lucidiot/wiki
lucidiot/wiki
2
2
Fork 0
Code Issues 2 Pull Requests Releases Activity

Mention WTR files

Browse Source
This commit is contained in:
~lucidiot 2024-05-08 22:20:41 +02:00
parent 2a019a4884
commit dbb207cec6
1 changed files with 15 additions and 5 deletions
Show Stats Download Patch File Download Diff File Expand all files Collapse all files

20
content/msworks/tasklauncher.md
View File

@ -21,15 +21,15 @@ Online
Templates
: Load a Works Wizard file within the Task Launcher to let the user select one of multiple templates, then run an EXE with the template as a command-line argument.
Other Microsoft tools can integrate with the Task Launcher to provide their own tasks, so that it truly becomes *the* dashboard for anything Works' target audience can do with Microsoft software. This is done by using one XML file per application, and letting each app define its tasks, sort them, place them into categories, etc.
Other Microsoft tools can integrate with the Task Launcher to provide their own tasks, so that it truly becomes *the* dashboard for anything Works' target audience can do with Microsoft software. This is done by using one WTR or XTR file per application, and letting each app define its tasks, sort them, place them into categories, etc.
On top of providing tasks for its own applications, Works 8.0 ships with some files for Palm and Windows CE synchronisation support via ActiveSync, as well as lots of links to MSN services. Works 9.0 ships without ActiveSync tasks and with less MSN links, but instead includes files for Office 2007 if it installed, including the PowerPoint 2007 Viewer for Office 2003.
The Task Launcher looks up a list of XML files to load through the `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Works\Launcher\XTRFiles` registry key. Each value of that registry key is a path to an XML file. Each value is of a `REG_SZ` type, and their data usually contains the name of the related application. That data is not actually used at all, so that can be used as a comment for those peeking through the registry.
On top of providing tasks for its own applications, Works 6 to 8 shipped with some files for Palm and Windows CE synchronisation support via ActiveSync, as well as lots of links to MSN services. Works 9.0 ships without ActiveSync tasks and with less MSN links, but instead includes files for Office 2007 if it installed, including the PowerPoint 2007 Viewer for Office 2003.
### XTR files
The XML files have a `.xtr` extension, and those provided by Microsoft include an XML comment: `<!--Created with Mirage WTR Tool version 1.0-->`. Since those initialisms are not defined anywhere, my best guess is that XTR and WTR mean *XML Task Registration* and *Works Task Registration*. The files hold the following information:
The Task Launcher looks up a list of XML files to load through the `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Works\Launcher\XTRFiles` registry key. Each value of that registry key is a path to an XML file. Each value is of a `REG_SZ` type, and their data usually contains the name of the related application. That data is not actually used at all, so that can be used as a comment for those peeking through the registry.
The XML files have a `.xtr` extension, and those provided by Microsoft include an XML comment: `<!--Created with Mirage WTR Tool version 1.0-->`. Since those initialisms are not defined anywhere, my best guess is that XTR means *XML Task Registration*. The files hold the following information:
* The locale identifier that this file has been translated into;
* The application's details, including an icon, a name, a description, an optional path to an executable and some command line arguments, etc.;
@ -47,6 +47,16 @@ Note that <online> tasks can use registry keys
-->
:::
### WTR files
Prior to Microsoft Works 8.0, the Task Launcher looked up a list of tasks to load through the `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Works\Launcher\TaskFiles` registry key. The default value for that key is not set, and it contains `REG_SZ` values whose names are a zero-based index, and whose data is a path to a `.wtr` file.
A `.wtr` file, which I suppose stands for *Works Task Registration*, holds the same data as an XTR file, but as UCS-2 strings. I used Word 2002's Unicode conversion support to open a WTR file and inspect it, since Windows 98SE's Notepad is not happy with it.
::: todo
Document the WTR file contents
:::
### Cache
The XTR files are a static source of tasks, but tasks may also be dynamically added. `WkDStore.exe`, the Works Data Store, runs alongside all Works applications, allowing them to retrieve and store tasks and recently used files. You can view its type library using OleView, one of the tools distributed along with Visual Studio 6 and the Windows SDK.