XLL Addin showing as 'adxloader' and not working

Sean Devenish

Posts: 78
Joined: 2015-11-30

We have a client who after installation, uninstall and reinstall (using adxregistrator.exe), shows our Excel add-in as:

Name Adxloader.Workpapers.Next.Addin
Location ../[installpath]/adxloader.Workpapers.Next.Addin.dll
Type Excel Add-in

The addin does not work, none of our formulas within this addin are available. Normally when we install we see the following:

Name HowNow Smart Workpapers Formulas
Location ../[installpath]/adloader.Workpapers.Next.Addin.dll
Type Excel Add-in

Do you know why, despite uninstall/reinstall attempts, we would be seeing this unusual Name for the XLL addin? I attach the adxregistrator.log for your information:

Add-in Express Registrator Log File: 09/21/2017 13:30:07

Installation directory: C:\Program Files (x86)\Business Fitness\HowNow Smart Workpapers\
Registrator version: 8.0.4330.0
Operating System: Microsoft Professional (build 9200), 64-bit
Process Owner: Administrator
Command Line: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Business Fitness\HowNow Smart Workpapers\adxregistrator.exe" /install="Workpapers.Next.Addin.dll" /privileges="admin" /logFileLocation="C:\Program Files (x86)\Business Fitness\HowNow Smart Workpapers"
Run 'As Administrator': Yes
Process Elevated: Yes
Integrity Level: High
UAC (User Account Control): Off
--------------------------------------------------------------
13:30:07 0440 Starting the add-in registration process.
13:30:07 0440 Loading mscoree.dll
13:30:07 0440 Success.
13:30:07 0440 .NET Framework installation directory:
13:30:07 0440 The latest version of .NET Framework: 'v4.0.30319'
13:30:07 0440 Loading CLR: v4.0.30319.
13:30:07 0440 Calling CLRCreateInstance method.
13:30:07 0440 Success.
13:30:07 0440 Calling GetRuntime method.
13:30:07 0440 Success.
13:30:07 0440 Checking if the hosting API of .NET Framework v4.0 beta is installed.
13:30:07 0440 The hosting API is up to date.
13:30:07 0440 Calling GetInterface method for the CorRuntimeHost interface.
13:30:07 0440 Success.
13:30:07 0440 Starting CLR...
13:30:07 0440 Success.
13:30:07 0440 Getting the CLR version.
13:30:07 0440 The CLR v4.0.30319 has been initialized successfully.
13:30:07 0440 Creating a new domain setup.
13:30:07 0440 Success.
13:30:07 0440 Getting the add-in directory.
13:30:07 0440 Success. The directory is 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Business Fitness\HowNow Smart Workpapers\'
13:30:07 0440 The 'shadow copy' is disabled.
13:30:07 0440 Creating a new application domain.
13:30:07 0440 Success.
13:30:07 0440 Getting the base directory for the domain.
13:30:07 0440 Success. The directory is 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Business Fitness\HowNow Smart Workpapers\'.
13:30:07 0440 Searching for the Add-in Express core library.
13:30:07 0440 Success. The 'AddinExpress.MSO.2005.dll' file is found.
13:30:07 0440 Creating an instance of the 'AddinExpress.Deployment.ADXRegistrator' class.
13:30:07 0440 Assembly identity is 'AddinExpress.MSO.2005'.
13:30:07 0440 Success.
13:30:07 0440 Unwrapping the instance of the 'AddinExpress.Deployment.ADXRegistrator' class.
13:30:07 0440 Success.
13:30:07 0440 Calling the managed registration procedure (DISPID = 1610743823).
13:30:07 0440 Success.
13:30:07 0440 The add-in registration process is completed with HRESULT = 0.

Andrei Smolin

Add-in Express team

Posts: 18821
Joined: 2006-05-11

Hello Sean,

Sean Devenish writes:
Do you know why, despite uninstall/reinstall attempts, we would be seeing this unusual Name for the XLL addin?

I suppose adxloader.log describes loading COM add-in but it doesn't mention the XLL add-in at all. Is this the case?

In practice, installing a COM add-in to Program Files is most often correct. This may be incorrect if an admin user installs a per-user add-in to that folder; in this case no other user on that machine will be able to load the add-in from that folder.

Installing an Excel add-in to Program Files is most often *incorrect*. This may be acceptable if there's no other users on that machine. The difference between a COM add-in and XLL (any Excel UDF) is: the COM add-in can be per user or per machine while an Excel UDF can only be per user.

Also, make sure you start Excel non-elevated.

Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express Team Leader

Sean Devenish

Posts: 78
Joined: 2015-11-30

Hi Andrei,

I will see if I can get the adxloader.log for you tomorrow. We understand that the XLL addin is per-user, in certain cases we need to install the COM addin for all users, in which case we run adxregistrator.exe for each user to load the XLL add-in for each profile.

Sean Devenish

Posts: 78
Joined: 2015-11-30

I have just sent an email to the support address with a fresh copy of the adxregistrator.log and adxloader.log (installed using user based privileges this time), and screenshots of the Excel 'about' screen and 'Addins' showing the issue. Normally our add-in shows as the name "HowNow Smart Workpapers Formulas", but no matter how many times we install/uninstall with adxregistrator.exe we keep getting the adxloader...dll as the name.

Hopefully this gives you enough information to see what is happening,

kind regards,

Sean

Andrei Smolin

Add-in Express team

Posts: 18821
Joined: 2006-05-11

Thank you, Sean.

Could you please switch to using the latest Add-in Express build? It looks like the issue occurs when the XLL add-in is being registered. I suppose, you have no permissions to create a key in or the add-in is registered for a different user. Or, something goes wrong because you have several Excel versions on that machine. Anyway, the latest registrar and loader provide more info in the log files.

Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express Team Leader

Sean Devenish

Posts: 78
Joined: 2015-11-30

Hi Andrei,

sorry the user was away and took some time to respond to this, the log files are as follows:

Add-in Express Registrator Log File: 10/05/2017 11:14:03

Installation directory: C:\Users\jmb\AppData\Local\Business Fitness\HowNow Smart Workpapers\2.2.0.30\
Registrator version: 8.0.4330.0
Operating System: Microsoft Professional (build 9200), 64-bit
Process Owner: User
Command Line: adxregistrator.exe /install="Workpapers.Next.Addin.dll" /privileges=user
Run 'As Administrator': No
Process Elevated: No
Integrity Level: Medium
UAC (User Account Control): Off
--------------------------------------------------------------
11:14:03 0840 Starting the add-in registration process.
11:14:03 0840 Loading mscoree.dll
11:14:03 0840 Success.
11:14:03 0840 .NET Framework installation directory:
11:14:03 0840 The latest version of .NET Framework: 'v4.0.30319'
11:14:03 0840 Loading CLR: v4.0.30319.
11:14:03 0840 Calling CLRCreateInstance method.
11:14:03 0840 Success.
11:14:03 0840 Calling GetRuntime method.
11:14:03 0840 Success.
11:14:03 0840 Checking if the hosting API of .NET Framework v4.0 beta is installed.
11:14:03 0840 The hosting API is up to date.
11:14:03 0840 Calling GetInterface method for the CorRuntimeHost interface.
11:14:03 0840 Success.
11:14:03 0840 Starting CLR...
11:14:03 0840 Success.
11:14:03 0840 Getting the CLR version.
11:14:03 0840 The CLR v4.0.30319 has been initialized successfully.
11:14:03 0840 Creating a new domain setup.
11:14:03 0840 Success.
11:14:03 0840 Getting the add-in directory.
11:14:03 0840 Success. The directory is 'C:\Users\jmb\AppData\Local\Business Fitness\HowNow Smart Workpapers\2.2.0.30\'
11:14:03 0840 The 'shadow copy' is disabled.
11:14:03 0840 Creating a new application domain.
11:14:03 0840 Success.
11:14:03 0840 Getting the base directory for the domain.
11:14:03 0840 Success. The directory is 'C:\Users\jmb\AppData\Local\Business Fitness\HowNow Smart Workpapers\2.2.0.30\'.
11:14:03 0840 Searching for the Add-in Express core library.
11:14:03 0840 Success. The 'AddinExpress.MSO.2005.dll' file is found.
11:14:03 0840 Creating an instance of the 'AddinExpress.Deployment.ADXRegistrator' class.
11:14:03 0840 Assembly identity is 'AddinExpress.MSO.2005'.
11:14:03 0840 Success.
11:14:03 0840 Unwrapping the instance of the 'AddinExpress.Deployment.ADXRegistrator' class.
11:14:03 0840 Success.
11:14:03 0840 Calling the managed registration procedure (DISPID = 1610743823).
11:14:04 0840 Success.
11:14:04 0840 The add-in registration process is completed with HRESULT = 0.

Add-in Express Loader Log File: 10/16/2017 10:23:03:133

Startup directory: C:\Users\jmb\AppData\Local\Business Fitness\HowNow Office Add-in\2.0.2.2\
Loader version: 8.0.4330.0
Operating System: Microsoft (build 15063), 64-bit
Process Owner: User
Command Line: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Root\Office16\EXCEL.EXE" "K:\HowNow\data\content\2016 trust smart workpapers.xlsx"
Run 'As Administrator': No
Process Elevated: No
Integrity Level: Medium
UAC (User Account Control): Off
------------------------------------------------------------------------
10:23:03:134 4260 13132 Start.
10:23:03:134 4260 13132 Creating a new instance of the add-in loader.
10:23:03:134 4260 13132 Loading mscoree.dll
10:23:03:135 4260 13132 Success.
10:23:03:135 4260 13132 Loading the configuration from the system registry.
10:23:03:135 4260 13132 Getting the latest CLR version.
10:23:03:135 4260 13132 The latest CLR version is 'v4.0.30319'.
10:23:03:135 4260 13132 The configuration has been loaded successfully.
10:23:03:135 4260 13132 Runtime version: v4.0.30319.
10:23:03:135 4260 13132 Assembly name: OfficeAddin.
10:23:03:135 4260 13132 Class name: OfficeAddin.AddinModule.
10:23:03:135 4260 13132 Registry key: CLSID\{8342E722-196E-4D2A-80AF-0640BEBC6D98}.
10:23:03:135 4260 13132 Attempting to create a new instance of the managed add-in class: CLR - v4.0.30319
10:23:03:135 4260 13132 Loading CLR: v4.0.30319.
10:23:03:135 4260 13132 Calling CLRCreateInstance method.
10:23:03:135 4260 13132 Success.
10:23:03:135 4260 13132 Calling GetRuntime method.
10:23:03:135 4260 13132 Success.
10:23:03:135 4260 13132 Checking if the hosting API of .NET Framework v4.0 beta is installed.
10:23:03:141 4260 13132 The hosting API is up to date.
10:23:03:141 4260 13132 Calling GetInterface method for the CorRuntimeHost interface.
10:23:03:141 4260 13132 Success.
10:23:03:141 4260 13132 Starting CLR...
10:23:03:141 4260 13132 Success.
10:23:03:141 4260 13132 Getting the CLR version.
10:23:03:141 4260 13132 The CLR v4.0.30319 has been initialized successfully.
10:23:03:141 4260 13132 Creating a new domain setup.
10:23:03:142 4260 13132 Success.
10:23:03:142 4260 13132 Getting the add-in directory.
10:23:03:142 4260 13132 Success. The directory is 'C:\Users\jmb\AppData\Local\Business Fitness\HowNow Office Add-in\2.0.2.2\'
10:23:03:143 4260 13132 The configuration file is 'C:\Users\jmb\AppData\Local\Business Fitness\HowNow Office Add-in\2.0.2.2\OfficeAddin.dll.config'
10:23:03:143 4260 13132 The 'shadow copy' is disabled.
10:23:03:143 4260 13132 Creating a new application domain.
10:23:03:146 4260 13132 Success.
10:23:03:146 4260 13132 Creating an instance of the managed class. Assembly identity: 'OfficeAddin'
10:23:03:175 4260 13132 Success.
10:23:03:175 4260 13132 Unwrapping the managed class.
10:23:03:182 4260 13132 Success.
10:23:03:182 4260 13132 Querying the add-in extensibility.
10:23:03:182 4260 13132 Success.
10:23:03:182 4260 13132 Querying the custom task panes.
10:23:03:182 4260 13132 Success.
10:23:03:182 4260 13132 Querying the ribbon extensibility.
10:23:03:182 4260 13132 Success.
10:23:03:182 4260 13132 Querying the form regions.
10:23:03:182 4260 13132 Success.
10:23:03:182 4260 13132 Querying the encryption provider.
10:23:03:182 4260 13132 The 'EncryptionProvider' interface is not supported.
10:23:03:182 4260 13132 Getting the dispid of the 'Dispose' method.
10:23:03:184 4260 13132 Success.
10:23:03:184 4260 13132 The instance of the managed add-in class has been created successfully.

Andrei Smolin

Add-in Express team

Posts: 18821
Joined: 2006-05-11

Hello Sean,

Thank you.

Could you please compare the settings of the Trust Center on that machine with any other machine where your add-in loads? But first, check section XLL add-in is Blocked, see the PDF file in the folder {Add-in Express}\Docs on your development PC.

Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express Team Leader