Building add-ins for ArcGIS Desktop

In this topic

• About add-ins
• When to use add-ins
  • Python
  • Classic COM extensibility
• Add-in types
• Managing add-ins
• Add-in file anatomy
• Building add-ins

About add-ins

When to use add-ins

Python

Classic COM extensibility

Add-in types

• Buttons and tools - Simple controls that can appear on toolbars or - in the case of buttons - on menus.
• Combo boxes - Provides a drop-down list of items and can optionally provide an editable input area.
• Menus and context menus - Shows a drop-down list of buttons, submenus, and multi-items. Menu items can come from built-in sources, add-in sources, or a combination of both. Menus are typically hosted on toolbars, but they can also appear independently as context (pop-up) menus and root menus.
• Multi-items - Dynamic collection of menu items created at run time. Multi-items are useful when the items on a menu cannot be determined before run time or the items need to be modified based on the state of the system.
• Toolbars - Can host buttons, tools, menus, tool palettes, and combo boxes. As with menus, controls that appear on toolbars can come from built-in sources, add-in sources, or a combination of both. Toolbars can be configured to automatically appear when initially added to an application to make their presence more obvious to users.
• Tool palettes - Provide a compact way to group a related set of tools. The most recently used tool appears on the toolbar alongside a small drop-down button used to access other tools in the group. As with menus, tools that appear on tool palettes can come from built-in sources, add-in sources, or a combination of both.
• Dockable windows - Floating or docked windows that appear within ArcGIS for Desktop applications. You can populate dockable windows with any sort of content: charts, slide shows, video, mini-maps, or custom dialog boxes containing other controls - including Esri controls. Add-in developers have considerable control over where the dockable window initially appears and whether it will be grouped with other dockable windows.
• Application extensions - Used to coordinate activities between other components - such as buttons, tools and dockable windows - within a containing add-in. Application extensions are usually responsible for storing state associated with the add-in as a whole and are often used to listen for and respond to various events exposed by the host application. Application extensions can be configured to load when needed or automatically when their associated application is started; extensions can also be configured to appear in the standard ArcGIS extension dialog box.
• Editor extensions - Allow you to customize your editing workflows by plugging directly into the editing framework. As opposed to application extensions, editor extension add-ins are loaded when the edit session starts (Editor, Start Editing). You can customize the behavior of your editing session (for example, listening for edit events) by creating editor extensions.

Managing add-ins

Add-ins can be obtained from a variety of sources including Web-based repositories, via e-mail, or by browsing the file system or network. You can install an add-in by simply double-clicking an add-in file in Windows Explorer. When double-clicked, the Esri supplied Add-In Installation Utility validates the add-in and copies it to the appropriate well-known folder. Users are given an opportunity to review the author, description, version, and digital signature information of the add-in before proceeding. This validation step ensures that: the file is copied to the appropriate location; name conflicts are handled; and guarantees that any existing version of the add-in file isn't overwritten by an older version. This utility also works directly on e-mail attachments and Web page links. See the following screen shot:

Add-in file anatomy

<ESRI.Configuration
  xmlns="http://schemas.esri.com/Desktop/AddIns"
  xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
  <Name>
    Acme Custom Mapping Extension
  </Name>
  <AddInID>{6fa0df73-57ab-491e-a73d-e58ce07af414}</AddInID>
  <Description>Custom mapping toolbar.</Description>
  <Version>1.0</Version>
  <Image>Images\Acme.png</Image>
  <Author>John Locke</Author>
  <Company>Acme</Company>
  <Date>5/28/2009</Date>
  <Targets>
    <Target name="Desktop" version="10.0"/>
  </Targets>
  <AddIn language="CLR" library="Acme.dll" namespace="Acme">
    <ArcMap>
      <Commands>
        <Button
          id="Acme_ToggleDockWinBtn"
          class="ToggleDockWinBtn"
          caption="OpenDockWin"
          category="Acme Tools"
          image="Images\ToggleDockWinBtn.png"
          tip="Toggle dockable window."
          message="Open dockable window.">
          <Help heading="Toggle">Turns the ACME dockable window on and off.</Help>
        </Button>
      </Commands>
      <Toolbars>
        <Toolbar id="Acme_Toolbar" caption="Acme Toolbar">
          <Items>
            <Button refID="Acme_ToggleDockWinBtn"/>
          </Items>
        </Toolbar>
      </Toolbars>
    </ArcMap>
  </AddIn>
</ESRI.Configuration>

public class ToggleDockWndBtn: Button
{
    public ToggleDockWndBtn(){}

    protected override void OnClick()
    {
        //Get dockable window.
        UID dockWinID=new UIDClass();
        dockWinID.Value=@"ESRI_SelectionSample_SelCountDockWin";
        s_dockWindow=ArcMap.DockableWindowManager.GetDockableWindow(dockWinID);
    }
}

Public Class ToggleDockWinBtn
    Inherits ESRI.ArcGIS.Desktop.AddIns.Button
    
    Public Sub New()
        
    End Sub
    
    Protected Overrides Sub OnClick()
    
    'Get dockable window.
    Dim dockWinID As UID=New UIDClass()
    dockWinID.Value="ESRI_SelectionSample_SelCountDockWin"
    s_dockWindow=ArcMap.DockableWindowManager.GetDockableWindow(dockWinID)
End Sub

Building add-ins

See Also: