Custom extensions

Anonymous User · ‎10-23-2009

Original User: 164549

None of my custom developed extensions are showing up under Customize->Extensions, yet all the ESRI extensions are there. Is there some new development process or different setting needed to make them show up?

RalfGottschalk · ‎10-13-2010

Mark,

There is no other location, and you do require admin privileges to register you custom components. Our non-admin component story is with Add-ins. They don�??t have all the extensibility points, but they are nice and easy to deploy on a per user basis.

http://help.arcgis.com/en/sdk/10.0/arcobjects_net/conceptualhelp/index.html#/Building_add_ins_for_Ar...

rlwatson,

We don�??t recommend you zip XMLs and then rename them, we�??d prefer you use ESRIRegasm instead, though it probably will work most of the time. And since we don�??t really support VB6 dlls I guess you can do whatever you want. But just so you are aware, the KB doc here describes how you can create *.ecfg files by using the reg files create the category information, or create an XML file and then plug that into ESRIRegasm.

http://resources.arcgis.com/content/kbase?fa=articleShow&d=37639

View solution in original post

SteveVan_Esch · ‎10-23-2009

Yes, at 9.4 the registration step has changed. Use the ESRIRegAsm.exe instead of Microsoft's regsvr32.exe.

ESRIRegAsm /p desktop /v 9.4 "C:\Test\MyAssembly.dll"

If you installed the ArcObjects SDK you should be able to right-click on the dll and see 'Register 9.4 Assembly'.

See this topic in the help:

ArcObjects SDK for Microsoft.NET/Migrating and upgrading your code/Migration from 9.3 to 9.4/Migrating ArcGIS 9.3 Desktop and Engine custom components to ArcGIS 9.4

Please post back if you're still having problems.

Thanks,
Steve

Anonymous User · ‎10-26-2009

Original User: 164549

Thanks for your response, but we seem to be in a "catch-22" situation.

1) we create C++ COM extensions for ArcGIS Desktop, and deploy them with InstallShield; just like we always have. (Where's the C++ SDK??)

2) our customers do not have Visual Studio.

3) the ESRIRegAsm.exe utility does not install in the typical installation, apparently the .NET SDK is required, which further requires Visual Studio 2008.

How do Business Partners deploy our products at 9.4?

Anonymous User · ‎10-26-2009

Original User: 164549

whoops!! just realized the ESRIRegAsm.exe is not under the c:\Program Files\ArcGIS, but is under c:\Program Files\Common Files\ArcGIS.

This brings up additional questions:

1) During ArcGIS install, is any type of Registry scanning done to ensure already installed custom components are put through this new "ESRI-special" registration?

2) If not, then ESRI expects every vendor to distribute special installations or custom scripting just to run the ESRIRegAsm.exe utility for 9.4 customers?

3) Is the ESRIRegAsm.exe utility re-distributable to ensure our products install correctly on any version of ArcGIS Desktop?

4) Very curious to the ESRI thoughts behind the impact of this change on Business Partners and all third-party vendors.

5) Also, (maybe wrong forum) where is the C++ SDK?

Anonymous User · ‎10-26-2009

Original User: 164549

One more item just discovered: C++ extensions register fine with the ESRIRegAsm.exe utility; however, VB6 extensions report that they register, but there is no evidence of the extension or tools under the Customize menu. If a VB6 DLL is added manually via the Add From File, the tool bars and commands show up, but the extension is still not present.

What can be done about VB6 extensions?

RalfGottschalk · ‎10-26-2009

Unfortunately VB6 is no longer support at 9.4 and you will not be able to get your VB6 customizations installed.

See this blog post for details on how to migrate away from VB6 at 9.4.

1. No, it is ESRI's policy that you must build your application for the release that you want to deploy to. In the past you did not need to do this, but unfortunately we do not provide support this type of workflow.

2. Yes, it has always been ESRI's policy that you would need to do this.

3. Yes, the SDK should include deployment samples and instructions soon.

4. The policy hasn't changed, however, changes to the system now require you to redeploy your application.

5. The C++ SDK is not available at Beta 1. It should be ready soon.

Thanks,

Ralf

Anonymous User · ‎10-30-2009

Original User: natalie.pieper

Dear ESRI Team,

Existing VB6 Extensions will not longer be supported?!

We develop on ArcGIS Desktop since V8.1 and still have a lot of tools and older products on VB6.

In former documentation and all 9.4 announcements, ESRI told us that there will be no more SDK for VB6. So far, so good... that's understandable and OK.

So it was clear for us that it's strongly recommanded to migrate those of our extensions to VB.NET, that are in maintenance and that are developed on further. That's OK, we do that step by step.

But what about all the small extensions and tools, that work fine until now? In former documentation you told us, that we are "strongly encouraged to mígrate to .NET", not that we are "forced" to to that.
Of course, we will do that step by step for every product that will be developed further. But all at one time, just to be available on ArcGIS 9.4?

We have a large number of older extensions and tools that work fine. No one needs changes in that tools - and no one wants to pay for migrating them to .NET.

Is it really policy of ESRI that NO existing VB6 extensions will be installable on ArcGIS 9.4?

I tried to register some vb6 dll's by ESRIRegasm. exe, but this didn't work, as user 164549 described. Not even with parameter /c . Does this really only works for C++???

RalfGottschalk · ‎11-02-2009

Hi Natalie,

You are correct. VB6 is not supported at all at 9.4. Microsoft does not sell or support VB6 anymore, which means we can�??t fix any bugs or issues with VB6. We will not be supporting the installation or usage any VB6 extensions or applications. There have been a few announcements on ESRI�??s plans to move away from VB6. We have this documented in both the Deprecation Plans and the UC Q& A.

I�??m not sure what your extensions are doing, but if they are fairly small, you might want to try to look into using Add-ins with Visual Studio Express, if cost of Visual Studio is an issue. I know this does not cover the cost of the labor it takes to migrate the code but it might be a good intermediate step.

Parameter �??/c�?� is actually a documentation error, this parameter does not exist in the tool. NIM050463 has been logged to remove this parameter from the documentation.

Anonymous User · ‎11-03-2009

Original User: erik_nyberg

We have extensions that now works in 9.2, 9.3 and 9.3.1 (same installer).
What we do is to compile our dll-s on 9.2 and then it works in all the versions. In 9.4 however it looks like you have changed the ESRI.ArcGIS.ADF assembly so you now have to add ESRI.ArcGIS.ADF.Local in order for them to work in 9.4.

Is there a way to make our extensions to work in all the versions (9.2,9.3 and 9.4) through a single dll or do we have to create a new dll for 9.4?

RichardWatson · ‎11-03-2009

It is surreal that VB6 extensions or applications will no longer work in 9.4. I thought that ESRI used COM and VB6 was COM. Isn't that a binary contract?

What makes C++ work but not VB?

This position is not consistent with that shared with us at the Developer Summit conference. Yes, we know that VB6 is end-of-life. Yes, we know that we have to rewrite the software. The difference here is that you have created a hard wall. This is really not an acceptable position.