Platform 16 Beta 1 New Features Discussion: UNC Path Mapping, Logging, Taskbar Pinning

Please keep discussion of these new features within this thread.

Drive Letter Mapping

When running from a UNC path (example: \\server\path), the platform can be set to automatically map a drive letter to main UNC path temporarily for the current logged in Windows session. The platform will try drive letters P, then Z, then Y, then X and be able to automatically detect if it's already made the temporary mapping and use it. The mapping will persist until the current user logs out or shuts down Windows. There is no UI yet for this feature, but it can be manually enabled. With the platform closed, open the PortableAppsMenu.ini file within the PortableApps\PortableApps.com\Data directory. Search for the [Integration] section. If there is not one, add it. The entry should look as follows:

[Integration]
MapDriveLetter=True

Platform Logging

Platform logging causes the platform to save state to a PortableAppsPlatform.log file within your PortableApps\PortableApps.com directory. This log is cleared on platform start. The log can assist us with understanding where a crash or an error message is occurring while the platform is operating. It currently logs starts and shutdowns, loading settings, loading locales, loading themes, parsing the app directories, and more. There is no working UI yet for this feature even though a checkbox shows in the Options Advanced tab, but it can be manually enabled. With the platform closed, open the PortableAppsMenu.ini file within the PortableApps\PortableApps.com\Data directory. Search for the [Logging] section. If there is not one, add it. The entry should look as follows:

[Logging]
EnableLogging=True

In particular, I'm hoping logging helps us determine an issue for a small number of users experiencing an error message on platform start.

Taskbar Pinning

Initial taskbar pinning support has been added. It will only work with apps in PortableApps.com Format that have enabled support for it. The following apps have working support for it introduced at the version listed: calibre 3.31, DSynchronize 2.40.04, FocusWriter 1.6.16

Firefox 62.0 and Firefox ESR 60.2.0 have built in support for 32-bit Windows. For others, open the appinfo.ini file within the FirefoxPortable\App\AppInfo directory. In the [Control] section, replace or add the following line (removing the 64 if on 32-bit Windows):

BaseAppID=%BASELAUNCHERPATH%\App\Firefox64\firefox.exe

Note that the next release of the platform will support 32 and 64-bit switching automatically. The directive for this is already in Firefox Portable 62.0.

For GIMP Portable, open the appinfo.ini file within the GIMPPortable\App\AppInfo directory. In the [Control] section, add the following line:

BaseAppID=gimp.GimpApplication

The platform will automatically generate a local shortcut file and allow you to drag it to the taskbar. This shortcut file will allow Windows to understand the separate launcher and app files and properly launch the portable app.