System Policy Templates

When you run System Policy Editor, Windows 95 opens the default policy template, which contains existing policies that you can enable or modify. A template is a listing of the possible policies that you can use. By default, this template file is named ADMIN.ADM and is stored in the Windows INF directory.

This section describes how you can create custom system policy templates (.ADM files) and switch between multiple templates in System Policy Editor.

For example, it might be helpful to have system policy settings for corporate-specific applications, such as an in-house database, custom front end, or electronic mail package. After a template has been customized, you can then load the template and use it to set values in the Registry.

Note

If you want to define system policies for applications, the applications must be able to read the Windows 95 Registry.

Creating your own template is helpful when you want to define a specific set of Registry settings in your system policies, including settings not definable by default through System Policy Editor. As shown in the following illustration, the template defines the policies you can set through System Policy Editor. Changes you make there are reflected in the policy file (shown in the example as CONFIG.POL), which in turn updates the Registry when the user logs on.

To use a template other than the default template

In System Policy Editor, make sure all policy files are closed.
On the Options menu, click Template.
Click Open Template, and select an .ADM file to be your template to begin setting system policies. Click Open.
Click Close to return to System Policy Editor.

You can create your own templates that can be read by System Policy Editor. Users can then load the template and use it to set values in the Registry. To create a template, use a text editor such as WordPad to edit or write an .ADM file. You can open the default template named ADMIN.ADM in the Windows INF directory to use as an example.

A template uses several key words, syntaxes, and symbols, as summarized in the following list.

Class:
CLASS category_type
Category:
CATEGORY name
[KEYNAME key_name]
[... policy definition statements ...]
END CATEGORY
Policy:
POLICY name
[KEYNAME key_name]
[... part definition statements ...]
END POLICY
Part:
PART name part_type
type-dependent data
[KEYNAME key_name ]
VALUENAME value_name
END PART

The following table describes the keywords in system policy templates. Following this table are lists of the controls and values that can be defined in templates.

System Policy Template Key Words

Template key word	Description
CLASS	Defines the Registry key that can be edited; the value must be USER or MACHINE, corresponding to Hkey_Current_User or Hkey_Local_Machine, respectively.
CATEGORY name	Defines a category in System Policy Editor. If a name contains spaces, it must be enclosed in quotes. A category statement can appear only once for each category name.
END CATEGORY	Defines the end of a category and all of its policies.
POLICY name	Defines a policy within a category. Policy names that contain spaces must be enclosed in quotes.
END POLICY	Defines the end of a policy and all its parts.
PART name	Defines one or more controls that can be used to set the values of a policy. Part names that contain spaces must be enclosed in quotes. Policy part types and type-dependent data are described in the following tables.
END PART	Defines the end of the control list.
VALUEON	Specifies the setting to assign to the value when the policy is checked.
VALUEOFF	Specifies the setting to assign to the value when it is not checked.
KEYNAME	Specifies the full path of the Registry key. This is an optional Registry key name to use for the category or policy. If there is a key name specified, it is used by all child categories, policies, and parts, unless they define a key name of their own.
VALUENAME	Defines the Registry value entry name.
VALUE	Specifies the Registry value to set to a VALUENAME.
!!	Indicates a string value.
[strings]	Defines a section containing string values.

A system policy template uses the following part control indicators.

System Policy Template Part Control Indicators

Part Control Indicator	Description
CHECKBOX	Displays a check box. The value is nonzero if checked by the user, and its value entry is deleted if it is unchecked.
NUMERIC	Displays an edit field with an optional spin control that accepts a numeric value.
EDITTEXT	Displays an edit field that accepts alphanumeric text.
COMBOBOX	Displays a combo box, which is an edit field plus a drop-down list for suggested values.
TEXT	Displays a line of static (label) text. There is no Registry value associated with this part type.
DROPDOWNLIST	Displays a drop-down list. The user can choose from only one of the entries supplied. The main advantage of a drop-down list is that, based on the user's selection, a number of extra Registry edits can be performed.
LISTBOX	Displays a list box with Add and Remove buttons. This is the only part type that can be used to manage multiple values under one key.

A system policy template uses the following type-specific information.

