In this topic
About setting up an add-in file share
The following will guide you through the process of setting up a file share location that can be used by many individuals in an organization. The advantage of this approach is that there is one common deployment location and many individuals (typically end users) can utilize this location at once. The other two deployment approaches require each individual to deploy the add-in into their own personal profiles on their machines and can be cumbersome if a large number of individuals use the customizations. This scenario works with an add-in project defined for ArcMap that contains a single button, but applies to any .esriaddin file that is deployed. The workflow presented will use ArcMap, although, the steps will apply to all desktop applications. The file share, following universal naming convention for Windows, will be \\MachineName\TEST\ADDINS for demonstration purposes. This share can be anything your organization requires it to be, however.
Defining the file share
You will use the Add-In Manager for the desktop application that you wish to set the file share for. In ArcMap, do the following:
- Select the customize menu and click Add-In Manager.
- In the Add-In Manager, select the options tab
- In the options tab, click add folder.
- In the browse for folder dialog, for folder type: \\MachineName\\TEST\ADDINS.
- Click OK to add the folder location.
Under the section, also look for add-ins in these folders, the new shared location will be listed. Every time ArcMap is loaded, in this instance, this location will also be considered in conjunction with the well-known location as potential places that a deployed add-in can be located.
- Deploy your add-in to the file share location.
Since this is a shared file location, only individuals with the appropriate permissions will be allowed to deploy the .esriaddin file to that location. Make sure you have permissions to write to this shared location before attempting to deploy there.
- Start or restart ArcMap (necessary if ArcMap was opened when the add-in was deployed).
The section entitled Using the customization next will describe how to use the add-in in ArcMap. Before you explore that section, the next section looks at a number of considerations you should consider before using this approach as a deployment mechanism in your organization.
File share considerations
When using the add-in manager to add a shared location, several considerations should be made before implementing this push model for add-in deployment. These considerations are stated here, but it is up to your organization's policies and practices to decide how to proceed with this push mechanism.
- Once a shared file location is setup, this follows a push model by which any individual with write permissions to the shared location can push an add-in customization too. When the add-in is pushed to the shared location, everyone that has added the shared location through the Add-In Manager will automatically receive the customization without their consent. The Add-In Manager does offer an option to block add-ins from loading at startup to avoid consenting to the add-ins, however, individuals who take this action will not be able to take advantage of the add-ins deployed to shared locations. The two other deployment methods could be utilized by these individuals.
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If this model is desirable in your organization, then the shared location that is defined in the organization should be a trusted location only writable by administrators or trusted users (for example: a systems administrator).
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Have a well defined workflow for pushing add-in customizations to a shared location.
Ultimately, these considerations must be thoroughly thought through if your organization is to utilize this shared location push model for add-in deployment.
Using the customization
Once you have successfully deployed your add-in to the well known location, you are now ready to use the add-in in the ArcGIS Desktop application it was designed for. Since the previous add-in was designed for ArcMap, the following will show you how to work with the add-in through ArcMap.
- Open ArcMap.
- Select the customize menu and click on Add-In Manager.
One way to verify that the add-in you have deployed works is to come into the Add-In Manager. The manager will list all of the add-ins that it has registered on the left. In the right, more metadata about the add-in is made available. You can see by the example that an "ArcMap Button" has been deployed as part of the add-in project. Each desktop application will identify only add-ins that are designed for it. In the case, you should never see an ArcCatalog or any other add-in type in ArcMap's Add-In Manager list.
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From the Add-In Manager, click customize.
If you go to the customize menu in ArcMap and choose customize you will receive the same screen that is achieved in step 3.
- In the customize dialog, select the commands tab:
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Under categories, navigate to ArcMap add-ins and click the category.
The category you supplied in your add-in will determine the name that is displayed here. For this example, ArcMap add-ins was the category provided for the button defined and is being displayed under the categories section of the commands tab.
- On the right, select the "ArcMap Button" and drag it to the graphical user interface (GUI) of ArcMap. More specifically onto an existing toolbar.
- Click the custom button.
A message dialog will appear with the "Hello, World!" message. Similarly, tools can also be found in the same location as buttons. Toolbars will be found in the toolbars tab in the customize dialog. All other add-ins are exposed using different techniques and are discussed in each document that describes each add-in customization.
| Development licensing | Deployment licensing |
|---|---|
| ArcView | ArcView |
| ArcEditor | ArcEditor |
| ArcInfo | ArcInfo |