About AddIn.xml add-in manifest files


Summary Each add-in archive includes an XML file called AddIns.xml, which defines the buttons, check boxes, combo boxes, galleries, dockable windows, and extensions contained in the add-in. ArcGIS Explorer uses this information when loading add-ins and displaying them in the Ribbon.

When you create a new add-in project using the Visual Studio Tools for ArcGIS Explorer, an XML manifest file called AddIns.xml is added to the project, which contains information about the contents of the add-in. It is read by ArcGIS Explorer when the application starts up, and used to display the add-in in the Ribbon and in the ArcGIS Explorer Add-Ins dialog box. An example of the contents of an AddIns.xml file is shown below.
[XML]
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ExplorerAddIns
  name="My Explorer AddIns"
  description=""
  publisher="ESRI"
  groupCaption="My Add-Ins"
  xmlns="http://www.esri.com/schemas/ArcGISExplorer/1500/Addins">
  <button
    id="AddInsProject3.Button1"
    assembly="AddInsProject3.dll"
    className="AddInsProject3.Button1"
    caption="My Button"
    largeImage="Images\Button1.png"/>
  <extension
    id="AddInsProject3.Extension1"
    assembly="AddInsProject3.dll"
    className="AddInsProject3.Extension1"/>
</ExplorerAddIns>
When you use the Visual Studio Tools for ArcGIS Explorer to add a new Button, CheckBox, ComboBox, DockWindow, Extension or Gallery to an add-in project, this file will automatically be updated with the appropriate information.
You can also directly edit this file if required. For example, you can edit the tooltip of a Button in order to add line breaks by specifying &#xd;&#xd in the tooltip string.
The contents of the AddIns.xml file are described below, and the default entries created by the Visual Studio Tools for ArcGIS Explorer are also listed.
Note: Some elements and attributes only apply to ArcGIS Explorer 1500 and later versions, reflecting the new ComboBox and CheckBox add-in types introduced. These are noted in the table below.

Element

Attributes

Relations

Description

ExplorerAddIns
(root)
name
groupCaption
description
publisher
xmlns
Parent:
None
 
Children:
button
dockWindow
extension
gallery
Root element, containing all add-in class definitions.
Four attributes define information that applies to all add-in classes contained in the add-in. Although only name is required, it is recommended that all four attributes are present and completed with information useful to the user.
May have one or more child elements defining the add-in classes in the add-in.
button (optional)
id
assembly
className
caption
tooltip
helpString
largeImage
smallImage
condition
 
Parent:
ExplorerAddIns
 
Children:
None
A button element is required for each Button class in the add-in. Using the Visual Studio wizards will automatically add this element to the AddIns.xml file.
Although only id, assembly, className and caption are required, it is recommended that tooltip, largeImage and smallImage are all present and completed with useful information in order to present the correct user interface. The condition attribute may not apply to all cases.
checkBox
(optional)
id
assembly
className
caption
tooltip
helpString
condition
Parent:
ExplorerAddIns
 
Children:
None
A checkBox element is required for each checkBox class in the add-in. Using the Visual Studio wizards will automatically add this element to the AddIns.xml file.
Although only id, assembly, className and caption are required, it is recommended that the tooltip and helpString are present and completed with useful information in order to present the correct user interface. The condition attribute may not apply to all cases.
This attribute applies to ArcGIS Explorer 1500 and later versions.
comboBox
(optional)
id
assembly
className
caption
tooltip
helpString
largeImage
smallImage
condition
editable
resizeable
sizeString
rows
Parent:
ExplorerAddIns
 
Children:
None
comboBox element is required for each comboBox class in the add-in. Using the Visual Studio wizards will automatically add this element to the AddIns.xml file.
Although only id, assembly, className, caption and editable are required, it is recommended that tooltip, largeImage and smallImage are all present and completed with useful information in order to present the correct user interface.
The condition attribute may not apply to all cases. The resizeable, sizeString, and rows attributes are all optional, and allow you to change how users interact with the comboBox displayed in the Ribbon.
This attribute applies to ArcGIS Explorer 1500 and later versions.
dockWindow (optional)
id
assembly
className
caption
tooltip
helpString
largeImage
smallImage
condition
Parent:
ExplorerAddIns
 
Children:
None
A dockWindow element is required for each DockWindow class in the add-in. Using the Visual Studio wizards will automatically add this element to the AddIns.xml file.
Although only id, assembly, className and caption are required, it is recommended that tooltip, largeImage and smallImage are all present and completed with useful information in order to present the correct user interface.
The condition attribute may not apply to all cases.
extension (optional)
id
assembly
className
caption
Parent:
ExplorerAddIns
 
Children:
None
An extension element is required for each Extension class in the add-in. Using the Visual Studio wizards will automatically add this element to the AddIns.xml file.
The four attributes (id, assembly, className and caption) are all required in order to load the extension and display details in the ArcGIS Explorer Add-Ins dialog.
However as an Extension has no user interface, this element lacks the optional attributes found on the button, dockWindow and gallery elements.
gallery (optional)
id
assembly
className
caption
tooltip
helpString
largeImage
smallImage
condition
imageSize
itemSizeString
showItemCaption
showItemCaptionBelow
rows
columns
inline
Parent:
ExplorerAddIns
 
Children:
None
A gallery element is required for each Gallery class in the add-in. Using the Visual Studio wizards will automatically add this element to the AddIns.xml file.
Although only id, assembly, className and caption are required, it is recommended that tooltip, largeImage and smallImage are all present and completed with useful information in order to present the correct user interface.
The condition attribute may not apply to all cases. The imageSize, itemSizeString, showItemCaption, showItemCaptionBelow, rows, columns, and inline attributes are all optional, and allow you to change how the gallery is displayed in the Ribbon.

