RegisterForAllUser - Add-in Express .NET forum

Andreas Waning

Posts: 11
Joined: 2024-11-06

Hello,

When I set the value for RegisterForAllUser to True in the WordAddin Project, I don’t know where the AdxLoader.log file is saved.
How can I find the log file?

P.S.: The reason for my question is that I can’t start my project in Admin Mode. The WordAddin simply doesn’t load. It works fine in a small test project. The entries in the HKML registry are correct.

Andrei Smolin

Add-in Express team

Posts: 19211
Joined: 2006-05-11

Hello Andreas,

If the logFileLocation tag is missing in the adxloader.dll.manifest, the log is created in the default location which is {user profile}\AppData\Local\Temp\<ProductName>\adxloader.log; the ProductName part reflects the ProductName field of AssemblyInfo.cs (AssemblyInfo.vb).

I suggest that you start with uninstalling your add-in and unregistering your add-in project. Then start Word to check if there are traces of your add-in in the Word UI. Finally, register the project and check if it works.

If you change RegisterForAllUser and register your project (without unregistering it), this creates a mess in the registry. To get rid of such keys, unregister your project, then change RegisterForAllUser and unregister it once again. In the end, open the File | Options | Add-ins dialog and check all the headings: you should NOT see your add-in listed.

Regards from Poland (GMT+1),

Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express Team Leader

Andreas Waning

Posts: 11
Joined: 2024-11-06

Thank you for your reply.
I noticed the following:

I performed an unregister with RegisterForAllUsers set to both True and False. However, GutachtenManagerWordAddin was still listed in the Add-in dialog in Word.

I started Word as an administrator and then removed it.

Now I performed a register with RegisterForAllUsers set to True.
The result was that my add-in was not listed in the Word Add-ins dialog.
Now I performed an unregister and set RegisterForAllUsers = false. Then I performed a register.
The result was that my add-in is listed in the dialog and my add-in is also loaded and executed.

After Register with RegisterForAllUser = true, the following is entered in RegEdit:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Word\Addins\GutachtenManagerWordAddIn.AddinModule

The question is, why is my add-in NOT installed when RegisterForAllUser = true?

Andrei Smolin

Add-in Express team

Posts: 19211
Joined: 2006-05-11

Andreas Waning writes:
However, GutachtenManagerWordAddin was still listed in the Add-in dialog in Word.

In that dialog (as well as in the COM Add-ins dialog) you can see the location the add-in is registered from. I suppose it is still installed.

Andreas Waning writes:
The question is, why is my add-in NOT installed when RegisterForAllUser = true?

Make sure you follow the steps listed 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).

Also, remember that running the add-in installer produces a log file, the default location of which is {user profile}\AppData\Local\Temp\<ProductName>\adxregistrator.log; the ProductName part reflects the ProductName field of AssemblyInfo.cs (AssemblyInfo.vb).

Similarly, starting Office with your add-in registered produces another log file, the default location of which is {user profile}\AppData\Local\Temp\<ProductName>\adxloader.log; the ProductName part reflects the ProductName field of AssemblyInfo.cs (AssemblyInfo.vb).

Finally, note that an Office application won't load a per-user add-in if the application is started with elevated permissipns (=started via Run as administrator).

Regards from Poland (GMT+1),

Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express Team Leader

Andreas Waning

Posts: 11
Joined: 2024-11-06

Before I continue working on my problem, I’d like to place the log file in a folder so that the same file is written in both user mode and admin mode.

I’ve specified this in adxloader.dll.manifest. However, no file is being written to the Temp folder.
Why not?

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
<assemblyIdentity name="GutachtenManagerWordAddIn, PublicKeyToken=8947bac2f6ac8206" imageRuntimeVersion="v4.0.30319" />
<loaderSettings generateLogFile="true" shadowCopyEnabled="false" privileges="user" minOfficeVersionSupported="12" />
<LogFileLocation>c:\temp\adxloader.log</LogFileLocation>
</configuration>

Andrei Smolin

Add-in Express team

Posts: 19211
Joined: 2006-05-11

Looks like your add-in isn't registered. If it is registered, select it in the File|Options|Add-ins list and check the Location field: it should point to adxloader.dll or adxloader64.dll, not to mscoree.dll.

Regards from Poland (GMT+1),

Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express Team Leader

Andreas Waning

Posts: 11
Joined: 2024-11-06

Before I continue working on my problem, I’d like to place the log file in a folder so that the same file is written in both user mode and admin mode.

I’ve specified this in adxloader.dll.manifest. However, no file is being written to the Temp folder.
Why not?

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
<assemblyIdentity name="GutachtenManagerWordAddIn, PublicKeyToken=8947bac2f6ac8206" imageRuntimeVersion="v4.0.30319" />
<loaderSettings generateLogFile="true" shadowCopyEnabled="false" privileges="user" minOfficeVersionSupported="12" />
<LogFileLocation>c:\temp\adxloader.log</LogFileLocation>
</configuration>

Andrei Smolin

Add-in Express team

Posts: 19211
Joined: 2006-05-11

Hello Andreas,

Did you read my previous post?

Regards from Poland (GMT+1),

Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express Team Leader

Andreas Waning

Posts: 11
Joined: 2024-11-06

Hello,

>>> Looks like your add-in isn't registered. If it is registered, select it in the File|Options|Add-ins list and check the >>> Location field: it should point to adxloader.dll or adxloader64.dll, not to mscoree.dll

In the Location field I see adxloader64.dll . The Word add-in also loads. (When I set RegisterForAllUser = false)

I modified the manifest: <logFileLocation>c:\Temp\adxloader.log</logFileLocation>

But this has no effect; adxloader.log is still created in
C:\Users\awani\AppData\Local\Temp\GutachtenManagerWordAddIn

The reason this is important to me is that my add-in does not run with RegisterForAllUser=true. I cannot find a log file in Admin Mode. That is why I wanted to redirect it to c:\Temp so that I can see what is in the log file when I start in Admin Mode.

Andrei Smolin

Add-in Express team

Posts: 19211
Joined: 2006-05-11

Hello Andreas,

So, you see this issue at the development time. You uninstall your add-in and unregister it, make sure your add-in's ProgId isn't mentioned in the registry, then start your VS via Run as administrator, set RegisterForAllUser=true (the manifest is writable at this moment, and you see how it gets changed after that), register the add-in, start Word (e.g. by pressing F5 in the VS IDE: since the IDE is elevated, Word also starts elevated and this is what you call Admin Mode) and you don't see the add-in in the Word UI and the add-in's adxloader.log is missing. Is that description correct?

Note that adxloader.log is created (recreated) whenever Office starts loading your add-in; the log missing may indicate that the add-in doesn't load at all.

When you register your add-in from your Visual Studio, the CLSID key (see section Locating COM add-ins in the registry in the PDF file in the folder {Add-in Express}\Docs on your development PC) should point to the folder specified in the project's properties: right-click your project in the Solution Explorer, choose Properties, open the Build tab, see the 'Output path' field. Make sure that the path in the registry is correct. Note that when you change the project's configuration, the Output path is changed.

Andreas Waning writes:
But this has no effect; adxloader.log is still created in
C:\Users\awani\AppData\Local\Temp\GutachtenManagerWordAddIn

It looks like you have a per-user version of your add-in loading. The Office UI allows you to check the location the add-in is loaded from.

Regards from Poland (GMT+1),

Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express Team Leader