Share via

Deploying Add-in Tools

  • Article

A user deploys an add-in tool by running an installer on the system. All workspace members must run the installer before they can add the tool to a workspace or access the tool in a workspace. If a user accepts an invitation to a workspace that contains an add-in tool and has not installed it, the tool displays a message that states that the tool is not installed.

The Visual Studio project template generates a registry file that defines the following:

  • GUID to identify the assembly

  • Display name of the add-in tool

  • Installed location of the add-in tool .dlls and the tool manifest

  • File name of the tool manifest

To install an add-in tool using the registry file, the tool DLLs and manifest file must be copied to a directory on the target system. Then the user on the target system executes the registry file. By default, the Visual Studio project template creates the registry file specifying the manifest file spwaddin.xml in the following location:

c:\\Your_Install_Location\project-name\

The registry file should be updated to reflect the correct location before the user executes it. This manual installation can be replaced by an installer. However, the SDK does not provide an example of creating an installer.

The following files are the minimum that are installed on the target system:

  • xml manifest (for example, spwaddin.xml)

  • Add-in class library DLL

  • Any dependency DLLs required by the add-in

If you do not provide an installer that defines the registry keys for your add-in, the user has to execute the registry file on the target system.