Overview of Add-on Packages
Add-on packages are XML files that are put in the addons folder of the datastore. Packages are used by RemoteAgent and FileDeployer to deploy files or an application to a device.
When your application creates a RemoteAgent or calls DownloadPackage, the Smart Device Connectivity API looks for a package with an ID that matches the ObjectId that is supplied as an argument. If the API finds the package, it copies files to the device and, optionally, starts an executable based on the information in the add-on package. Add-on packages contain the following information:
An ID that uniquely identifies the package.
A name for the package.
Processor types supported by the device application.
Local folder on the desktop from which the files are copied.
Remote folder on the device to which files are copied.
A list of files to copy.
Binary to be started with optional command-line arguments.
For an example of how to use a package, see Walkthrough: Exchanging Data between Desktop and Device Applications.
Creating Add-on Package Files
Visual Studio processes any file put in the datastore's addons folder at drive:\ProgramData\Microsoft\corecon\1.0\addons (Windows Vista) or drive:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\corecon\1.0\addons, regardless of file name, as an add-on package file.
Note
The datastore's addons folder is created when you install any version of Visual Studio except the Express versions.
It is important to verify changes you make to the datastore's addons folder. Malformed package files will corrupt the datastore and Visual Studio will not function. To verify your changes, close and open Visual Studio. Visual Studio will not open if the datastore is corrupted. Undo all changes and try again.
See Also
Concepts
Add-on Package Schema XML Reference