Binding to ArcGIS Desktop in C++

Question

Hi all,

Can someone tell me how to bind a standalone C++ app to ArcGIS Desktop ?

I have put the following include in stdafx.h along with other esri libraries.

#import "C:/Program Files (x86)/Common Files/ArcGIS/bin/ArcGISVersion.dll" raw_interfaces_only raw_native_types no_namespace named_guids rename("esriProductCode","esriVersionProductCode" ) rename("VersionManager","esriVersionManager" )

And here is how I see others in forums binding to desktop in .NET:

'Add runtime management
ESRI.ArcGIS.RuntimeManager.Bind(ESRI.ArcGIS.ProductCode.Desktop)

However, I cannot find a RuntimeManager class in the ArcGISVersion library to implement in C++.   Do you have to do this in Arc 10.0 before running AoInitialize?  If I just attempt to initialize using LicenseUtilities(.cpp), I get the error <no appropriate license available>

Do you need to have ArcEngine if you only want to bind to Desktop?

Thanks for your help!

MattDenton · Answer

Not that this is a current thread, but between Umberto Raggiani's #import statement and this response from Michael Rice‌, I got what I was doing working in a jiff.  Thanks guys!

UmbertoRaggiani · Answer

keywords : ArcGIS10.1 Beta2 - C++ application sample validate the license.

You need to import ArcGISVersion.dll:
#import "\Program Files\Common Files\ArcGIS\bin\ArcGISVersion.dll" named_guids no_namespace raw_interfaces_only no_implementation rename("esriProductCode", "ProductCode")
 
The AutoDesktopLicense class inits the license for desktop. 
 
class AutoLicense
{
public:
  AutoLicense()  {}
  ~AutoLicense() { if (m_ipAoi) m_ipAoi->Shutdown(); }
protected:
  IAoInitializePtr m_ipAoi;
};
 
class AutoDesktopLicense : AutoLicense
{
public:
  AutoDesktopLicense()
  {
    IArcGISVersionPtr ipVersion(CLSID_VersionManager);
    VARIANT_BOOL ok;
    HRESULT hr = ipVersion->LoadVersion(esriArcGISDesktop, _bstr_t(L"10.1"), &ok);  
    ASSERT(SUCCEEDED(hr) && ok == VARIANT_TRUE);
    if (FAILED(hr)) throw hr;
 
    esriLicenseStatus status;
    hr = m_ipAoi->Initialize(esriLicenseProductCodeStandard, &status);
    ASSERT(SUCCEEDED(hr));
    if (FAILED(hr)) throw hr;
  }
};
 
And it can be used like so:
 
  ::CoInitialize(0);
 
  {
    AutoServerLicense();
 
    //do the arcobjects thing here
  }
 
  ::CoUninitialize();

Screenshot 2026-04-13 110737.png

UmbertoRaggiani · Answer

I am also encountering difficulties with ArcGIS10.1 and C++.

here is how we initiated the code  (simplified)
VARIANT_BOOL vb; 
esriLicenseStatus licenseStatus = 0;

IArcGISVersionPtr ipVersion(__uuidof(VersionManager)); 
ipVersion->LoadVersion(esriArcGISServer, L"", &vb);
IAoInitializePtr ipInit(CLSID_AoInitialize); 
ipInit->IsProductCodeAvailable(product, &licenseStatus);
ipInit->Initialize(product, &licenseStatus);

The ClsId of AoInitialize was :0xe01be902,0xcc85,0x4b13,0xa8,0x28,0x02,0xe7,0x89,0xe0,0xdd,0xa9}};

The ClsId of VersionManager was :
a4092e33-e459-4b9c-b04e-263fb7a8e1d1 (IArcGISVersion)

..when I try this under the ArcGIS10.1 beta, it doesn't work anymore.

Does anyone have a basic C++ sample for ArcGIS10.1?

Screenshot 2026-04-13 112230.png