The surface has a launcher application which is launching applications registered with the Surface Shell.Launcher can be activated from any of the 4 access points located at corners of surface.
Registering Microsoft Surface Application
To register an application with Microsoft surface shell we have to copy the application’s xml definitions file into the %PROGRAMDATA%\Microsoft\Surface\Programs folder.This is the folder where surface looks for application definitions.It maintains a list of applications listed here to load on demand by launcher.
Application’s definition file is a simple xml file which describes the application.Common elements included in the definition are
Title : Title of the application
Description:Description about application
Executable: Path to exe.Path need to be absolute.
IconImageFile:Icon of application.
Preview: Preview images
A sample xml file
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<ss:ApplicationInfo
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xmlns:ss="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Surface/2007/ApplicationMetadata">
<Application>
<Title>Test Surface App</Title>
<Description>This is a test Surface application.</Description>
<ExecutableFile>%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Surface\Programs\SurfaceApplication1.exe</ExecutableFile>
<Arguments></Arguments>
<IconImageFile>%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Surface\Programs\Resources\icon.png</IconImageFile>
<Preview>
<PreviewImageFile>%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Surface\Programs\Resources\iconPreview.png</PreviewImageFile>
</Preview>
</Application>
</ss:ApplicationInfo>
