Ideally a third-party application can be configured and used from within Switch immediately after it is installed, without the need for separately launching the third-party application (for example, to license it). This is not always feasible and Switch provides several fall-back options, but the objective is to approach this optimal situation.
Application discovery is implemented in the findApplicationPath entry point.
The installer for the third-party application should make an entry in the system registry specifying the full path of the executable (or a folder that contains it). This registry entry should be clearly documented so that Switch can retrieve the information using the Environment.findRegisteredApplication() function.
Otherwise the third-party application should be installed somewhere inside the standard "Program Files" directory, so Switch can search the contents of the "Program Files" directory for the name of the application using the Environment.findApplicationOnDisk() function.
If the third-party application is in a regular ".app" bundle with an appropriate property list, Mac OS X will recognize the ".app" and add it to its central registry. Switch can then retrieve the information using the Environment.findRegisteredApplication() function.
Otherwise the third-party application should be installed somewhere inside the standard "Applications" folder, so Switch can search the contents of the Applications folder for the name of the application using the Environment.findApplicationOnDisk() function.
On both platforms, if Switch does not find the third-party application, the user is offered a "fall-back" option in the form of a context menu item on the configurator's icon in the Elements pane, which allows manually browsing the file system for the application.