Sampling

Sampling is an advanced User Setting and only available in the Advanced User Settings view.

Run a User Setting in sampling mode to obtain information about which settings are changed by users and/or preserved as a User Setting. Sampled information can help you determine:

  • which settings users change, but which are lost. You could consider creating User Settings for these settings.
  • which changed settings are preserved for users, while they should instead be kept at their default value. You could consider creating User Setting exceptions for these settings, so that users' changes to these settings are not preserved.
  • which settings users always set to specific values. You could consider creating registry setting Actions for these settings to ensure that the desired value is already available for users, depending on their context.

Application-level User Settings

Zero Profile mode

Sampled Data

Track any setting changed by application immediately

shows all the registry, file and folder changes that are preserved. Settings that are excluded are not shown.

  • Right-click an entry and choose Convert selected entry to User Setting exclusion if the setting should not be preserved in future.

Track specified settings on application start/end

shows all the changes that are made in user sessions but that are not preserved.

  • Right-click an entry and choose Convert selected entry to User Setting if the setting should be preserved in future.
  • Right-click an entry and choose Convert selected entry to PowerLaunch setting if the setting should be set as part of PowerLaunch in future.

Global User Settings

Zero Profile mode

Sampled Data

Track any changed setting within scope immediately

shows all the registry changes that are preserved. Settings that are excluded are not shown.

  • Right-click an entry and choose Convert selected entry to User Setting exclusion if the setting should not be preserved in future.

Track specified settings on session start/end

is not available.

Sampling ratio

The Sampling ratio controls the number of sessions from which information is logged, and therefore it controls the amount of data shown on the Sampled Data tab. Optionally, set a higher ratio to view information from more sessions, or set a lower ratio to see information from fewer sessions. With the ratio of 1 out of 1, information is shown from all sessions.

The Event Log in a user's Workspace Analysis shows whether sampling was active during a specific session.

  • To include an application subprocess in an application-level User Setting in the Zero Profile mode Track any setting changed by application immediately, the subprocess must be listed as an Authorized File:
    • If the subprocess is authorized on the Authorized Files tab of the application's Security section, the subprocess is included in the application's Sampled Data.
    • If the subprocess is listed at Security > Global Authorized Files, changes made by this subprocess are preserved as part of the application-level User Setting, but are not shown in the application's Sampled Data.
  • If files, folders or folder trees containing User Settings are excluded based on size and/or date at Composition > Applications on the User Settings > Tracking tab, these will be added when the application is in sampling mode, but with the note that they will be excluded due to size and/or date.