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Windows 8 Application Launcher (Industry 8.1)

  • Article

7/8/2014

You can use Windows 8 Application Launcher to start a Windows Store app immediately after a user signs in to a Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry (Industry 8.1) device and to restart the app when the app closes. You can configure Windows 8 Application Launcher to launch different apps for different users.

Important

You must have the WEMSAL_UserAppXInformation Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) provider installed on your device in order to use Embedded Lockdown Manager (ELM) to configure Windows 8 Application Launcher.

Windows 8 Application Launcher is disabled by default; you must enable Windows 8 Application Launcher in ELM before it will function.

If the Windows Store app is written specifically to work with Windows 8 Application Launcher, you can configure Windows 8 Application Launcher to perform a specified action based on an exit value returned by the app. For example, you could configure Windows 8 Application Launcher to shut down or restart the device when the app exits, based on the exit value of the app.

ELM displays the following three columns in the center pane that show you the basic information of the current configurations defined for Windows 8 Application Launcher:

  • User Name   The name of the configured account.
  • Application Name   The display name of the Windows Store app that Windows 8 Application Launcher launches when the configured account signs in.
  • Application User Model id   The Application User Model ID (AUMID) of the Windows Store app. This value uniquely identifies the app, and is used in the Windows PowerShell scripts that are created when you select Export to PowerShell.

ELM always includes an entry with the user name of Global Configuration. If an app is selected for the Global Configuration, Windows 8 Application Launcher launches that app if the account signing in does not have a specific configuration defined. If you attempt to delete the Global Configuration, the Global Configuration is reset to its default settings (no app specified and no exit actions defined).

For more information about Windows 8 Application Launcher on Industry 8.1, see Windows 8 Application Launcher (Industry 8.1) on MSDN.

For more information about Windows 8 Application Launcher on Standard 8, see Windows 8 Application Launcher Overview (Standard 8) on MSDN.

Common tasks

To create a new configuration entry

  1. In ELM, on the Actions pane, click Configure user. An account can have only one configuration entry.

  2. On the Windows 8 Application Launcher properties dialog box, select a user account to configure by doing one of the following:

    • Click the Browse Local Accounts button to select a local account.
    • Click the Browse Domain Accounts button to select a domain account.
    • In the User Name field, type in the name of the account.

    If you select an account that does not have any Windows Store apps installed, ELM displays a warning message, and you will not be able to select an app to launch for the account.

  3. Click the Application field and select the app to launch from the drop-down list of apps installed for the selected account.

  4. Click the Default Exit Action field and select an action for Windows 8 Application Launcher to take when the selected app closes.

  5. (Optional) If the selected app is a specialized app for Industry 8.1 or Standard 8 that writes a CustomExitCode before closing, you can click Add to add a new custom return action for any custom exit codes your app may return.

  6. Click OK to create the new configuration entry.

To modify an existing configuration entry

  1. On the main pane, select a row.

  2. On the Actions pane, click Properties.

    -or-

    On the main pane, right-click a row and select Properties from the drop-down menu.

  3. On the Windows 8 Application Launcher properties dialog box, change any properties that you want and then click OK.

Actions

In the Actions pane of the ELM window, you can use the following commands:

  • Export to PowerShell
    Creates a Windows PowerShell script that you can use to apply the current Windows 8 Application Launcher configuration to any device running Industry 8.1 or Standard 8.
  • Configure user
    Configures Windows 8 Application Launcher to launch a Windows Store app for a specific user that has that app installed. Selecting this option brings up a new Windows 8 Application Launcher properties dialog box.
  • Enable Application Launcher/Disable Application Launcher
    Enables or disables Windows 8 Application Launcher. If Windows 8 Application Launcher is not enabled, Windows 8 Application Launcher does not launch any apps for any users.

  • Enable kiosk mode

    Note

    This property is not available when configuring Standard 8 devices.

    Enables kiosk mode in Windows 8 Application Launcher. Kiosk mode prevents the Start screen from displaying for any account that is configured to run Windows 8 Application Launcher. A blank screen is displayed any time that the Start screen would be displayed.

    In order to enable kiosk mode, all exit actions must be either to restart the app, restart the device, shutdown the device, or sign out from the current account, and Windows 8 Application Launcher must be enabled.

  • Set fatal error action

    Note

    This property is not available when configuring Standard 8 devices.

    Sets the action that Windows 8 Application Launcher takes when it cannot launch the configured app. You can choose one of the following actions:

    • Restart the device
    • Shut down the device
    • Close Windows 8 Application Launcher
    • Sign out the current user

    Note

    If you select cose Windows 8 Application Launcher as the fatal error action, you cannot enable kiosk mode. If kiosk mode is already enabled, you cannot select close Windows 8 Application Launcher as a fatal error action.

  • Properties
    Brings up the Windows 8 Application Launcher properties dialog box with the configuration information for the selected account.
  • Delete
    Deletes the selected configuration. If the selected configuration is the Global Configuration, then the Global Configuration is reset to its default settings (no app specified and no exit actions defined).

Windows 8 Application Launcher properties dialog box

In this dialog box, you can specify the following properties:

  • User Name
    The name of the account that is being configured. You can type in an account name, or you can click the Browse Local Accounts button to select from a list of local users on the device. If the device is domain-joined, you can click the Browse Domain Accounts button to select from a list of domain accounts.
  • Application
    The Windows Store app that Windows 8 Application Launcher launches when the account signs in. You must enter a User Name before you can select an app, because the list of apps displayed is based on the list of apps that the account has installed.

  • Default Exit Action
    The action that Windows 8 Application Launcher takes when the Windows Store app exits for any reason. You can choose one of the following actions:

    • Restart the application
    • Restart the device
    • Shut down the device
    • Close Windows 8 Application Launcher
    • Sign out the current user

    Note

    If you select close Windows 8 Application Launcher as an exit option, you cannot enable kiosk mode. If kiosk mode is already enabled, you cannot select close Windows 8 Application Launcher as an exit action.

See Also

Concepts

Embedded Lockdown Manager