Shortcuts View/Shortcut Properties

AdminStudio 2021 | 21.0 | Tuner

When creating or editing a shortcut, you specify properties on the Shortcut Properties View.

The Shortcut Properties are described in the following table:

Shortcut Properties

Option

Description

Icon

Displays the name of the icon for this shortcut.

• To change the icon, click the Change Icon button. On the Change Icon dialog box, click Browse to select an EXE file or DLL. All of the icons contained in that EXE or DLL file are displayed. Select the appropriate icon and click OK. On the Shortcut Properties view, the name of the icon now appears in the icon value cell and a picture of the icon appears next to the Change Icon button.
• To remove the icon, click Clear Icon.

Description

A brief description of the shortcut. The text in this field will appear when users hover the mouse pointer over the shortcut in Windows 2000 or later.

Arguments

Any command-line arguments for the shortcut.

Target Type

The destination folder, or a file from the MSI or transform. This property can be set to one of the following values:

• File from MSI Package—Used if the shortcut is to a file that is part of the base Windows Installer package.
• File from System—Used if the shortcut is to a file that already exists on the target system. It may also be from the transform file.
• Destination Folder—Used if the shortcut points to a folder rather than a file. The folder can be on the target system, from the MSI package, or from the transform.
• Advertised shortcut—Used if you want this to be a shortcut to an “advertised” feature. Advertised features are not installed immediately during the setup process. Instead, they are installed when requested. The shortcut makes it appear that the feature is already installed, although it is not installed until the end user requests it.

Target

Path and file name for this shortcut’s target. There are many potential types of targets, including applications, files, folders, printers, and computers on a network. Instead of hard-coding a path, you can use a Windows Installer folder property in square brackets—for example, [INSTALLDIR]\MyApp.exe. You can also target Windows Installer features, which you can use for feature advertisement.

To specify a feature as a shortcut target, enter the name of the feature in the Target field. You can determine the name of the feature by going to the MSI Table Editor and selecting the Feature table. The list of features you can target with your shortcut is listed in the Features column of the table.

Run

Specifies how the item is displayed when the shortcut is double-clicked. You can select from the following options:

• Normal Window—Launches the program in a normal sized window.
• Maximized Window—Launches the program in full-screen view.
• Minimized Window—Launches the program in a minimized window, visible only on the taskbar.

Working Directory

Default directory for the Save As and Open dialogs. If you are modifying an existing shortcut, or creating a new one, you can select a Windows Installer folder property from the list instead of hard-coding a path. Separate further levels with a backslash—for example, <ProgramFilesFolders>\MyApp\Bin.

Hot Key

The decimal value of the hot key combination for this shortcut. The Hot Key feature allows end users to launch a shortcut by pressing a combination of keys, rather than using the mouse. When you click in the Hot Key field to create or modify a shortcut, the Hot Key dialog box opens. While the Hot Key dialog box is open, press the desired hot key combination; those keystrokes are recorded. When you click OK on the Hot Key dialog box, Tuner automatically converts the keystrokes into a decimal value and enters that value in the Hot Key field.

Caution:Microsoft recommends that you do not set this value, as it may conflict with existing hot key combinations on the target machine.