Customizing the Installation and the Projects

Customizing the installation of Visual COBOL for Visual Studio

On TS/Citrix, end-users accessing an application get their own copy (called a "clone") of an initial set of the application's configuration settings. Within their clone of the application, each end-user is then able to apply some changes to the initial configuration settings - for example, change any color and font settings, the screen-layout of windows, some of the shortcut keys among others. The modified settings are then preserved on a per-user basis.

This mechanism enables you to customize the configuration settings within the initial Visual COBOL installation which is then replicated at the individual users's machines when they are using a clone of the application. While this does not prevent the developers from changing the initial settings within their clone of the application, it does favor team work by providing all team members with a preconfigured environment, that has the same settings, behavior and look as a start.

Follow the steps below to customize Visual COBOL for Visual Studio on the TS/Citrix machine and apply the changes to the clones of the product.

1. Log onto the TS/Citrix machine as a TS/Citrix administrator.
2. Install Visual COBOL.
   TS/Citrix stores a collection of settings in the server's registry, under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Terminal Server\Install\Software\xxxx. This document refer to this location as the master location.

   Note: The Visual COBOL settings are stored under different locations in the registry. For example:

   • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\11.0\MicroFocus\Settings - stores the options specified in Tools > Options.
   • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Micro Focus\Visual COBOL\2.3\Interface Mapping Toolkit - stores the settings for IMTK
   • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\11.0\MicroFocus\COBOL Tools\Client Generation - stores the settings for IMTK client generation

   Micro Focus recommends you create a backup copy of any settings in the master location, after step 8. Alternatively, copy EDsettings.reg to a safe location.

3. Log off from the TS/Citrix account.
4. Log on as a user that has the privileges of the standard end-user (a developer).

   TS/Citrix now clones the contents of the master location to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\xxxx. This document refers to this location as the user location.

5. Customize Visual COBOL as required for a first-time user within your development teams - modify any default settings, properties, etc.
6. Save the user location within the registry:
   1. Using the Registry Editor, export the contents of the user location to a file - for example EDsettings.reg.
   2. Edit EDsettings.reg with a plain text editor and replace all HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\xxxx entries with HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Terminal Server\Install\Software\xxxx.

      For example, replace HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\11.0\MicroFocus\Settings entries with HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Terminal Server\Install\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\11.0\MicroFocus\Settings.

7. Log off from TS/Citrix.
8. Log on as a TS/Citrix administrator again.
9. Copy the contents of the user location back to the master location:
   1. Using the Registry Editor, delete the master location, then import the settings from the EDsettings.reg file.
   2. Log off from TS/Citrix.

Template projects

Create and configure template projects to distribute among your users. Templates must not include fully qualified paths. You can store the projects in a source control system and make them available so that individual users can import them into their own workspace.