Win4Lin User's Guide
About Device Definition
You can use the Device Definition window to view the
current device definition.
A unique token name is associated with each device definition.
The token name is displayed in the Token Name
text box on the upper left side of the Device Definition window.
In addition, when you are logged in as root,
you can use the Device Definition window to create new device definitions,
modify existing definitions, and delete definitions.
Device definitions provide the information that Win4Lin needs to access
the device.
Once the device definition
has been created, you can use the device
by selecting it to be a part of one of your
Personal Win4Lin Session Configurations
(such as the standard dos or win configurations). This action is
called "attaching" the device for use in a DOS or Windows session.
The actual device is not attached for use until you start a DOS or Windows session
using a configuration that has the device selected.
Device Definition Categories
Use the buttons across the top of the Device Definition window to select the
category of device you want to view, change, or create.
All device definitions belong to one of the following categories:
- Printer
- Contains definitions printing via the Linux printing system.
- COM1
- Contains definitions for devices that can be attached to the COM1 serial port.
(Not currently supported.)
- COM2
- Contains definitions for devices that can be attached to the COM2 serial port.
(Not currently supported.)
- Custom
- Contains definitions for devices such as parallel ports and any
definitions that you create yourself.
- DOS Drive
- Contains definitions for volumes that can be attached to a DOS
drive letter.
Views
A separate view of the Device Definition window exists for each device
category. For example, if you click on the DOS Drive button at the top of the
Device Definition window, the DOS Drive view of the window appears.
Controls
The controls that are common to all views of the Device Definition window
are described below.
Token Name
The Token Name text box shows the current token name of the device definition
being displayed, modified, or created.
You can use this control to select another definition in the current category.
Note that if you modify a device definition, you cannot select another token name or
change views until you save the changes (by clicking on the Save or
Save As button) or abandon the changes (by clicking on the Undo button
or responding to a prompt to discard the changes).
Button Controls
The following button controls appear on all views of the Device Definition
window:
- New
- Displays a pop-up window prompting you to specify a token name
for the new device definition.
Then, you click OK to close the pop-up window and display the
appropriate view of the Device Definition window.
You can then enter the definition for the new device.
The definition is not saved until you click on Save or
Save As.
- Delete
- Deletes the token identified in the Token Name text box.
- Undo
- Undoes any changes you have made since the last save.
- Save
- Saves the device definition.
- Save As
- Saves the definition under a new token name. A pop-up window appears in which you
can enter the new token name.
- Close
- Closes the Device Definition window. If any unsaved changes are outstanding,
a pop-up window with a message informing you of the unsaved changes is displayed.
The changes are abandoned if you choose to continue without saving them.
Left Panel Controls
The following controls appear on the left side of all views of the Device
Definition window:
- Description
- Contains a short description of the device definition.
This text is displayed in the selection lists in the
Personal Win4Lin Session Configuration window.
Therefore, this text should be descriptive enough to identify the device, but
short enough to fit in the selection lists, which have limited width.
- Usable By
- Identifies the users who can use the device definition.
If a user is not allowed to use the definition, an entry for the definition does
not appear in the selection lists in the
Personal Win4Lin Session Configuration window.
Usable By can be set to one of the following:
- Root
- Only users with root authorization can use the definition.
- All
- All users can use the definition.
On a multi-user system, you should set the Usable By setting to
Root
while you are developing the definition for a new device to prevent other users from
accessing the definition until it is ready for everyone to use. When the device
definition is ready for use, change this setting to All
to
enable all users
to select the device for a DOS or Windows configuration.
- Failure Action
- Tells Win4Lin what to do when a user starts
a session that uses this device definition and the device
is not available (because it is in use by another session, does not exist,
or is otherwise not accessible).
Failure Action can be set to one of the following:
- Abort
- Display a pop-up message warning that the device is unavailable when the user
attempts to start a DOS or Windows session.
When the user clicks OK to dismiss the message,
the DOS or Windows session is not started.
- Warn
- Display a pop-up message warning that the device is unavailable when the user
attempts to start a DOS or Windows session.
When the user clicks OK to dismiss the message,
the DOS or Windows session is started.
- Ignore
- The DOS or Windows session is started.
No message is displayed to inform the user that the device is not
currently available.