File: mxapps.def

Description

The Fire applications list file (mxapps.def).

Creation

External text editor.

Type

Text

Notes

When Fire starts up, it has available to it a list of application libraries. An application library is an assembly of Fire macros and associated files which together comprise a logical application. This list of available applications (application libraries) is held in a file named mxapps.def.

If an application is not in this file then Fire does not know about it and consequently cannot access it.

Each Fire installation has an mxapps.def file in its MXSITE directory. Without further customization this file defines which applications are available to all users of Fire at the site. An individual Unix user may wish to customize this file perhaps to restrict or extend his own choice of applications. To facilitate this, Fire will have three attempts at locating mxapps.def before giving up:

1. Look for ./mxapps.def (i.e. in the current directory)
2. Look for $HOME/mxapps.def (i.e. in the login directory)
3. Look for $MXSITE/mxapps.def (i.e. in the site directory).

Each line in mxapps.def enables the registration of an application by supplying the application library name and an optional title. Application libraries listed in mxapps.def are generally named with their full network wide path names, but there is a network wide default directory $MXAPP used as a repository for site available application libraries.

Application library names listed in mxapps.def without a directory prefix are assumed to reside in $MXAPP.

MXAPP is set up during the Fire installation procedures.

Each record in the file mxapps.def has the format:

<application> {<description>}

All lines beginning with a # are treated as comment lines. Blank lines are ignored. For example to make available a new application contained in the application library file mylib.mxa, the following line should be added to the file:

mylib.mxa Pipe Network Application

The description following the file name is optional and provides text which Fire displays when allowing a user to select an application from on-screen menus. If the description is omitted, the description within the application library file is used.

Because the file name is not a full path name, Fire assumes it is actually $MXAPP/mylib.mxa.

Site Customization

To change the choice of applications for all Fire users at a site, the site administrator should edit the file $MXSITE/mxapps.def.

To remove an application from those available, just delete the relevant line from mxapps.def, or comment it out by beginning the line with a #.

User Customization

To change the choice of Fire applications for an individual Unix user, the user should edit the file mxapps.def in their login directory ($HOME). If this file does not exist the user should get a copy of the site version from the site administrator.

Do not change $MXSITE/mxapps.def when only customizing the choice of application for an individual user.

See Also