Remove Addin from user instead of deleting .esriAddinx

[Anonymous User]

I have an Addin that is used across the organization (50+ people). I used the shared folder because:

Designating a well-known folder on a network drive is a convenient way for many people in a workplace to use the same add-ins.

However, if one person decides to delete the Addin from their Pro using the 'Delete this Add-in' button, it deletes the the underlying .esriAddinx file, as indicated in the Managing Add-ins documentation.

If you use the Add-In Manager to delete an add-in that is loaded from a well-known folder on a network drive, the .esriAddInX file is permanently deleted, just as it would be if you used Windows Explorer to delete the file from its location on disk.

There is nothing stopping curious users from deleting the esriAddinx file. This is a huge problem because the Addin is now broken for everyone else and for future users until the esriAddinx file is restored. The 'Delete this Add-in' should just remove it from the users Pro addin list and not delete the underlying .esriAddinx file.

[DuncanHornby]

Just an idea, don't know if it will work. But in Windows File Explorer navigate to the AddIn folder and set the properties of the file to be read-only. That might stop accidental deletion? At least give it ago?

[Anonymous User]

Thanks for the suggestion, I set it as read only but it still deletes the esriAddinX file. If it did work, I'd still ask for esri to fix this because why would you let one person be able to break the Addin for everyone else?

[DaveFullerton1]

@KoryKramer could you tell us if users deleting the .esriAddinX file is this the intended functionality?  We have had this happen too.

[KoryKramer]

Hi @DaveFullerton1 the development team is looking into this report and we'll keep you updated through statuses on this idea. As for "intended", that could be interpreted in different ways. I'd say that currently things are working as designed but what is being reported here is not an intended outcome so we're investigating how to improve the design. Thank you!

[Anonymous User]

@KoryKramerThank you (and the dev team) for looking into this. I've had to restore the esriAddinX file a couple times (and send more emails instructing people not to do it, but that just seems to make them want to do it more) since posting this.

[Anonymous User]

I was looking at alternatives and going the sharing route for deploying these add-ins and see that we can 'share' our add-in to AGOL- but nothing about sharing it our Portal. I don't need to share it to the world, just to our organization. I was hoping that going the shared route would stop the deleting of the .esriAddinX and make it easier for me to manage. @KoryKramer Do you know if there are plans for supporting add-ins in Portal?

[KoryKramer]

@Anonymous User I found this https://enterprise.arcgis.com/en/portal/latest/use/supported-items.htm

[StefanDieters1]

We have the same situation, with 2 groups of users Pro 3 (developers testers) and Pro 2.9.5 (users). To my horror I found that I could delete an esriaddinx file from a shared directory.

The ability to delete the esriaddinx file is not needed as this is an admin function, can be done through the windows file system. An an alternative behavior is just not show incompatible add-ins in the Add-In Manager. Pro 3 and Pro 2.9.5 already can detect compatible addin files.

Our solution

We have set-up multiple permission groups around our common folder that contain the addin (ArcMap and Pro) files. Our ICT set this up. Normally this stops unauthorized deletion (windows blocks Pro 3/2.9.5). I was able to delete the add-in file because I was the owner. Dumb !

Easy way?

As an extra precaution I have now set each esriaddinx file to be read-only (Windows 10 properties dialog).

This works and block Pro 3 and 2.9.5 from deleting an add-in esriaddinx file.

Check it out on your set-up.

[SimonSchütte_ct]

Deleting Addins is definitely too simple, there is not even a notification "Do you really want to delete..."

I think a good solution would be an option to disable Addins
- Once a Add-In is disabled, show the delete Button.
- Instead of the "Delete this Addin Button", rename the button to "Remove this Addin"
- By Default "Remove this Addin from Addin list", optionally have an option to "Delete the source Addin file"

[AndrewQuee]

Pro should definitely show (greyed out) add-ins that are not compatible from shared folders, and that they are not being used.  This information can be provided to admins as required for further action.

Being able to delete them (and so easily) should not be possible by the average user when the explicit function of the feature is, "...a convenient way for many people in a workplace to use the same add-ins."  I doubt very much that 'many people' would find it convenient to discover that their add-in had been quickly and invisibly removed by someone, making it unavailable to everyone.

I further note that this is not the same behaviour ArcMap exhibits when it is loading add-ins from a shared folder.

Managing file/folder permissions to get around this is an effective hack, but it's still a hack imho.