Silent failure of Word addin installation

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Silent failure of Word addin installation
A Word addin installation gives different results on different machines 
Olivier COLIN




Posts: 1
Joined: 2020-02-09
Dear Add-In Express Support,

I am using Add-in Express (version from the 24th of March 2022) to create a Word add-in and I am experiencing some troubles during the installation on some computers.
Using the same dlls organized the same way (same folders) with the same installation method on 2 different Windows 10 systems, I get 2 equivalent adxregistrator.log log files reporting succeeded installations, however my add-in isn?Â?Ð?ét registered on one system and is working well on the other system. In both cases I have the administrator privilege.
Could you help me by suggesting me what I should do to investigate further my issue? Is there any verbose option of adxregistrator that could provide more hints about the source of the problem?

Details:
I have the same version of Word on both systems: Microsoft??? Word for Microsoft 365 MSO (Version 2202 Build 16.0.14931.20128) 64-bit

When I check the Word options (Add-ins sections) on the working system, I have my add-in registered with ?Â?Ð?ìDocBuilder?Â?Ð?í as its name, COM Add-in as its type and mscoree.dll as its location (I used to have adxloader64.dll in the past). The add-in is working well in this case.
The only differences I can see between the 2 cases are the Windows version build (19042 vs 19044) and the UAC activation (Off vs On) but I can?Â?Ð?ét imagine that this would be the source of my problem.

** adxregistrator.log file content on the working system:
Add-in Express Registrator Log File: 04/13/2022 11:54:01

Installation directory: C:\temp\twm\docbuilder\adx\20220324\
Registrator version: 10.1.4703.0
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Professional (build 19042), 64-bit
Process Owner: Administrator
Command Line: .\adx\20220324\adxregistrator.exe /install=C:\temp\twm\docbuilder\modeler\2.4.1.0\TwdbWordBuilder2.dll /privileges=admin /generateLogFile=true /logFileLocation=C:\temp\twm\docbuilder
Run 'As Administrator': Yes
Process Elevated: Yes
Integrity Level: High
UAC (User Account Control): Off
--------------------------------------------------------------
11:54:01 0468 Starting the add-in registration process.
11:54:01 0468 Loading mscoree.dll
11:54:01 0468 Success.
11:54:01 0468 .NET Framework installation directory:
11:54:01 0468 The latest version of .NET Framework: 'v4.0.30319'
11:54:01 0468 Loading CLR: v4.0.30319.
11:54:01 0468 Calling CLRCreateInstance method.
11:54:01 0468 Success.
11:54:01 0468 Calling GetRuntime method.
11:54:01 0468 Success.
11:54:01 0468 Checking if the hosting API of .NET Framework v4.0 beta is installed.
11:54:01 0468 The hosting API is up to date.
11:54:01 0468 Calling GetInterface method for the CorRuntimeHost interface.
11:54:01 0468 Success.
11:54:01 0468 Starting CLR...
11:54:01 0468 Success.
11:54:01 0468 Getting the CLR version.
11:54:01 0468 The CLR v4.0.30319 has been initialized successfully.
11:54:01 0468 Creating a new domain setup.
11:54:01 0468 Success.
11:54:01 0468 The 'shadow copy' is disabled.
11:54:01 0468 Creating a new application domain.
11:54:01 0468 Success.
11:54:01 0468 Getting the base directory for the domain.
11:54:01 0468 Success. The directory is 'C:\temp\twm\docbuilder\modeler\2.4.1.0\'.
11:54:01 0468 Searching for the Add-in Express core library.
11:54:01 0468 Success. The 'AddinExpress.MSO.2005.dll' file is found.
11:54:01 0468 Creating an instance of the 'AddinExpress.Deployment.ADXRegistrator' class.
11:54:01 0468 Assembly identity is 'AddinExpress.MSO.2005'.
11:54:02 0468 Success.
11:54:02 0468 Unwrapping the instance of the 'AddinExpress.Deployment.ADXRegistrator' class.
11:54:02 0468 Success.
11:54:02 0468 Calling the managed registration procedure (DISPID = 1610743823).
11:54:02 0468 Registration success.
11:54:02 0468 The add-in registration process is completed with HRESULT = 0.

