Applications Tab for File Evidence

From the Applications tab of the File Evidence Properties page, you can assign an application to a specific file, for example, the executable and other common files. Assigning this file evidence to an application helps determine specific applications installed on each system.

For more details about using column grouping and choosing columns, see Grouping Items in Lists and Managing Columns in a Table.

The following table lists all columns available on the Applications tab.

Field

Details

Added application

This column displays Yes if an operator manually associated an application with the evidence. No is displayed if the application is provided through the Application Recognition Library.

To link an application to the evidence, click Search on the Applications tab, select an application the evidence must be associated with, and click Add applications. Remember to Save your changes to the evidence properties.

Category

The broad function of the application, by default from the UN Standard Products and Services Code.

For local applications, this field is editable in the General tab of the application properties. (Additional custom categories can be created in Enterprise > Categories.)

Classification

The type of software, especially as it relates to licensing (freeware, commercial, component, and so on).

Visible on the General tab of the application properties. It is editable only for applications with a Source value of Local.

Edition name

The edition of an application, as specified by the publisher of this application.

Note:Many applications do not specify an edition.

Visible on the General tab of the application properties. It is editable only for applications with a Source value of Local.

Existence rule

When assigning the file evidence to an application, you can choose a recognition rule that specifies how the evidence is used when determining whether that application is installed on a computer. File evidence may be ignored for application recognition, because installer evidence is easily to collect and manage, and gives best results. You can use file evidence (by using the Existence rule) where:

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Installer evidence is particularly weak: for example, it does not include any version number or publisher name in an application. In this case, the file evidence might ensure more accurate recognition of that application.

•

There is no installer evidence (as is the case, for example, with self-installing executables).

Note:You can apply an existence rule to the file evidence only.

To select an existence rule to be used with an application, click the down arrow in the Existence rule column, and select an option:

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At least one—This option also indicates the file evidence that proves an application is installed. However, if multiple pieces of file evidence are marked as At least one, then the presence of any one of these items proves the installation of an application.

If you combine Required and At least one rules for the same application, the application is recognized as installed only when all of its Required evidence plus at least 1 of its At least one evidence are found on a computer.

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Not allowed—This is the option that is used to indicate that the application is not installed. For a single application, selecting Not allowed overrides the Required or At least one file evidence that can be found on the same computer. On a computer where the Not allowed evidence is identified, the corresponding application is not recognized as installed (conversely, no evidence imported from that computer is accounted for by its links to the same application). The same file evidence can still be used to recognize another application on the same computer. See example below.

•

Not for recognition—This is the file evidence that can be found (and is accounted for) when the application is installed, but is not used in any way for application recognition. For a lot of applications, most of the file evidence will match this option. When an item is recognized through its installer evidence, its file evidence linked with the Not for recognition rule gets removed from the list of unassigned evidence records.

Any file evidence that is linked to an application record (by any of Required, At least one, or Not for recognition) can be used for tracking the application usage (provided that usage tracking is con figured, as described in Application Properties / Usage Tab).

Existence rule

(Continued)

•

Required—This file evidence proves that an application is installed, and it must be present for the application to be identified.

An application is only recognized as installed when all of the files with the Required existence rule are found on the same inventory device.

Example of Excluded Evidence

Suppose CyberNet Reader is provided free-of-charge when you install CyberNet Writer. Your enterprise has the licensed copies of both CyberNet Reader (stand alone) and CyberNet Writer. When calculating the licensed installations of CyberNet Reader, the installations where CyberNet Writer is also installed must be excluded. When defining the CyberNet Reader application, you can add the file evidence associated with CyberNet Writer, and assign the Not allowed existence rule. For example, the rules for CyberNet Reader may include:

reader.exe Required writer.exe Not allowed

When IT Asset Management calculates the number of installations of CyberNet Reader, it does not count an installation where it also finds the CyberNet Writer file evidence.

Flexera ID

A generated code that uniquely identifies all application records, and can be used for integration between products from Flexera.

This data is read-only.

Installed

The count of installations of this application, calculated from evidence matched in the last imported inventory.

Not editable. The installed count is recalculated after each inventory import.

Licensed

This column indicates whether an installed application is linked to at least one license (either Yes or No is displayed).

Name

The application's name, which may be:

•

Set by the Application Recognition Library, and not editable (for applications with Source: Flexera)

•

Derived from the evidence values for Product, Version, and Edition properties (when generated by IT Asset Management), and editable to suit your corporate standards.

You can edit this on the General tab of the application properties when Local is displayed in the Source column (which means the application was added manually by an operator).

Product

The basic name of the application, excluding the publisher and references to versions or editions. This field displays the value Multiple products for multi-product licenses that have multiple primary products. See Multi-Product License.

Product names are supplied by the Application Recognition Library and are not editable. New product names created within your enterprise are editable in the General tab of the application properties.

Publisher

The name of the publisher of this software, responsible for its development and distribution.

For application records that you create manually, Publisher is editable in the General tab of the application properties. For applications supplied through the Application Recognition Library, the Publisher field is not editable.

Source

The origin of an application record:

•

Flexera—Shown when the application is downloaded in Application Recognition Library (if so, you cannot edit any of the application’s properties, but can link it to additional evidence).

•

Local—Shown when an operator in your enterprise created the record for this application.

•

Flexera (Extended)—Shown when an operator added additional evidence to the original record from Application Recognition Library.

Status

Indicates your assessment and processing of an application. It can have any of the following values:

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Authorized

•

Deferred

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Ignored

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Inactive

•

Unmanaged

Editable in the General tab of the application's properties, or by selecting the application and using the Change status button in any of the following lists:

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Installed Applications

•

Unmanaged Applications

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Managed Applications

•

Deferred Applications

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Ignored Applications

•

All Applications

Suite

Displays Yes if this application is a suite (that is, contains child applications), and otherwise No. Remember that a non-suite (has no children) may itself be a member of a suite. For example, Adobe Creative Suite® is a suite, Adobe Photoshop is not, and Photoshop can be a member of Creative Suite.

Usage

The count of devices on which inventory shows that usage tracking is turned on, and the application has been used.

Tip:This is the number of devices showing usage in the Devices tab of the application properties, and is filtered by the thresholds set in the Usage tab of the same application properties. Devices where applications are opened less often, or for shorter times, than specified there are not counted here; but for usage tracked in Flexera inventory, may be checked in the Raw Software Usage page (where no thresholds apply).

This data is read-only.

Version

The release number (or release identifier) of an application.

Visible in the Version field in General tab of the application properties. Editable for applications with a Source value of Local. For applications from the Application Recognition Library, it is not editable.