Task Description File Format
The task description file specifies the type and order of the operations that will be performed with the registries on the computers. The format of the file complies with the XML standard except for the following:
- Tag and attribute names are case insensitive.
- Only UNICODE character coding is used.
All operations are specified with tags and parameters and are set with corresponding attributes.
The top-level elements are OS and BaseKey. All relative registry key paths are relative to the path specified in the Name attribute of the BaseKey element.
The full path to the registry must begin with the registry hive name
(HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG, HKEY_CURRENT_USER, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, HKEY_USERS) and can be preceded by the computer name (e.g., \\Server\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT).
Operations specified in the task file are executed in the following order:
- All operations defined before the first Find tag that do not depend on the search results
- Once the first Find tag is reached, all find and replace operations within one BaseKey element
- Operations that depend on the search results in the order the specified conditions are met
- All operations defined after the Find tag in the order of appearance
|
|
Caution: Only the following named entities can be used in the task description file: " & < >. Other special characters must be specified with their decimal or hexadecimal code (for example, 
 or ) |
The following is a detailed description of the task file elements, their attributes, and values.
OS
Specifies the operating system to work with. All operations defined by the nested elements will be performed on computers with the specified operating system.
Attributes:
| Name | Mandatory | Purpose | Values |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Yes | Specifies the OS type for which the specified operations will be performed |
Winnt - Windows NT 3.51, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000 and later. Win - Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me |
Possible nested elements:
BaseKey
BaseKey
Specifies a registry hive name to work with. All operations defined by the nested elements will be performed on the specified registry hive and its subtrees. Relative registry key paths are relative to the path specified in this element.
Attributes:
| Name | Mandatory | Purpose | Values |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Yes | Specifies the base path to the registry key. Most of the operations are performed with paths relative to the base path. |
You can precede the path to the base registry key with the NetBIOS name of the computer. |
| Subkey | No | Specifies the depth of the search operation. |
1 - Search among all subtree keys. This is the default attribute’s value 0 - Search among current registry folder keys. |
Possible nested elements:
Group, Find, Replace, Copy, Move, Create, Delete, Setval, Renval, Delval, CopyVal, Output
Group
Combines a number of search operations. The replace operation will be performed only if all search operations within the group have been successful.
No attributes
Possible nested elements:
Find, Replace