Configuring ActivStudio for users

[Mark Herbert]

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to figure out the best way to configure ActivStudio and ActivPrimary for users across the network – and we would much prefer it if the kids didn't have to set the application up when they first use it.

The main things we'd like to do are:
Set the toolbox level (Intermediate, Foundation etc.)
Turn off the Dashboard, and in particular the online and support tabs as they cause AP to crash when the proxy asks for authentication
Turn off the built in web browser (so it uses Safari instead)Is there a Mac equivalent of the ADMIN.INI file discussed in the Knowledge Base? (which I can't seem to get to at the moment) If not, which preference files are you changing and adding for new users?

Thanks, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[APanz]

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to figure out the best way to configure ActivStudio and ActivPrimary for users across the network – and we would much prefer it if the kids didn't have to set the application up when they first use it.

The main things we'd like to do are:

Set the toolbox level (Intermediate, Foundation etc.)
Turn off the Dashboard, and in particular the online and support tabs as they cause AP to crash when the proxy asks for authentication
Turn off the built in web browser (so it uses Safari instead)Is there a Mac equivalent of the ADMIN.INI file discussed in the Knowledge Base? (which I can't seem to get to at the moment) If not, which preference files are you changing and adding for new users?

Thanks, any advice would be greatly appreciated.


Hello,

1) Firstly you should use the advanced or the basic layout of activstudio. When the teachers had the basic information you can use the advanced one.

2) To turn off the dashboard > go to studio settings > dashboard > deactivate "show dashboard at start" [clap]

3) To turn off the webbrowser > go to studio settings > Linked File Hosting > Deactive "Use Web Browser" :rolleyes:

Greetz

[Mark Herbert]

Thanks for the reply,

I know how to set these things once logged in. I want to configure it for every network user – including new ones, so that students don't have to configure these things themselves.

For some reason the user settings are stored in ~/Documents/Promethean/Activstudio/Settings.plist rather than in ~/Library/Preferences/. This plist has user information in it so I can't just go copying it to the user template. There is a backup Settings.plist in ~/Application Support/ that is created on first launch, but once again it has user info in it already.

I'm sure I'm just missing something really simple.

Update: I was missing something really simple. The Defaults.plist file inside Contents/Resources/ of the Activstudio Application Package. Things are clearer now – is this documented anywhere?

Update 2: The web browser setting is already in the Defaults.plist, and the Dashboard settings work once you add the key and values into the plist.

I've been able to set everything that I wanted except for the initial choice of Profile. Does anyone know where this is set?


Thanks heaps,
Mark

[Vicky-d]

Hi Mark

On my Mac the configuration files are stored in Settings.plist and the AS3PE.lay (which is the current toolstore configuration) - both these files are found in MacintoshHD>Users>Admin>Library>Promethean>Activstudio3 3.0 Build 96.

Not knowing how your network operates I can't advise you where you could copy them to for the configurations to be the same for network users.

Also if you move these files out of this location you should be able to set the initial choice of Profile again.

If you need any more help with this just ask as there are other people here I could ask.

Vicky

[bpeskin]

This string of info is really helpful! Could this info be condensed and posted -- maybe put somewhere on the planet?

Thanks.

[Mark Herbert]

On my Mac the configuration files are stored in Settings.plist and the AS3PE.lay (which is the current toolstore configuration) - both these files are found in MacintoshHD>Users>Admin>Library>Promethean>Activstudio3 3.0 Build 96.
How odd, I don't have a Promethean folder in ~/Library. Do you mean the one in ~/Libray/Application Support? I'm still not entirely certain what the relationship is between these files and those of the same name in ~/Documents/Promethean/Activstudio3/.

In the Settings.plist there are a couple of values that point to the profile location, so when you copy this file to another user you get an error on each launch. I tried just taking these values out, but the users got a different error on launch.

Also if you move these files out of this location you should be able to set the initial choice of Profile again.
If I move these files it gives me the dialog box at next launch and makes a new prefs file from Defaults, but I was trying to avoid users having to see the dialog at all.

It was only an issue when a class was using AS in the computer room, and they had a few new students. One of the students always just clicked OK and wound up with a different tool set. It wasn't a big issue (you could just go into the dashboard and change it), but it was still annoying.

I changed the dialog box in Interface Builder so that you only have the one choice. It's not a particularly elegant solution, but it works.

If you need any more help with this just ask as there are other people here I could ask.
Thank you. I'm sure there must be better, easier, and hopefully documented ways to do these things – and I would love to know how! :)

[Vicky-d]

Hi Mark

How odd, I don't have a Promethean folder in ~/Library. Do you mean the one in ~/Libray/Application Support? I'm still not entirely certain what the relationship is between these files and those of the same name in ~/Documents/Promethean/Activstudio3/.

In the Settings.plist there are a couple of values that point to the profile location, so when you copy this file to another user you get an error on each launch. I tried just taking these values out, but the users got a different error on launch


A confusion over Library locations. The one I referred to was located in the User "Admin"s Library not the global Library at the root of the machine that is why I couldn't advise you if you were to copy these files in a network set up as they are settings for each user hence your problem.


If I move these files it gives me the dialog box at next launch and makes a new prefs file from Defaults, but I was trying to avoid users having to see the dialog at all.


Sorry I thought this was what you wanted to happen!

The only other thing I can suggest is that you set up a profile on one machine, save the profile somewhere on the network and get students on other Macs to load the same profile at launch.

[Mark Herbert]

A confusion over Library locations. The one I referred to was located in the User "Admin"s Library not the global Library at the root of the machine that is why I couldn't advise you if you were to copy these files in a network set up as they are settings for each user hence your problem.
I'm talking about the same one :) The tilde indicates the current user's home directory – admin in your example.

On our machines, just with the default install, there is no directory in the user's Library folder called Promethean. I guess this location could be something that changed in AS 3.6? or perhaps Leopard?

The only other thing I can suggest is that you set up a profile on one machine, save the profile somewhere on the network and get students on other Macs to load the same profile at launch.
Then they wouldn't have their own "My Flipcharts", "My Resources" etc.

Thanks anyway, I've got it working how we want it to – it's just a bit of a nasty hack.