Tracking from Scratch

A Pinman schema tells Pinman which files and settings matter. In this hands-on walkthrough, you will learn how to build your own schema and see why choosing a small, useful scope is more valuable than tracking everything a workstation contains.

In the previous tutorial, Basics, you used a completed schema for a fictional video-production system. This tutorial, Tracking from Scratch, answers the natural next question: "How do I set up Pinman for my own system?" You will start with a blank Pinman project and build the schema yourself.

The fictional system#

Tracking from Scratch uses the same fictional system as the Basics Tutorial: a workstation used to produce training videos. Its presentation application, screen recorder and media encoder give you a small, repeatable place to practice before choosing what to track on your own system.

The tutorial installs a separate copy of these files in the tracking project:

production-workstation
└── applications
    ├── media-encoder
    │   ├── encoding.xml
    │   ├── bin
    │   │   └── encoder-core.dll
    │   └── codecs
    │       ├── legacy-mpeg2.codec
    │       ├── web-delivery.codec
    │       └── available
    │           └── hdr-passthrough.codec
    ├── presentation-app
    │   ├── presenter.ini
    │   └── assets
    │       └── training-theme.dat
    └── screen-recorder
        ├── recorder.ini
        ├── bin
        │   └── recorder-helper.exe
        ├── cache
        │   └── thumbnail-cache.json
        └── logs
            └── recorder.log

The system is the same, but the starting point is different. The Basics project comes with a completed schema. The Tracking project starts with a blank schema so you can decide what Pinman should track and build the schema yourself.

What you will build#

You will start narrowly with one program file, then look inside application data files and select the settings you actually care about. You will bring INI and XML configuration into one readable view, omit logs and cache files, and prove the schema against coordinated changes across three applications.

Lastly, you will extend the same schema beyond files to selected Registry and Windows settings. By the end, you will have practiced the process you can use on your own system: choose what matters, make it understandable, and check that the schema reports useful change without noise.

What to expect#

You will work mainly in Pinman's browser interface, with a few short PowerShell commands to prepare the tutorial project and change its files. Each chapter tells you what you are building, why it matters and what result to look for.

This tutorial uses its own tutorial project named tracking (or the name you gave it). You do not need to install or complete the Basics Tutorial first. The application exercises stay within this project. The final chapter briefly changes two real Windows settings, Pinman's Start at Login and (optionally) mute, and has you set them back.

Start with Define what matters.