Creating a Custom/Source Only Packages ACE

AdminStudio 2025 R2 | 30.0 | Application Manager

This functionality is included in the AdminStudio Professional and Enterprise Editions.

You can create a user-defined ACE to apply to Source Only Packages. One common task you may want to create a Source Only Packages ACE to handle is to identify packages which create a desktop icon.

Application Catalog supports external package conflict checking for Custom - Source Only Packages ACEs. The Source package can be selected from the Application Catalog database or from an external package.

To create a Source Only Packages ACE that identifies desktop icon creation:

Launch Application Catalog.
On the Application Catalog tab menu, click Options. The Options dialog box opens.
On the ACE Tests tab, click the View Rules button. The Rules Viewer dialog box opens.
Click the New button. The Rules Wizard opens.
Complete the wizard panels to create your ACE:

On the General Information panel , enter the following values:

Option	Value
Name	MYACE
Associated Table	csmsiShortcut
Package Type	MSI
Brief Description	MYACE - Find desktop icons
Description	Locates package that create desktop icons.
Information URL	http://www.yourcompany.com/MYACE.htm

On the Additional Information panel , enter the following values:

Option Value
Category Shortcuts
Rule Type Custom - Source Only Packages
On the Custom Options panel , enter the following values:

Option Value
Error String Desktop icons [Name] are not allowed.
Display String A desktop icon called [Name] is created.
Severity Warning
Report ‘No’ Results Deselected
- In the example above, [Name] is a token. Tokens allow you to insert values at run-time from the internal Application Catalog Database or from an external MSI package into the Error or Display string. To use token replacement in a string, click the arrow to the right of the Error String and Display String text boxes and select a column name from the list. The column name is then inserted into the string in the following format: [ColumnName].
- The Token list is provided for your convenience; if you prefer, you can type the tokens directly in the text boxes. You could also use the [ProductName] pseudo-token to insert the name of the package in a message, even though ProductName is not a table column name.
  
  note
  For more information, see Token Grammar
On the Where Clause panel, in the Where Clause panel, click Build Expression. The Expression Builder dialog box opens.
In the Expression Builder, enter the following values:

Option Value
Table Columns [Directory_]
Comparison Operator = (Equal To)
String Constant DesktopFolder
Click OK to close the Expression Builder and return to the Where Clause panel. The expression that you just built is now displayed in the Where Clause text box:

Option	Value
Category	Shortcuts
Rule Type	Custom - Source Only Packages

Option	Value
Error String	Desktop icons [Name] are not allowed.
Display String	A desktop icon called [Name] is created.
Severity	Warning
Report ‘No’ Results	Deselected

Option	Value
Table Columns	[Directory_]
Comparison Operator	= (Equal To)
String Constant	DesktopFolder

[Directory_] = 'DesktopFolder'

When you are constructing simple expressions, it is helpful to use the Expression Builder dialog box, but you are not limited to the formatting options that the Expression Builder provides to you. If you know how to write Where clauses in SQL, you can use significantly more powerful expressions by entering them directly in the Where Clause text box on the Where Clause panel or on the Where Clause tab of the ACE Rule Properties Dialog Box.

Click the Test button to validate the expression.
On the Summary panel, review the summary of your new ACE and click the Finish button.
Click the Close button. The Rules Viewer dialog box closes.

This new user-created ACE is now available for use in subsequent testing.