How to Launch an Application or Run a Script when a Layer's State Changes

SVS CodeMaster Jeremy Hurren just threw another gem over the wall. If you want an SVS action (activate, deactivate, delete ...) to trigger an application, or send a message, or play a sound, here's the recipe.

Have you ever needed to run an external process when a layer gets activated, or deactivated, or deleted? You might, for example, have a third-party inventory system and want to re-evaluate the computer's inventory when layers activate and deactivate. (Send us your examples*).

Or maybe, like me, you just want to play a sound when layers activate. The following example plays the ding.wav file when a layer is activated and the chord.wav file when a layer is deactivated.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Altiris\FSL
OnPostActivate (MULTI_SZ) = "PlaySound.exe "C:\Windows\Media\ding.wav""
OnPostDeactivate (MULTI_SZ) = "PlaySound.exe "C:\Windows\Media\chord.wav""

In addition to a global setting like the one above, you can also change settings for individual layers by using the following registry key.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Altiris\FSL\1 (replace 1 with the layer number)

There are a number of events that can be captured in this fashion. Here is a complete list of the possible registry values, all of which are REG_MULTI_SZ types:

• OnPreActivate
• OnPostActivate
• OnPreDeactivate
• OnPostDeactivate
• OnPreImport
• OnPostImport
• OnPreExport
• OnPostExport
• OnPreReset
• OnPostReset
• OnPreDelete
• OnPostDelete
• OnPreCreate
• OnPostCreate
• OnPreCapture
• OnPostCapture

* Let us know if you've come up with some cool applications for this tip. Send us your ideas and we'll post them here.