AppProfileSafe - Support Portal

What is an Application Definition?

An application definition is an XML file that tells AppProfileSafe which registry entries and files belong to a specific application. During an export, AppProfileSafe reads these definitions to determine what to back up. During an import, the definitions are not required — the manifest file contains all the information needed for restore.


File Location and Naming

Each application definition is stored as a single XML file in the AppDefinitions folder. The file name corresponds to the application name and is used as the EntryName throughout AppProfileSafe.

Property Details
Location AppDefinitions folder (default: %ProgramData%\IT-Consulting Kinner\AppProfileSafe\AppDefinitions)
File name {EntryName}.xml (e.g. Firefox.xml, Notepad++.xml)
XML namespace urn:appprofilesafe:app:v1
Schema AppProfileSafe.App-v1.0.0.xsd

The folder path is configurable in settings.xml via the <AppDefinitionsFolder> element.


XML Structure

A definition file has the following structure. The root element <AppDefinition> contains two optional sections: <Registry> and <Files>.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<AppDefinition xmlns="urn:appprofilesafe:app:v1"
               EntryName="Firefox"
               SchemaVersion="1.0.0">

  <Registry>
    <RegKey>HKCU\Software\Mozilla\Firefox</RegKey>
    <RegValue>HKLM\Software\Mozilla\Firefox\CurrentVersion:Version</RegValue>
  </Registry>

  <Files>
    <Folder>%APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles</Folder>
    <File>%APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\profiles.ini</File>
  </Files>

</AppDefinition>


Entry Types

Each definition supports four entry types, split across the <Registry> and <Files> sections:

Entry Type Section Behavior During Export
<RegKey> <Registry> Backs up the specified registry key recursively — all subkeys and all values under the key are included.
<RegValue> <Registry> Backs up a single registry value. The path format is HIVE\Path\To\Key:ValueName.
<Folder> <Files> Backs up the entire directory recursively — all files and subdirectories are included.
<File> <Files> Backs up a single file.

Both <Registry> and <Files> sections are optional — a definition can contain only registry entries, only files, or both.


Registry Hive Names

Registry paths use standard Windows hive abbreviations:

Abbreviation Full Name
HKCU HKEY_CURRENT_USER
HKLM HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
HKCR HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
HKU HKEY_USERS
HKCC HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG

Both short and long forms are accepted. During import, paths are normalized to the short form (e.g. HKEY_CURRENT_USER → HKCU).


Environment Variables

File and folder paths support Windows environment variables. These are stored as-is in the definition file and resolved at runtime during export and import. This allows the same definition to work across different machines and user accounts.

Common variables:

Variable Typical Value
%APPDATA% C:\Users\{Username}\AppData\Roaming
%LOCALAPPDATA% C:\Users\{Username}\AppData\Local
%ProgramData% C:\ProgramData
%USERPROFILE% C:\Users\{Username}
%ProgramFiles% C:\Program Files


Schema Validation

AppProfileSafe validates every definition file against the XSD schema in two situations:

  • When saving — The GUI editor validates the file after writing it. If validation fails, the save is rejected.
  • When loading for export — The export process validates each definition before processing. Invalid definitions are shown with a warning in the Export window and can be edited using the raw XML editor.

The validator checks the current schema (AppProfileSafe.App-v1.0.0.xsd) first. If that file is not found, it falls back to the legacy schema name (AppProfileSafe.App.xsd).


Validation Rules

In addition to XSD schema validation, AppProfileSafe performs the following checks when saving a definition:

  • No entry may have an empty path
  • Duplicate entries (same type and path combination) are not allowed
  • The EntryName must not be empty


Next Steps