Configuring Application Startup Behavior in Thin Client (Windows Embedded CE 6.0)
1/5/2010
For a Windows Embedded CE powered thin client that includes the Thin Client Shell, when a user bypasses the Thin Client Setup Wizard at startup time, a default connection is still provided. This default connection is listed in the Terminal Connection Manager UI. When a user selects this default connection, the CETSC UI appears, prompting a user to specify a server to connect to and enabling the user to configure the connection. For information about how to change this behavior, see Changing the Shell Startup Behavior in Thin Client.
You can configure the shell to start applications automatically before the user interface (UI) starts. You should use this functionality for applications that require a UI, such as the Windows Thin Client Setup Wizard, and that must run before the shell UI is started. Applications that do not require a UI must start as part of the Windows Embedded CE initialization process.
Startup Application Configuration
For each application that you want to start automatically, you must create a unique registry key in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \Software\Microsoft\WBT\Shell\Startup registry key. This registry key is defined in rdp.reg at %_WINCEROOT%\PUBLIC\RDP\OAK\FILES.
The key name is converted to an integer by the shell. Therefore, the key name should be one that is converted easily; for example, 1, 10, or 20.
Each key under the Startup key represents an index that specifies the order in which an application must be started. The key name can represent an integer of 1 or greater; indexes are not required to be sequential. The shell first starts the application that has the lowest index value, and continues enumerating up to the application that has the highest index value.
The following is an example of some application Startup keys.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \Software\Microsoft\WBT\Shell\Startup\10]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \Software\Microsoft\WBT\Shell\Startup\20]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \Software\Microsoft\WBT\Shell\Startup\21]
The following table shows the entries that you must add to each key under the Startup key.
Note
If the required values are either not set or not valid, the shell ignores the value and no error message displays to the user.
| Value | Description |
|---|---|
Application: REG_SZ |
This value specifies the executable file to start automatically. No default setting is provided. This value is required. |
CmdLine: REG_SZ |
This value specifies the command-line arguments to pass to the application that is specified by the Application key. No default setting is provided. This value is optional. |
WaitOnProcess: REG_DWORD |
This value indicates whether the shell will wait for the application to end before continuing. The following list shows the possible values:
No default setting is provided. This value is required. |
To configure application startup behavior before building the run-time image
In Platform Builder, on the File menu, select Open, and then select File.
Set Files of Type to All Files.
Navigate to %_WINCEROOT%\PUBLIC\RDP\OAK\FILES.
Select rdp.reg and click Open.
In rdp.reg, add a startup registry key in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \Software\Microsoft\WBT\Shell\Startup.
Add the named values for Application, CmdLine, and WaitOnProcess.
On the File menu, select Save rdp.reg.
During the build process, makeimg.exe processes all .reg files in the build directories to create a single file, Reginit.ini. Reginit.ini forms the basis for the system registry.