apply to the image specified. The following settings are supported:

  • none - no effect will be applied to the image. The image will be positioned in the upper left of the desktop display area. It will not be resized with the desktop.

  • tile - the image will be duplicated from left to right, top to bottom until the desktop display area is covered. This is convenient when a small pattern is used for the image.

  • stretch - the image will be sized to fit the desktop display area - small images will be enlarged, and large images will be reduced to fit the display area. This is convenient when the image specified is entered as the same size as the desktop display area. The image will be resized when the desktop is sized by the user.

Color="$AABBCC"

If no image is specified, the background color will be used. Color choices are solid only, no pattern, and are specified in hexadecimal numbers. From left to right, each color range is specified with two digits. Blue (AA), Green (BB), and Red (CC)



Example

<BackgroundImage ImageLocation="xa_app_background.bmp" PictureDisplay="none" Color="$FFFFFF">

Links

The Links node is a sub-node of Desktop, and describes the appearance of application links for applications the user is authorized to start.

Related Settings for the Links node:
Table 5. Links Node Settings

Node Setting

Description

StartX="75"

This specifies the pixel position the links will start from the left of the desktop.

StartY="280"

This specifies the pixel position the links will start from the top of the desktop.

ColumnSize="315"

This defines the pixel width of a single column. If all of the users' links do not fit in this width, the column will be made wider to accommodate longer text. This setting is useful primarily when link names are short, but the administrator would like to adjust the spacing between the columns.

Layout="Vertical"

This dictates the order the links will be displayed in. While they are always alphabetically sorted, they may be sorted from left to right, top to bottom, or top to bottom, left to right.

  • Vertical - links will be displayed sorted top to bottom, left to right.

  • Horizontal - links will be displayed sorted left to right, top to bottom.

FontFace="Verdana"

This is the name of the font to use. Ensure that the font chosen is present on the workstation where the configuration is to be deployed.

Size="12"

This specifies the point size of the font. This setting does not indicate pixel height or width of the font.

Style="bold"

This consists of a comma-separated list of styles to apply to the font.

  • Bold - applies the bold attribute to the font.

  • Italic - applies the italic attribute to the font.

Color="$112233"

This is the color of the text specified in hexadecimal numbers. From left to right, each color range is specified with two digits. Blue (11), Green (22), and Red (33)

Selected="$441C04"

This defines the color that the link will change to when the user hovers the mouse over it. Indicates this will be the selection if the user clicks the left mouse button to launch the application.

ShowInvalid="False"

When "True", this indicates to show a link even if it is invalid (the application is not available on the workstation). This is used primarily for developing a desktop layout where the user or the development machine may not have access to the applications that end users will actually have. It allows the developer to configure the desired display given a number of links on the desktop for visual feedback.

Underline="true"

This shares the specific style of underlining to apply to links. Use this if you wish to simulate the way Web page hyperlinks work by displaying clickable links as underlined.

ShowIconWithLinks="True"

When set to TRUE, enables the desktop to display the application icon images to the left of the link.

IconClickable="False"

When TRUE, indicates that the user can click the icon to launch the application.

TightBorders="False"

When TRUE, indicates that the white space around the link is reduced so the user must select the actual link text to launch the application.

IconSize="32"

This changes the icon display size. Supported sizes are 16, 24, 32, 48, and 64. Size is specified in pixels.

ShowLinks="True"

This changes the desktop to show or not the application name as a link on the desktop.

ShowAppNameAsHint="False"

This setting will allow the mouse hover hint to show the full application name (link name) if enabled.



Example

<Links StartX="75" StartY="280" ColumnSize="315" Layout="Vertical" FontFace="Verdana" Size="8" Style="bold" Color="$441C04" Selected="$441C04" ShowInvalid="False" Underline="true" ShowIconWithLinks="True" IconClickable="False" TightBorders="False" IconSize="32" ShowLinks="True" ShowAppNameAsHint="False" />

Caution

Be sure that at least one of the link properties is set to true for Icons (ShowInconWithLinks) or Links (ShowLinks) or the desktop will not be functional to launch applications.

