Host On-Demand sessions can now use macro, keyboard, and toolbar definitions that are external to the session configuration. Prior to Host On-Demand Version 8, the definitions for these components needed to be part of the session itself. Although you could store macros as files, you still had to import them into the session before you could use them. This new capability of the session to use external definitions greatly simplifies the task of sharing and reusing these important components.
Users can define macro, keyboard, or toolbar definitions and save them into separate files. These separate files are then immediately available to other sessions. You no longer need to configure the identical component again for the new session or to import the macro file. If the user subsequently updates any of these macro, keyboard, or toolbar definition files, other sessions that use those external files will automatically get the updates.
By default, the macro, keyboard, and toolbar component files that users create are stored on their
local machines in the HODObjs subdirectory. The complete path for the HODObjs
subdirectory is a writable location unique to the user, and the exact path
depends on the platform, browser, and JVM level.
A typical path
on a Windows machine using IE, for example, might be Documents and Settings\username\HODObjs\.
If the administrator has configured an alternate save location, then that location will be used for
storing the component files.
All of the session dialogs that list available macros, such as the Play Macro window, allow you to select a macro location. Possible locations include the following:
When users record new macros or update existing ones, they have the option to save them to either the Current Session or to their new Personal Library. Also, on the Available Macros window, which is available from the drop-down menu on the Macro Manager toolbar, users can copy and paste any number of macros from one macro location to another.
The Open button on the keyboard window allows users to change the current keyboard definition being used by the session. At any given time, there is only one keyboard definition associated with an active session, but users can open a different one whenever the need arises. The Open button launches a window that allows users to choose either the legacy keyboard defined internally in the session (the Current Session option) or an external file. Users can open a keyboard definition file from any location on their system, but the default location is the HODObjs subdirectory. Regardless of which keyboard definition the user opens, the selected definition becomes the current one used by the Host On-Demand session. Any updates that the user makes to the keyboard using the Save button are saved back to the location from which the keyboard was loaded (either the Current Session or the particular file). The next time the user launches the session, the same keyboard is automatically loaded from either the Current Session or the file.
The Save As button on the keyboard window allows users to save the current keyboard definition to a different location or file than is currently being used by the session. When the user selects Save As, the newly-saved keyboard becomes the current one for the session. This means that the saved keyboard will be the one loaded the next time the user launches the session.
Like the keyboard, the toolbar offers Open and Save As options. These options are available by clicking Edit < Preferences < Toolbar in a host session or by right-clicking the toolbar itself.