** adxregistrator.log file content on the not working system:
Add-in Express Registrator Log File: 04/13/2022 11:53:59

Installation directory: C:\temp\twm\docbuilder\adx\20220324\
Registrator version: 10.1.4703.0
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Professional (build 19044), 64-bit
Process Owner: Administrator
Command Line: .\adx\20220324\adxregistrator.exe /install=C:\temp\twm\docbuilder\modeler\2.4.1.0\TwdbWordBuilder2.dll /privileges=admin /generateLogFile=true /logFileLocation=C:\temp\twm\docbuilder
Run 'As Administrator': Yes
Process Elevated: Yes
Integrity Level: High
UAC (User Account Control): On
--------------------------------------------------------------
11:53:59 0484 Starting the add-in registration process.
11:53:59 0484 Loading mscoree.dll
11:53:59 0484 Success.
11:53:59 0484 .NET Framework installation directory:
11:53:59 0484 The latest version of .NET Framework: 'v4.0.30319'
11:53:59 0484 Loading CLR: v4.0.30319.
11:53:59 0484 Calling CLRCreateInstance method.
11:53:59 0484 Success.
11:53:59 0484 Calling GetRuntime method.
11:53:59 0484 Success.
11:53:59 0484 Checking if the hosting API of .NET Framework v4.0 beta is installed.
11:53:59 0484 The hosting API is up to date.
11:53:59 0484 Calling GetInterface method for the CorRuntimeHost interface.
11:53:59 0484 Success.
11:53:59 0484 Starting CLR...
11:53:59 0484 Success.
11:53:59 0484 Getting the CLR version.
11:53:59 0484 The CLR v4.0.30319 has been initialized successfully.
11:53:59 0484 Creating a new domain setup.
11:53:59 0484 Success.
11:53:59 0484 The 'shadow copy' is disabled.
11:53:59 0484 Creating a new application domain.
11:53:59 0484 Success.
11:53:59 0484 Getting the base directory for the domain.
11:53:59 0484 Success. The directory is 'C:\temp\twm\docbuilder\modeler\2.4.1.0\'.
11:53:59 0484 Searching for the Add-in Express core library.
11:53:59 0484 Success. The 'AddinExpress.MSO.2005.dll' file is found.
11:53:59 0484 Creating an instance of the 'AddinExpress.Deployment.ADXRegistrator' class.
11:53:59 0484 Assembly identity is 'AddinExpress.MSO.2005'.
11:53:59 0484 Success.
11:53:59 0484 Unwrapping the instance of the 'AddinExpress.Deployment.ADXRegistrator' class.
11:53:59 0484 Success.
11:53:59 0484 Calling the managed registration procedure (DISPID = 1610743823).
11:53:59 0484 Registration success.
11:53:59 0484 The add-in registration process is completed with HRESULT = 0.

Thanks in advance for your help!
Kind regards
Olivier
Posted 13 Apr, 2022 07:13:10 Top
Andrei Smolin


Add-in Express team


Posts: 18821
Joined: 2006-05-11
Hello Olivier,

Olivier COLIN writes:
?Â?Ð?ìDocBuilder?Â?Ð?í as its name, COM Add-in as its type and mscoree.dll as its location


For an add-in installed correctly, that record points to adxloader.dll or adxloader64.dll, not mscoree.dll.

Olivier COLIN writes:
I get 2 equivalent adxregistrator.log log files


These files reflect the registration phase of the installation process. But the problem may occur later, when the add-in is being loaded. You don't have a log file describing this stage since your add-in is loaded by mscoree, not adxloader.

I suggest that you check the instruction we provide in section Deploying a per-machine Office extension via an MSI installer; see the PDF file in the folder {Add-in Express}\Docs on your development PC. I'd also suggest that you create a no-code add-in to have a base to compare your actual log files with.

You may also want to check sections 'Troubleshooting' and 'Locating COM add-ins in the registry'.

Regards from Poland (CEST),

Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express Team Leader
Posted 13 Apr, 2022 08:27:39 Top