Custom Icons

Settings can be configured to customize the appearance of icons. Once the icons are created and customized, they will need to be defined for their intended applications.

A custom icon can be specified for the ExactAccess Desktop by adding the /ICON:<path to icon file> parameter to this field, which associates the icon with a specific connector. See Defining Custom Icons for Applications for more information on associating icons with their specific connector to ensure the underlying applications are accurately represented.

After enabling icons with the XA desktop, the icons displayed with the Connector will need to be associated with a particular application.

To make icons appear on the XA Application Desktop

Edit the XA configuration XML file to enable icons to appear on the desktop.

  1. Open the following XML file: C:\Program Files\HealthCast\ExactAccess\config.xml

  2. Locate the following node in the file:

    <Links StartX=

  3. At the end of this section, add the following before the closing portion of the tag ( />)

    <Links StartX="".... ShowIconWithLinks="True" />

  4. Save the changes you have made in the XML.

  5. Close the XML file.

Change icon sizes on the XA Application Desktop

Edit the XA configuration XML file to change icon size on the desktop.

  1. Open the following XML file: C:\Program Files\HealthCast\ExactAccess\config.xml

  2. Locate the following node in the file:

    <Links StartX=

  3. At the end of this section, add the following before the closing portion of the tag ( />)

    <Links StartX="".... IconSize="32" />

    The following sizes are supported: 16, 24, 32, 48, 64

  4. Save the changes you have made in the XML.

  5. Close the XML file.

Change link white space on the XA Application Desktop

Edit the XA configuration XML file to change the link activation area on the desktop.

  1. Open the following XML file: C:\Program Files\HealthCast\ExactAccess\config.xml

  2. Locate the following node in the file:

    <Links StartX=

  3. At the end of this section, add the following before the closing portion of the tag ( />)

    <Links StartX="".... TightBorders="True" />

  4. Save the changes you have made in the XML.

  5. Close the XML file.

Making icons clickable on the XA Application Desktop

Edit the XA configuration XML file to enable icon clicking on the desktop.

  1. Open the following XML file: C:\Program Files\HealthCast\ExactAccess\config.xml

  2. Locate the following node in the file:

    <Links StartX=

  3. At the end of this section, add the following before the closing portion of the tag ( />)

    <Links StartX="".... IconClickable="True" />

  4. Save the changes you have made in the XML.

  5. Close the XML file.

Defining Custom Icons for applications
Associating a specific icon with a specific Connector

After enabling icons with the XA desktop, the icons displayed with the Connector do not match the application. It is necessary to set the custom icon to represent its underlying application.

The procedure below details how to set a custom icon for each Connector.

  1. Extract or otherwise create an icon (.ICO) file representing the application.

  2. Name the icon file the same name as the Connector executable and place it in the same directory as the Connector.

    This can be done by including the icon as an HCIDeploy item for the Connector

    • Example:

      If the Connector name is xaInvision.exe, name the icon xaInvision.ico and place it in the same directory as xaInvision.exe. After the icon is available in the directory, this icon will override the default Connector icon. Refresh the desktop using the "Refresh Desktop" pop-up menu item on the ExactAccess User Context Manager in the system tray.

There may be instances in which the published application may use a different method to define the icon to the application. Those instructions can be followed by clicking on the corresponding links below.

Published application instructions for icons

For published applications using the generic launcher, a slightly different method must be employed. Because the launcher name is always the same, no matter what application is being launched, simply placing a new icon for the launcher will not properly identify the application being launched. Each link on the desktop that references the launcher will be followed by an icon specification.

Example:

xaLauncher.exe "SSO Application" is shown on the status when hovering over the published Application Connector link.

Put the following file (xaApp.ico) in the same directory as xaLauncher.exe

(this will typically beC:\Program Files\HealthCast\ExactAccess)

This file will then override any custom icon (xaLauncher.ico) , and will override the default icon provided in the executable (xaLauncher.exe).

