Tuesday, March 24, 2015

APPV5 - Sequencing FolioView ICD/CCI with AppV5. (Issues with VFS not redirecting)

When sequencing FolioView 2012 or 2015 with AppV5 SP3, launching the application after sequencing generates an error:



---------------------------
Folio Views
---------------------------
No object handler is registered for this object type.
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------

This error seems to appear because VFS either isn't fully loaded by the time Views.exe is loaded so the program/dlls actually traverse down a non-virtual path, or they somehow break the AppV bubble and don't find whatever it is they are looking for.  To correct this issue, you need to create a symbolic link to the VFS'd program directory from where the actual directory is supposed to reside.  For instance, I sequenced FolioView to:

C:\Program Files (x86)\CIHI

To produce the error, I launch my command like so (this is what AppV5 automatically puts into the shortcut):

%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\AppV\Client\Integration\C05CC38A-D146-442B-B97F-89E8867DF0CE\Root\VFS\ProgramFilesX86\CIHI\CIHI_PUB_2015\Cihi32\Views.exe -L1033 -cSoftware\CIHI\2015\ICD10\English -i"\\fileserver\CTX_APPS\FolioView2015\cci_2015_eng.sdw"

I then get the error message.

If I mklink /d "C:\Program Files (x86)\CIHI" D:\AppVData\PackageInstallationRoot\C05CC38A-D146-442B-B97F-89E8867DF0CE\0CA628F4-AC24-4981-9B52-DA
B4445B8ECF\Root\VFS\ProgramFilesX86\CIHI

Then launch the application via the 'native' path:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\CIHI\CIHI_PUB_2015\Cihi32\Views.exe"  -L1033 -cSoftware\CIHI\2015\ICD10\English -i"\\q9-v-citrix-lif1.healthy.bewell.ca\CTX_APPS\FolioView2015\cci_2015_eng.sdw"

It works without any error messages and without issue.  

Here's a short clip of the error and the 'fix':



I did a stack trace of the error message and it comes up like so:

There are several calls that appear to look for files (nfomgr4, fcctrl4, mpr, davInt) that maybe generating the error message, but, I am not skilled enough at WinDBG at this time to be able to dig deeper.  Either way, there appears to be a limitation within AppV5 that prevents this program from operating correctly.  The same program works in AppV 4.6 without issue though, so it appears AppV5 sill has some work to go to get full compatibility with PITA applications.

Here's the application working fine in AppV 4.6.  The application was installed identically for both AppV versions.


5 comments:

SoftPack said...

Seen issues with applications where the application had to run from 'native installed path'. To workaround a bat file was created to do that and before launching the executable. Might work in this scenario.

So bat file would be something like:
cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\CIHI\CIHI_PUB_2015\Cihi32"
Views.exe

Trentent said...

I actually do this fairly often with a prelaunch bat/cmd file. Something like:

:::::::LAUNCH.CMD:::::::::::
cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\CIHI\CIHI_PUB_2015\Cihi32"
Views.exe
::::::::LAUNCH.CMD::::::::::

And then a cmd.exe /c "Launch.cmd" /appvve:%PACKAGE_GUID%_%VERSION%

But for FolioView it does not work.

Anonymous said...

I had the same problem and I resolved it by changing the target of the shortcut to point directly to the file from the argument, then capture the application with app-v.

Anonymous said...

Have you had any additional success since this was first posted? I've spent a fair bit of time struggling with this error and yours was the only page I've found that acknowledged it.

kbelcher said...

I know this has been out there a while, but I think I finally figured out how to get Folio Views to play nicely. When using App-V 5, you'll need to enable the Primary Virtual Application Directory (PVAD) function by adding -EnablePVADControl switch when launching Sequencer.exe. Then you will be prompted for the PVAD directory, which needs to be set to whatever the default installation directory of your Folio Views install goes to. This leaves all the files at the ROOT of the App-V package instead of being buried in the [ProgramFilesx86] Virtual File System (VFS).