Deploying custom components

Summary Deployment is the concept of installing all necessary binary, data, Help, and other ancillary files necessary for an application to work. Deployments based on ESRI's ArcObjects have unique criteria that might be new to the traditional .NET developer. This topic serves as a roadmap for ArcObjects developers wanting to deploy custom components on an end-user's computer using ArcGIS 10 and later versions and provides links to topics with examples on how to accomplish custom component deployment.

About custom component deployment

Custom components are typically dynamic link libraries (.dll files) that extend the functionality of an existing host application (an executable). Double-clicking a .dll file does not accomplish anything (verses double-clicking on an executable starts the application); it must be consumed by the host application. The host application for ArcGIS-based custom components is an ArcGIS Desktop application (ArcMap, ArcCatalog, ArcGlobe, or ArcScene).
The following are necessary for custom component (.dll) deployment:
  • Prerequisite—Ensure that the computer for which the custom component will be used has the appropriate ArcGIS Desktop application installed and that it is licensed.
  • Install the .dll file and any ancillary files (Help files, datasets, and so on) on the same computer.
  • For ArcGIS custom components based on implementing Component Object Model (COM) interfaces and ESRI base classes, use the ESRIRegAsm utility to register the .dll file.
See How to deploy a custom component using a setup project for a custom component deployment example.


See Also:

How to deploy a custom component using a setup project
How to ensure that COM component category and COM interop are used in custom components
Obtaining the Category and Caption property information of a custom component
ESRIRegAsm utility



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