The application launcher for the published "SSO Application" application then needs to be registered with the additional command line parameter "/ICON:xaApp.ico"

Published application instructions for icons when using Citrix PNAgent

For published applications that directly use the PNAgent.exe, a slightly different method must be employed. Because the application name is always the same (pnagent.exe), no matter what application is being launched, and due to permission restrictions on the Citrix PNAgent directory, simply placing a new icon in the PNAgent directory is not an option. As with the launcher, each link on the desktop that references PNAgent will be followed by a an icon specification. However, the default location of the icon must be specified.

Example:

PNAgent.exe /QLaunch "SSO Application" is shown on the status when hovering over the published Application link.

Put the following file (xaApp.ico) in the ExactAccess Directory

(this will typically beC:\Program Files\HealthCast\ExactAccess)

This file will then override any custom icon (PNAgent.ico) , and will override the default icon provided in the executable (PNAgent.exe).

The application launcher for the published "SSO Application" application then needs to be registered with the additional command line parameter "/ICON:%XAUCM%xaApp.ico"

The path to the icon may be specified by using environment variables (specified between the % symbols), or may use the special %XAUCM% designation to mean the XA install path.

Note

See the Application Registration section of the Administrator Tool Guide for information on how to register a Connector.

See Specifying Command Line Parameters for information on how to modify the registration XML file to include command line parameters

Customized Display Name

The ExactAccess display name can be altered when registering a connector or application. The display name is what will appear on the ExactAccess Desktop presentation.

See Create New Snap Application for adding an application link. The Short|Long entry applies to the "Enter Display Name" field.

A short and long name can be specified by separating them with the pipe (|) character.

Example:

Short|Followed by a long name.

The short name will be displayed directly on the desktop, while the long name will be used as a hover hint that will pop up when the mouse is placed over the link. See Application Registration for importing an XML file for Connectors that have been modified with these properties.

Customizing the Display

The remaining settings for the visual display of the Application Desktop are in the following file:

c:\program files (x86)\HealthCast\ExactAccess\config.xml

Below are descriptions and settings for each of the XML Nodes contained within the config.xml for setting up the display properties of the application desktop.

Full example config.xml
<Desktops>

<Desktop id="Default" ShowStatus="true" Icon="xasysicon.ico" ForceToSize="true" AllowUserResize="true" StartX="0" StartY="0" Width="800" Height="600">

<BackgroundImage ImageLocation="xa_app_background.bmp" PictureDisplay="none" Color="$FFFFFF"/>

<Links StartX="75" StartY="280" ColumnSize="315" Layout="Vertical" FontFace="Verdana" Size="8" Style="bold" Color="$112233" Selected="$FF1C04" ShowInvalid="False" Underline="false" ShowIconWithLinks="True" IconClickable="False" TightBorders="False" IconSize="32"/>

<Lock StartX="72" StartY="55" ImageLocation="lock.bmp" Color="$800080"/>

<Logoff StartX="120" StartY="55" ImageLocation="logoff.bmp" Color="$FF0080"/>

<UserName StartX="75" StartY="15" FontFace="Verdana" Size="12" Style="bold" Color="$441C04" visible="false"/>

<DSName StartX="10" StartY="115" FontFace="Verdana" Size="12" Style="bold" Color="$441C04" visible="false" />

<Description StartX="10" StartY="115" FontFace="Verdana" Size="12" Style="bold" Color="$441C04" visible="false" />

<FirstName StartX="75" StartY="15" FontFace="Verdana" Size="12" Style="bold" Color="$441C04" visible="false" />

<LastName StartX="75" StartY="15" FontFace="Verdana" Size="12" Style="bold" Color="$441C04" visible="true" />

<Phone StartX="10" StartY="115" FontFace="Verdana" Size="12" Style="bold" Color="$441C04" visible="false" />

<EMail StartX="10" StartY="115" FontFace="Verdana" Size="12" Style="bold" Color="$441C04" visible="false" />

<Address StartX="10" StartY="115" FontFace="Verdana" Size="12" Style="bold" Color="$441C04" visible="false" />

</Desktop>

</Desktops>
In this section: