The InventoryName parameter is a string that inventory tracking utilities use for package identification. This parameter determines the default names of the project folder and sandbox during the application capture process.

The application capture process sets a default value for the InventoryName parameter based on new strings created under one of the following locations:
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
  • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

The thinreg.exe utility and ThinApp MSI files reference the inventory name to determine the product name for display in the Add or Remove Programs window in the control panel. For example, if the inventory name is SuperApp and you install an MSI file or register a package with the thinreg.exe utility, the Add or Remove Programs window displays an installed application with the SuperApp(VMware ThinApp) string. ThinApp appends VMware ThinApp to the inventory name to distinguish applications that are virtualized during inventory scans.

You can use the same inventory name across different versions of the same application to ensure that only the most recent version appears in Add or Remove Programs window. The applications overwrite each other in the Add or Remove Programs window and prevent you from uninstalling all of the registered packages. To uninstall more than one version, use a different inventory name for each version. For example, use Microsoft Office 2003 and Microsoft Office 2007 as inventory names rather than just Microsoft Office. When you maintain different versions of a virtual application in the same environment, you might want to change the SandboxName parameter to ensure that a new version has isolated user settings in a different sandbox.

If you have a package that includes other applications, you might update the inventory name manually to reflect the true contents of the package. For example, if you capture the SuperApp application and the package includes Java Runtime, the InventoryName value might appear as Java Runtime Environment 1.5 instead of SuperApp. The Add or Remove Programs window displays the first application installed within the package.

Modifying the InventoryName Parameter

You can modify the InventoryName parameter to Microsoft Office 2003.

[BuildOptions]
InventoryName=Microsoft Office 2003