System Policy Template Type-Specific Information

Type-specific modifier	Description
CHECKBOX:
DEFCHECKED	Causes the check box initially to be checked.
VALUEON	If specified, overrides the default "on" behavior of the check box. For example: VALUEON "On" writes "On" to the Registry.
VALUEOFF	If specified, overrides the default "off" behavior of the check box. For example: VALUEOFF "Off" writes "Off" to the Registry.
ACTIONLISTON	Specifies optional action list to be taken if check box is "on."
ACTIONLISTOFF	Specifies optional action list to be taken if check box is "off."
NUMERIC:
DEFAULT value	Specifies initial numeric value for the edit field. If this statement is not specified, the edit field is initially empty.
MIN value	Specifies minimum value for number. Default value is 0.
MAX value	Specifies maximum value for number. Default value is 9999.
SPIN value	Specifies increments to use for a spin control. Specifying SPIN 0 removes the spin control; SPIN 1 is the default.
REQUIRED	If specified, System Policy Editor will not allow a policy containing this part to be enabled unless a value has been entered.
TXTCONVERT	Writes values as strings rather than binary values.
EDITTEXT:
DEFAULT value	Specifies the initial string to place in the edit field. If this is not specified, the field is empty initially.
MAXLEN value	Specifies the maximum length of the string in the edit field.
REQUIRED	If specified, System Policy Editor will not allow a policy containing this part to be enabled unless a value has been entered.
COMBOBOX:
	Accepts all the key words that EDITTEXT does, plus SUGGESTIONS.
SUGGESTIONS	Begins a list of suggestions to be placed in the drop-down list. Suggestions are separated with spaces and can be enclosed by quotes. The list is terminated with END SUGGESTIONS. For example: SUGGESTIONS Alaska Alabama Mississippi "New York" END SUGGESTIONS
TEXT:	Contains no type-specific data.
DROPDOWNLIST:
REQUIRED	If specified, System Policy Editor will not allow a policy containing this part to be enabled unless a value has been entered.
ITEMLIST	Begins a list of the items in the drop-down list. The end of the list must be terminated by END ITEMLIST. Each item in the list is specified as follows: NAME name VALUE value [ACTIONLIST actionlist] ... name is the text to be displayed in the related drop-down list. value is the value to be written for the part's value if this item is selected. Values are assumed to be strings, unless they are preceded by the key word NUMERIC. For example: VALUE "Some value" VALUE NUMERIC 1 If the VALUE key word is followed by the DELETE key word (that is, VALUE DELETE), then this Registry name/value pair will be deleted. actionlist is an optional list to be used if this value is selected.
LISTBOX:
VALUENAME	Cannot be used with the list box type, because there is no single value name associated with this type. By default, only one column appears in the list box, and for each entry a value is created with an identical value name and value data. For instance, the List Entry value in the list box would create a value named "List Entry" containing "List Entry" as data.
VALUEPREFIX prefix	Defines the prefix to be used in determining value names. If a prefix is specified, then this prefix plus "1," "2," and so on will be used instead of the default value naming scheme listed earlier in this table. The prefix can be empty (" "), which will cause the value names to be "1," "2," and so on. A prefix of SomeName will generate value names "SomeName1," "SomeName2," and so on.
EXPLICITVALUE	Causes the user to specify the value data and the value name. The list box shows two columns for each item, one for the name and one for the data. This key word cannot be used with the VALUEPREFIX key word.
ADDITIVE	If specified, values set in the list box are added to whatever values exist in the target Registry. Existing values are not deleted; by default, the content of list boxes will "override" whatever values are set in the target Registry. Specifically, a control value is inserted in the policy file which causes existing values to be deleted before the values set in the policy file are merged.
Strings:
!!	Indicates a string value. For example: !!StrConst
[strings]	Defines a section of string values; the values are defined in the following format: var_name=string value For example: StrConst="Control Name"
Comments	Can be added by preceding the line with a semicolon (;).

\\\new

The following example shows a template that uses all the types of controls. This sample .ADM file is included with the Windows 95 Resource Kit utilities.

CLASS USER
CATEGORY "Control Category 1"
KEYNAME KeyName1
   POLICY "Policy1"
      ; actions to take when policy is checked
      ACTIONLISTON
         KEYNAME KeyName1
         VALUENAME Checked1   VALUE "AAA"
         VALUENAME Checked2   VALUE "BBB"
         VALUENAME Checked3   VALUE "CCC"
         KEYNAME KeyName2
         VALUENAME Unchecked1   VALUE DELETE
         VALUENAME Unchecked2   VALUE DELETE
         VALUENAME Unchecked3   VALUE "not checked"
      END ACTIONLISTON
      ; actions to take when policy is unchecked
      ACTIONLISTOFF 
         KEYNAME KeyName1
         VALUENAME Checked1   VALUE ""
         VALUENAME Checked2   VALUE ""
         VALUENAME Checked3   VALUE ""
         KEYNAME KeyName2
         VALUENAME Unchecked1   VALUE "AAA"
         VALUENAME Unchecked2   VALUE "BBB"
         VALUENAME Unchecked3   VALUE "CCC"
      END ACTIONLISTOFF
   END POLICY
   POLICY "CheckBox"
      PART "CheckBox1:" CHECKBOX DEFCHECKED
         VALUENAME "CheckBox Control"
         VALUEON "is checked" VALUEOFF "is not checked"
      END PART
   END POLICY
END CATEGORY
CATEGORY "Control Category 2"
KEYNAME KeyName3
   POLICY "Static and Spin"
      PART "Below is a spin control" TEXT
      END PART
      PART "Spin:" NUMERIC SPIN 10 REQUIRED
      MAX 110
      VALUENAME "Spin" 
      END PART
   END POLICY
   CATEGORY "Sub Category 1"
   KEYNAME KeyName4
      POLICY "ComboBox"
         PART "Combo:" COMBOBOX
         SUGGESTIONS 
            One Two Three Four
         END SUGGESTIONS
         VALUENAME "Combo Control" 
         END PART
      END POLICY
      POLICY "Drop Down List"
         PART "DropDown" DROPDOWNLIST
         VALUENAME DropDown REQUIRED
         ITEMLIST
            NAME "Name One" VALUE "Value One"
            ACTIONLIST
               VALUENAME "Value Name 1"   VALUE "Value 1"
               VALUENAME "Value Name 2"   VALUE "Value 2"
            END ACTIONLIST
            NAME "Name Two" VALUE "Value Two"
            ACTIONLIST
               VALUENAME "Value Name 1"   VALUE DELETE
               VALUENAME "Value Name 2"   VALUE DELETE
            END ACTIONLIST
            NAME "Name Three" VALUE NUMERIC 333
            NAME "Name Four" VALUE "Value Four"
         END ITEMLIST
         END Part
      END POLICY
   END CATEGORY
   POLICY "Edit"   
      PART "Edit" EDITTEXT
      MAXLEN 10
      VALUENAME Edit 
      DEFAULT "Edit Default"
      END Part
   END POLICY
   POLICY "List Box"
   KEYNAME KeyName5
      PART "List Box Control" LISTBOX EXPLICITVALUE
      END PART
   END POLICY
END CATEGORY

The following shows the policies created by this sample .ADM file as they appear in System Policy Editor.