Deploying Zipped Customizations
You can deploy not only custom directories, but also application and content management system adapters directories in a compressed zip file. Using a zip file to distribute your customizations has the following advantages:
• You can host your customizations on a web server.
In this case, use the HTTP or HTTPS URL to the zip file as the value for the APTCUSTOM environment variable.
• Your customizations will be available to users when they cannot access your network.
If you use a shared network folder to host your customizations, users do not have access to those customizations when the network is unavailable. If you use a zip file to distribute your customizations, Arbortext Editor unzips those customizations to a directory in the Arbortext Editor cache directory (.aptcache\zc). At start up, Arbortext Editor checks to see whether the zip file has been updated. If it has, Arbortext Editor downloads and uncompresses the updated customizations. If not, Arbortext Editor continues to use the customizations stored in the local cache. If the network is unavailable to a user, your customizations are still available to that user in the local cache. Note that the user must also have a fixed Arbortext Editor license on their system to work away from the network.
• Network traffic might be reduced.
Since the zip file containing your customizations is only downloaded once over the network, and then only if it has been updated, traffic on your network might be reduced. If you store your unzipped customizations in a shared network folder, Arbortext Editor might have to access that folder several times over the course of a session.
• Customizations stored in a compressed zip file are harder to change accidentally than customizations stored in a directory structure.
Note that you cannot use a zip file to distribute a customized installprefs.acl in the custom\lib directory. You can use the APTINSTALLPREFS environment variable to specify the location of a custom installprefs.acl file.
Note also that you cannot include the following font configuration files in the lib subdirectory of a zipped custom directory:
• charent.cf
• wcharent.cf
• wfontsub.cf
• charmap.cf
These files are processed before a zipped custom directory when Arbortext Editor starts up, so the files cannot be processed when deployed in that way.
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