Attribute

Details

Element

Description

xmlns
string
ExplorerAddins
Namespace of the add-in schema. The  value of this attribute is http://www.esri.com/schemas/ArcGISExplorer/1500/Addins.
This attribute applies to ArcGIS Explorer 1500 and later versions.
name
string, required
ExplorerAddins
Name of the add-in file, shown in the ArcGIS Explorer Add-Ins dialog. Applies to all add-in classes in the add-in. The default is the same as the project name.
groupCaption
string, required
ExplorerAddins
Caption of the Ribbon group in which controls in the add-in will be shown. Applies to all add-in classes in the add-in. The default is the same as the project name.
description
string, required
ExplorerAddins
Description of the add-in file, shown in the ArcGIS Explorer Add-Ins dialog. Applies to all add-in classes in the add-in. The default is an empty string. The New Item and Project wizards will add a default description equalling the name of the add-in.
publisher
string, required
ExplorerAddins
Publisher of the add-in file, shown in the ArcGIS Explorer Add-Ins dialog. Applies to all add-in classes in the add-in. The default is the current visual studio user.
id
string, required
button
checkBox
comboBox
dockWindow
extension
gallery
Unique identifier for the add-in class. The default is the fully-qualified name of the class.
assembly
string, required
button
checkBox
comboBox
dockWindow
extension
gallery
Name of the assembly in which the add-in class is defined, which is present in the add-in file.
className
string, required
button
checkBox
comboBox
dockWindow
extension
gallery
Class name of the add-in, fully qualified by namespace. The default namespace is the project name.
caption
string, required
button
checkBox
comboBox
dockWindow
extension
gallery
Caption used to display the control in the application Ribbon. The default is the same as the className.
tooltip
string, optional
button
checkBox
comboBox
dockWindow
gallery
Tooltip displayed when the mouse hovers over the control on the Ribbon. By default this attribute is not present.
helpString
string, optional
button
checkBox
comboBox
dockWindow
gallery
URL of a help topic which should be displayed if the user presses F1 when the mouse is over the control on the Ribbon. By default this attribute is not present.
largeImage
string, optional
button
comboBox
dockWindow
gallery
Relative path to an image file within the add-in .eaz file, to be displayed on the Ribbon when an icon size of 32 x 32 pixels is required. By default a standard image is added and referenced.
smallImage
string, optional
button
comboBox
dockWindow
gallery
Relative path to an image file within the add-in .eaz file, to be displayed on the Ribbon when an icon size of 16 x 16 pixels is required. By default a standard image is added and referenced.
condition
ST_Condition, optional
button
checkBox
comboBox
dockWindow
gallery
Application condition upon which the button, check box, combo box, dockable window, or gallery should be enabled. By default this attribute is not present.
See the How to use ArcGIS Explorer application conditions topic for more information on the different conditions available.
editable
boolean,
required
comboBox
If true, the user may edit the text in the comboBox in addition to selecting items from the drop down list. By default, this attribute is false.
This attribute applies to ArcGIS Explorer 1500 and later versions.
resizeable
boolean,
optional
comboBox
If true, this adds a strip along the bottom of the dropdown that you can drag with the mouse to resize, changing the number of items shown in the dropdown. It does not affect combo width. By default, this attribute is false. 
This attribute applies to ArcGIS Explorer 1500 and later versions.
sizeString
string,
optional
comboBox
A representative string of characters used to compare gallery item caption length; captions longer than this string will be truncated in the display. By default this attribute is not present, in which case captions are truncated to the maximum standard width for the application.
This attribute applies to ArcGIS Explorer 1500 and later versions.
rows
string,
optional
comboBox, gallery
Contains an integer number, indicating the number of rows to display in the drop down portion of the comboBox or gallery. By default this attribute is not present, in which case a default value of 4 rows is used for a comboBox, and 10 rows for a gallery.
imageSize
string, optional
gallery
Size that gallery item images are displayed in the Ribbon, in pixels. Images are scaled if necessary. Width and height may differ, using the format 'width:height'. By default this attribute is not present, in which case images will default to 48x48 pixels.
itemSizeString
string, optional
gallery
A representative string of characters used to compare gallery item caption length; captions longer than this string will be truncated in the display. By default this attribute is not present, in which case captions are truncated to the maximum standard width for the application.
showItemCaption
boolean, optional
gallery
If the value is 'true', gallery item captions are shown; if 'false', captions are not shown. By default thisattribute is set to true; if not present, a default value of true is used.
showItemCaptionBelow
boolean, optional
gallery
If the value is 'true' and captions are shown, captions appear below the gallery item icon; if 'false' and captions are shown, captions are shown to the right of gallery item icons. By default this attribute is not present; if not present, a default value of false is used.
columns
string, optional
gallery
Contains an integer number, indicating the number of columns used to display gallery items. By default this attribute is not present, in which case a default value of 2 columns is used.
inline
boolean, optional
gallery
If the value is 'true', gallery items are shown inline in the Ribbon with a drop-down list to display any additional items; if 'false', the gallery is shown as a button, with a drop-down list of items shown when clicked . By default this attribute is not present; if not present, a default value of false is used.


See Also:

Customizing ArcGIS Explorer
How ArcGIS Explorer finds and loads add-ins
How to use ArcGIS Explorer application conditions