Configure OneDrive

OneDrive is a Microsoft Cloud service that provides access to all your Personal Communications configuration files from anywhere. It also stores and protects your files and allows you to share them with other users. When a user uses a different account with OneDrive, all the configured files get synced with the OneDrive user account.

User can also configure OneDrive with Personal Communications profile directory, Macro directory and Tool Bar icons directory. For more details, refer to below sections.

Configure Profile Directory with OneDrive

A user can configure profile directory with OneDrive either during Personal Communications installation using %OneDrive% variable or after installation through Preference Utility.

Execute the following steps to configure OneDrive while installing Personal Communications:
Note:
Make sure that the user is configured with OneDrive and able to access %OneDrive% configured path.
  1. Set %OneDrive% as profile directory during installation.
  2. Select all users “Custom Application Data Folder” option and give the variable path.

  3. After successful configuration, a user can load all session files from OneDrive.
Execute the following steps to migrate the files to OneDrive after installing Personal Communications:
Note:
Make sure that AppDataLocation registry is set to 1.

Registry path: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\IBM\Personal Communications\CurrentVersion\Install Summary



  1. Open the Preference Utility.
  2. Enter the %OneDrive% variable path under Enter location for emulator profile files field and click OK.

  3. After successful configuration, a user can load all session files from OneDrive.

Configure Personal Communications Tool bar icons Directory with OneDrive

User can configure the “preferences” and load the customize icon/bitmap from “OneDrive”. Set the Keyword which needs be added under pcswin.ini as follows:
  1. Open the pcswin.ini file.
  2. Under the [ToolBar] section, set the IconPath to OneDrive path.

Once user configures the above keyword in pcswin.in, the tool bar files (*.bar) use the OneDrive path to load all the custom icons ignoring the local custom tool bar icon file path. The icon files are looked up in “IconPath” location with its name. If the file is not found, the user is informed with a message box and loads the default icon.

Configure Macro Directory with OneDrive

User can configure the preference and load the macros from “OneDrive”. Set the Keyword which needs be added under pcswin.ini as follows:
  1. Open the pcswin.ini file.
  2. Under the [Macro] section, set the DIR to OneDrive path.
Note:
User can configure the same under “Enter location for common Macro/scripts” through Preference Utility.


Configure OneDrive Single Sign-On

  1. Open the Preference Utility Manager (userpm).

  2. Select the OneDrive checkbox.
    Note:

    • If the user is not signed in to OneDrive, a OneDrive sign-in dialog will appear.

    • If already signed in to OneDrive, the path %onedrive% is automatically set in the Profile Directory edit box.

  3. Click the Apply button.
    Note:

    • This action will store the %onedrive% path in the registry under the profile directory key.

    • A registry key for Onedrive Enabled is also created or updated with the value “T” indicating that OneDrive is enabled.

Configure UI Synchronization for Session Files

  1. Ensure the Profile Directory path is set to a OneDrive location.

  2. Open the Session Manager (pcsfe) dialog box.

  3. In the Details tab, a new Status column is visible if session files are loaded from OneDrive.
    Note:
    • If the Profile Directory is not OneDrive, the Status column is hidden.
    • You can view the sync status in both Large Icon View and Small Icon View:
      • Synced Sessions: A green indicator appears at the top-left corner of the session icon.
      • Not Synced Sessions: The icon remains unchanged (no additional indicator is shown).
Limitations:
  1. The given %onedrive% variable path will be expanded to full path in Preferences for a user. The variable path is stored in the following directory.

    Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\IBM\PersonalCommunications\CurrentVersion\Preferences\Profile Directory



  2. All configuration files associated with session files can use the variable path, any change in session will rewrite the session file with full path.

Loading Configuration Files from OneDrive

Personal Communications (PCOMM) configuration files can be loaded directly from the configured OneDrive path

  • Supported file types include WS, kmp, cmp, mmp, and bar files.

  • This feature is enabled by specifying the %onedrive% environment variable in the session configuration files.

Example: To set a default keyboard file from OneDrive, the following entry is added to the session file:

For example, SessionA.ws file
[Keyboard]
DefaultKeyboard=%onedrive%\TN3270.KMP

Loading Bar File Icons from OneDrive

PComm sessions can be configured to load customized icons from a specific OneDrive directory defined in the INI (PCSWin.ini) file.

  • When configured, the application ignores the icon path specified within the .bar file.

  • The system instead looks for the corresponding icon file names at the path mentioned in the INI file.

If the specified customized files are not found at the OneDrive location, the application loads the default icons.

Example: To load toolbar icons from a specific OneDrive subdirectory, the following preference is applied:

For example, SessionA.ws file
[ToolBar]
IconPath=%onedrive%\PCommicons

Reading OneDrive Files from a Macro

Files stored on OneDrive can be accessed directly from within a Personal Communications macro script.
  • By including the %onedrive% environment path inside the macro file, the application automatically expands the path during execution to locate the target file.

Example: The following VBScript macro demonstrates opening an Excel file hosted on OneDrive:

For example, MyMcaro.vb file
[PCOMM SCRIPT HEADER]
LANGUAGE=VBSCRIPT
DESCRIPTION=Macro Example
[PCOMM SCRIPT SOURCE]
Option Explicit
Dim ObjExcel
set ObjExcel = CreateObject("Excel.Application.16")
ObjExcel.Visible = TRUE
ObjExcel.Workbooks.Open "%onedrive%\IBMPCOMM_ACAPS_FF_ADD_Bulk_Read.xlsx"

Prerequsites:

Before using this feature, ensure that OneDrive is configured according to the instructions provided in the above sections.