shrum.net :: Code :: Launcher
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Launcher
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| MSC compliant
monitoring app that searches for user-defined file to launch whenever a
device is connected. Works like a Launcher.inf but this allows you to
define the file to run. Great for running different files on different
PCs. |
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Launcher (previously known as Autorun) is a SysTray app I wrote to monitor for removable drives and when it
detects a new connection, it can check that device for a user-definable file to
execute. If the file is present, Launcher launches it or any other user
pre-defined file.
Works like the standard autorun.inf except that you can be prompted to cancel
within 10 seconds, launch any file type, and control the startup window state.
It's Windows-based, open source (GNU),
and solely written, maintained, hosted, and supported by me, Sean Shrum. Source code is written with
AutoIT (.au3) and the
most recent version can be found via the source link in the navbar above. If you're just looking for the latest binary build, it can be downloaded from
the binary link in the navbar above.
I know what a lot of you are thinking 'That's like the autorun.inf'.
True. But this takes it a few steps further. Launcher allows you to define what files
to run (bat, exe, com, pif) and in whatever window state (normal, minimized,
maximized, hidden) you want, and allows you to set whether to prompt you or not
before running.
Here's my situation: I work on multiple PC's: one at work, one at home, and
one on the road (laptop). I also use my flash drives like crazy to move data
around. On my *main* flash drive (an iPod Shuffle) I have 3 batch files located
at the root of the device: work.bat, home.bat, and laptop.bat. I've setup
Launcher on all my PC's to monitor for their respective batch file so whenever I
plug my USB flash drive into my PCs, it launches the appropriate batch file.
- Work.bat: launches Outlook, IE to company help desk page, SMS console,
Active Directory Console, copies data files to \work for backup
- Home.bat: launches Shuffler
to swap out music in \music\shuffled folder, runs the
iPod database rebuilder to
update the Shuffle DB, moves data from \laptop folder to my NAS box for
backup
- Laptop.bat: copies data files to \laptop folder for backup purposes
All I do is plug in my USB drive and Launcher deals with launching the
automated process. While you can use Launcher to launch specific applications, it
works even better when using batch files like I do in the above sample.
While Launcher is a TSR like app, if you are looking for something that will
travel with your media, take a look at my
Autorun project. This
allows you to define both computer specific launches as well as any file type calls
while utilizing the standard Launcher.inf to launch the project.
Simply launch Launcher, define your settings in the Commandline Builder mode and use the 'Make shortcut'
button to have Launcher generate the proper command line shortcut to your
Startup folder. Alternatively, you can code your own like this:
- Launcher f=work.bat
- Launcher f=home.bat c=c:\batch\foobar.bat w=hidden p=y
A icon (like the one shown at the top of this document) will be
displayed in the SysTray area to indicate that it is active. Whenever a
device is connected, Launcher will search for the file defined and if
found, will automatically launch the defined command file (if the
command file is omitted, the monitored file is executed instead). To
quit Launcher, right-click the SysTray icon and select 'Exit' from the
popup menu.
