Tips for using the ArcObjects .NET SDK

Summary This topic outlines some tips and tricks to help you be more productive and successful when using the ArcObjects .NET software development kit (SDK). Some of these features of the SDK are less visible than others and some of these features make your responsibilities as a developer easier.

In this topic

Syncing with the table of contents in the installed Help system

When you click a link and are directed to a new topic, it is helpful to know the location of that topic in the table of contents (TOC). This enables you to access all related topics surrounding it. To locate a topic in the TOC that is open in the Microsoft Document Explorer on your local machine, use the Sync with Table of Contents  button that shows on the toolbar at the top of the Microsoft Document Explorer (used to view the Help files).
On the Web site for the SDK Help system, the TOC automatically syncs with the active topic.

Working with tabs in the installed Help system

The Microsoft Document Explorer uses tabs that allow you to have multiple topics open at one time. You can think of these as a stack of topics, where although they are all open, you can only read the one on the top of the stack. However, the title of each topic is visible on the tab at the top of the viewer window.
To switch between tabs, click the tab at the top of the viewer window to bring the topic you want to read to the top of the stack. You can also switch between tabs using the Active Files  button, which is located alongside the tabs and next to the Close  button for closing tabs. The Close button is the one to use to exit from a single tab and leave the rest of the Help system open.
If you notice that the Back button on the Microsoft Document Explorer toolbar is disabled, check the top of the viewer window to see if your other topic is open in another tab besides the one currently opened.
In the ArcObjects SDK, the following open in new tabs:
  • Link to a snippet in the snippet index topic
  • Link to topics in the Desktop user Help
  • Link to another page from a sample
  • Link from a non-component Help page to the component Help
  • Link to a Web site
  • Link from a sample to one of its view code pages
Some browsers also use tabs and those tabs have the same functionality as those in the Microsoft Document Explorer, although interactions with them might differ. For details on using those tabs, refer to your Web browser's Help.

Using the query topic in the installed Help system

The ArcObjects .NET SDK includes a query page that lets you locate topics and samples based on the main categories it falls into (for example, Geocoding, Globe, Layers, and so on), as well as the topic type (conceptual, how to, library overview, sample, snippet, or walkthrough).
In the TOC, the query page is located under ArcObjects SDK for Microsoft .NET. See the following screen shot:
Currently, the query page does not search for or include topics that are in the ArcObjects namespace reference (also known as, application programming interface [API] reference) Help.
The query page is only available in the installed version of the ArcObjects SDK and is not available on the Web site for the SDK Help.

Linking to topics in the ArcGIS Desktop Help system

In this Help system, there are links that go into the ArcGIS Desktop Help system. The links take you to the online version of the ArcGIS Desktop Help system at http://help.arcgis.com/en/arcgisdesktop/10.0/help/index.html. As a result, these links won't work unless you have an internet connection. If you are working without internet access and you have the ArcGIS Desktop Help installed on your machine, you can find the same topics in that system. 

Supported versions of Microsoft Visual Studio

In this Help system, you will often see references to Visual Studio, both as part of the requirements and part of the topics. Such references refer to any supported version of Microsoft Visual Studio, unless otherwise indicated. At ArcGIS 10, Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 is supported, including express editions.

Following walkthroughs

Walkthroughs in this Help system often only show screen shots to the project as written in Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 on Windows XP. Unless otherwise indicated, each walkthrough can be followed with any supported version of Microsoft Visual Studio and any supported version of Microsoft Windows.

Working with samples

Samples have been included to give you full, working code examples. For general information on how to use samples, see How to use ArcGIS samples.
Each sample has a page in the Help system that gives information particular to using it, including licensing and extension information, as well as links to view the main sections of the sample's code. You can find samples by task under the Developing with ArcGIS node in the TOC or by selecting Sample as the type on the query page.
Some samples are written as add-ins but contain functionality that is also applicable to ArcGIS Engine applications. To use those add-in samples by converting them to custom components, see Converting an ArcGIS Desktop add-in to an ArcGIS custom component.

Using snippets

Snippets are chunks of reusable code that aid programmers in performing common tasks. ArcGIS snippets are available in Microsoft Visual Studio's Visual Basic (VB) and C# code editors. Using snippets in your code, the format of ArcGIS snippets, and viewing the snippet Extensible Markup Language (XML) documentation are discussed in Snippets for ArcGIS .NET developers.
Snippets are part of the Visual Studio integrated development environment (IDE) integration, and additional topics will be in that content area on the query pages. As of ArcGIS 9.3, the ArcGIS Snippet Finder allowed developers to find ESRI generated ArcGIS snippets via keywords and control various options for their insertion into the Visual Studio code editor. As of ArcGIS 9.3.1, developers can create custom ArcGIS snippets using the ArcGIS Snippet Editor.

Getting F1 Help on types within Visual Studio

When you program within the Visual Studio IDE, you can open the Help page for the interface or class your cursor is over by pressing F1. This is the same hot key that Visual Basic 6 (VB6) developers are familiar with from VB6.
For F1 Help to work correctly in VB .NET, set the Microsoft Document Explorer to look in local Help. To set it, open the Microsoft Document Explorer, click Tools, Options, then click the Help node. Click Online and verify that "Try local first, then online" is selected under the "When loading Help content" area.

Interacting with links to the ArcGIS Desktop user Help system

Some tasks require background geographic information system (GIS) knowledge or use of geoprocessing tools. Both conceptual GIS information and geoprocessing tool reference information are part of the ArcGIS Desktop user Help. Links to that content opens the user Help system to the applicable page.

Using summary XML tags

Most of the ArcObjects .NET assemblies are based upon Component Object Model (COM) C++ .olb files. ESRI generates Primary Interop Assemblies (PIAs) that wrap the COM functionality into .NET assemblies, discussed in Using ArcObjects (COM-based) in .NET. As part of the C++ .olb files, Interface Definition Language (IDL) Help strings are available to provide summary information about what a particular ArcObjects type does. During the normal PIA generation process, the IDL Help string information is lost. New with ArcGIS 9.3.1, a post process on the COM .olb files was performed to generate summary XML tags from the IDL Help strings that can be viewed by IntelliSense and the Object Browser in Visual Studio.
The following screen shot shows IntelliSense without IDL Help string information:
The following screen shot shows IntelliSense with IDL Help string information:
  

See Also:

Query the ArcObjects .NET developer Help
How to use ArcGIS samples
Converting an ArcGIS Desktop add-in to an ArcGIS custom component
Snippets for ArcGIS .NET developers
Snippet index