Hello,I am trying to add a layer to a shapefile. My code is currently very similar to what is provided by ESRI:private void AddShapeFile() { // Create a new ShapefileWorkspaceFactory object and // open a shapefile folder - the path works with standard 9.3 installation IWorkspaceFactory workspaceFactory = new ShapefileWorkspaceFactoryClass(); IFeatureWorkspace featureWorkspace = (IFeatureWorkspace) workspaceFactory.OpenFromFile( "C:\\Program Files\\ArcGIS\\DeveloperKit\\SamplesNET\\data\\Y2000HurricaneData", 0); // Create a new FeatureLayer and assign a shapefile to it IFeatureLayer featureLayer = new FeatureLayerClass(); featureLayer.FeatureClass = featureWorkspace.OpenFeatureClass("2000_hrcn"); ILayer layer = (ILayer)featureLayer; layer.Name = featureLayer.FeatureClass.AliasName; // Add the Layer to the focus map ESRI.ArcGIS.ArcMapUI.IMxDocument mxDocument = (ESRI.ArcGIS.ArcMapUI.IMxDocument)(m_application.Document); IMap map = mxDocument.FocusMap; map.AddLayer(layer); }However, I cannot get the "m_application" reference to work. The instructions provided say that this code "assumes that you already have m_application variable as a reference to the Application object in your .NET custom component". What does this mean? How do I make this reference?Below is my code FWIW. It essentially does the same as above except passes a shapefile chosen from an Add Data dialog that I created from IgxObject. private void btnOpenShapefile_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) { ESRI.ArcGIS.Catalog.IGxObjectFilterCollection pGxFilter; //establish a collection of filters ESRI.ArcGIS.Catalog.GxFilterShapefiles pfilter2; //create a filter Boolean notanythingselected; ESRI.ArcGIS.Catalog.IGxObject gxObj; //declare an instance of GxObjects ESRI.ArcGIS.CatalogUI.IGxDialog pGxDia; //declare an instance of GxDialogs pfilter2 = new ESRI.ArcGIS.Catalog.GxFilterShapefiles(); //create a filter instance pGxDia = new GxDialogClass(); //new dialog box object pGxDia.Title = "Choose a Shapefile"; pGxFilter = (ESRI.ArcGIS.Catalog.IGxObjectFilterCollection)pGxDia; pGxFilter.AddFilter(pfilter2, true); ESRI.ArcGIS.Catalog.IEnumGxObject gxEnum = null; notanythingselected = pGxDia.DoModalOpen(this.Handle.ToInt32(), out gxEnum); if (notanythingselected == false) { return; } else { gxEnum.Reset(); gxObj = gxEnum.Next(); ESRI.ArcGIS.Geodatabase.IWorkspaceFactory wksFact; wksFact = new ShapefileWorkspaceFactory(); ESRI.ArcGIS.Geodatabase.IFeatureWorkspace featWrk; featWrk = (IFeatureWorkspace)wksFact.OpenFromFile(gxObj.Parent.FullName, 0); ESRI.ArcGIS.Geodatabase.IFeatureClass fClass; fClass = featWrk.OpenFeatureClass(gxObj.Name); ESRI.ArcGIS.Carto.IFeatureLayer lyr; lyr = new FeatureLayer(); lyr.FeatureClass = fClass; lyr.Name = gxObj.Name; ESRI.ArcGIS.ArcMapUI.IMxDocument mxDoc = (ESRI.ArcGIS.ArcMapUI.IMxDocument)(m_application.Document); //ERROR IS HERE AT M_application IMap map = mxDoc.FocusMap; map.AddLayer(lyr); I hope this has a super simple answer. I'm pretty new at this 🙂