237 lines
7.8 KiB
Plaintext
237 lines
7.8 KiB
Plaintext
user assistance
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980227
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andyp, lamadio, et. al.
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- abstract
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...
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- contents
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...
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overview
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...
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events
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sessions, counts, and aging
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aging
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(todo)
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testing: hooks, utils, etc.
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testing: scenarios
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testing: specifics
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testing: anomalies
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- overview
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...
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uassist events
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intelli-menu
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app mgmt
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- ...
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...
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- events
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IUserAssist
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FireEvent(pguidGrp, eCmd, dword, wP, lP)
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Set/QueryEvent(..., puai)
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guid,cmd,dword,wP,lP
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events
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standard: UI*, RUN*, etc.
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user: USER+n (NYI)
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logging
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guid,cmd,wP,lP
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typically encoded as "cmd:wP,lP"
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RUNPIDL:%csidl2%/vb/readme.lnk
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RUNPIDL:%csidl2%/command prompt.lnk
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RUNWMCMD:0xff,1f8
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instrumentation
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beta-only (but must test!)
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just like logging, but...
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not aged
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"UserAssist2" not UserAssist
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regkey Instrument = DWORD 1
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registry
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set uassist=$HKCU/sw/msft/win/cv/explorer/UserAssist
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$uassist/{guid}/Count/...
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compression and encryption
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NYI
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- sessions, counts, and aging
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we have several records:
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ctlsession qtMru, sidCur
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ctlcount:ctor sidMru, cCnt
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foo sidMru, cCnt
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each daily login to windows defines (roughly) a session. a logged item
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consists of a 'decayed' count and a MRU session time. there is a magic
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default 'ctor' item which serves as a proxy for not-yet-created items.
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a UASession has a session id, and a timestamp for the last update to that id.
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sidCur is updated at shutdown time *if* 12 hours have passed since the last
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incr.
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the time is a UATIME, stored in 1-minute (approx) increments (we take a
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system time, turn it into a file time, and shift it by >> 29). we chose
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this to fit in a DWORD, last forever, be easy to compute, and (ideally)
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be in 'intuitive' units. (given that we only store it in one place this
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may not be necessary; originally the time was stored in many places,
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hence the constraints).
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a UACount has a count cCnt and a session id sidMru for the last update
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to that count.
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there is a special count, ctlcount:ctor, which we return on a Query for
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a non-existent entry. for correctness and perf, we don't want to create
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an entry on a Query (menu reference), only on a Set (menu leaf invoke).
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however we want the Query's to behave *as if* they started out w/ a count
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of 1 and then were aged. 'inheriting' ctlcount:ctor lets us do this.
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note that count:ctor is used for *all* counts: menus, app mgmt, etc. so
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once it ages down to 0, everyone who refs it will look like 0.
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BUGBUG this may cause pblms for app installs (if you install an app but
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haven't yet used it, it will look like its unused). there is a way to
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tell if a count came from a default or not, so probably that should be
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used in this case.
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similar issues exist when changing (adding/moving) menu items. should
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changing an item increment its count? if not, untouched things which
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are moved after count:ctor ages to 0
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the sidMru's are kept around for aging. read on...
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- sessions
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a session is defined as a logoff *plus* a minimum time interval. that is,
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one can logon/off many times, but only 1 session will pass each 12 hours.
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we also have an idle timer. going idle for 12 hours forces a session. note
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however that we only force one such session (so if one is idle for a 1 week
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vacation, it is still just 1 session).
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'idle' means no keyboard or mouse changes.
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on nt5 our idle detection is exact. on nt4 we must simulate some things,
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causing as much as a 2x error. (todo: checking for IdleTime more frequently,
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e.g. at 0.25*SessionTime, could reduce this error considerably).
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- aging
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aging is done lazily.
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(Query is really a GetCount, Set is really an IncCount)
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the cCnt in a UACount is (usually) unaged. it, together w/ the sidMru
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give an 'aged' count. on a Query, we age cCnt w.r.t. sidMru to give
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a 'real' count. a Query does not update the UACount; it simply computes
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what it 'should' be and returns the result.
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the only time we actually update a UACount is when we Set it. in that
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case, we age it (per Query), add 1, and then store back out the new
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(aged) cCnt and the new (now!) sidMru.
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we currently don't delete a UACount when it ages to 0 (on Query).
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BUGBUG we probably should.
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we currently don't scavenge UACounts which would be aged to 0 if queried.
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BUGBUG we probably should.
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- registry keys
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we support the following registry keys (currently just for debugging):
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$uassist/Settings/
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SessionTime (12 hrs) min time (mins) between sessions
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IdleTime (12 hrs) min idle time (mins) before force session
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Backup (0) rename keys to "del.xxx" rather than deleting
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NoPurge (0) don't auto-delete keys when they decay to 0
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NoEncrypt (0) don't encrypt keys
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NoLog (0) turn off all logging
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Instrument (0) turn on instrumentation (UserAssist2, no decay)
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while these could be exposed if we see fit, we should not do so w/o signoff
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from PM, dev, qa, and docs (since all would be impacted).
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the keys are read once on explorer startup. thus if they're changed you
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must restart explorer (e.g. logoff/logon).
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- todo (BUGBUG)
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version # in UserAssist section! done.
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naming: uem* -> ua*
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- testing: hooks, utils, etc.
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we have several hooks/etc. for testing.
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force a new session immediately (simulate a reboot and a 12-hour delay)
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set 'SessionTime' regkey to 0 minutes between sessions
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alt+F4 to shutdown windows
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cancel
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force the menus to refresh (simulate a reboot)
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turn off intelli-menus
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turn back on
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'new session' (above) also does this
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turn off all logging (to measure perf hit)
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set 'NoLog' regkey to 1
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BUGBUG this is obsolescent; fix this!
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(NYI: in progress)
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there are utils to dump IDMs, etc. these can form the basis for a dump
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utility which prints the UAssist data in symbolic form.
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- testing: scenarios
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...
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- testing: specifics
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post-install
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- everything should look like it has a count of 1
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- after a few sessions, everything which hasn't been clicked since
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install should disappear (since the 'default' count will age to 0)
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count aging: does it happen correctly
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time/count wrap: what happens when various counts wrap
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- session id and MRU time
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- item count and MRU session
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- ctlsession gets deleted/recreated to sid=0, so other counts reference
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bigger sids and math goes < 0 (like wrap?)
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default counts
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missing entries
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clicking on a leaf should create entries for it and all grand-parents
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extra entries
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querying an item should *not* create *any* reg entries
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top-level menu should never go away (e.g. docs, pgms, help, etc.).
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NYI: regkey should be deleted when count ages down to 0 (to keep size down).
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NYI: registry should be scavenged periodically to find 0's.
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NYI: reentrancy. e.g. browse in separate process!
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NYI: versioning.
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NYI: don't up session id on shutdown if it's not already there (for PSS).
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- testing: anomalies
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this section describes known 'weirdness' in the spec and/or implementation.
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it remains to be decided if they're bugs or features.
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1. parent not aged, all kids aged, kids come up blank (chevron only). we've
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been debating what to do about this (and how frequent it will be). right
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now we're punting (i.e. we're calling this a feature).
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2. installing a program doesn't do anything to the counts. so you can
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install office, then bring up the start menu and not see office!
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2b. OEM install is potentially even worse...
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3. (and 2c) moving a menu item leaves the old count orphaned, and creates
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no new item.
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4. we're currently using office's definition of a 'session'. we probably
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need something better tailored to windows.
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5. logging *must* be off in Germany.
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