Application definitions
In Snow License Manager, an application is defined as a computer program. Each application is associated with one or several filtering rules which are then used to recognize any programs installed on the inventoried computers. As an example, for Windows operating systems a rule can be based on an executable file or a registry value.
The Software Recognition Service (SRS) provides global definitions for application recognition, but you can also create your own definitions of local applications unique to your environment.
The global applications and rules can neither be edited nor deleted. If you want to create your own local version of a global application or adjust the rules of a global application, you must override the assigned software. The SRS definition will then become inactive. If the local application for some reason is removed later on, the SRS application will be enabled again.
Characteristics
The Application definitions page consists of three sections described in the following table:
| Section | Description |
|---|---|
| Unassigned Inventoried Software | Shows inventory data not yet identified and mapped to an application. Tip: Some inventory data has no relevance when it comes to software asset management, for example components, drivers, setup files, and temporary files. If you don't want this data to appear in the Unassigned Inventoried Software list, you can use the Hide software functionality to hide these rows. If you have multiple and similar unwanted software rows that you want to hide, you can assign them to a hidden application instead. For more information, see Manage application definitions. |
| Applications | Shows all applications, both the global applications provided by the Software Recognition Service (SRS) and your locally created applications. |
| Rules assigned to [application name] | The Rules tab shows any rules assigned to a selected application. The Software tab shows any software rows assigned to a selected application. |
Application rules
When you define a new application, you must add, or assign, one or several software rows to it. You do this by creating application rules that will filter out the software rows. For more information, see Manage application rules.
You define search criteria for each application rule. The criteria should be wide enough to find all the various installations of the application, but restricted enough to prevent collision with other applications. You can search for an exact match or a specific word, or accept all available information. Use % as a wildcard character.
It can be challenging to make the rules so specific that they do not include unwanted software rows, that is, software rows that have no relation to the application. Therefore, you are also allowed to create exception rules to each application rule.
When you create a new rule, all software rows that are filtered out as a result of the criteria and any exceptions are shown in a preview:
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Software rows in green are already assigned to the current application by an existing rule.
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Software rows in black will be assigned to this application when the new rule is saved.
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Software rows with a red background are already assigned to another application and will not be assigned to this application. In this case, narrow down the search criteria or create an exception rule
You cannot add rules to global applications provided by the Software Recognition Service (SRS).