What is the best approach to update an AddIn while using older version?

Amadeus111

I will update an AddIn I created couple years ago. I am an end-user for this AddIn as well. I would like to continue to use it while developing the newer version. 

I created another branch in GitHub but if I run the newer version in VS it will overwrite the old AddIn In ArcGIS Pro. 

Ideally, I would like to develop it as a separate AddIn but both older and newer versions point to the same GitHub entry. Later on, I can archive the older version. Is there a solution to this? What is the best approach?

Thanks.

CharlesMacleod

I recommend u change three things:

The addin id, the module id, and the name of the assembly.

Change all of these in the Config.daml. U can use something like https://www.guidgen.com/ to generate a new addin id. The module id is arbitrary. U can use anything u want as long as its different from the original. Ditto for the assembly name. Change defaultAssembly.

<ArcGIS defaultAssembly="ProAppModule1.dll" ...>
  <AddInInfo id="{0ccd96a6-029c-409e-9e97-d8f35e9f055d}" version="1.0" desktopVersion="2.3">
    <Name>ProAppModule1</Name>
    <Description>ProAppModule1 description</Description>
    ...
 </AddInInfo>
  <modules>
    <insertModule id="ProAppModule1_Module" ...>
      <!-- uncomment to have the control hosted on a separate tab-->
      <tabs>

 

U will also have to change the module id in your module code-behind file (eg Module1.cs, Module1.vb, etc)

internal class Module1 : Module {
    private static Module1 _this = null;

    public static Module1 Current {
      get {
        return _this ?? (_this = (Module1)FrameworkApplication.FindModule("ProAppModule1_Module"));
      }
    }

 

Last, change the assembly name in Visual Studio on the Application properties of your csproj/vbproj to match defaultAssembly.