Add-in Express Loader - Error loading the manifest file

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Add-in Express Loader - Error loading the manifest file
'adxloader.dll.manifest' file has a wrong format or it doesn't exist 
Michael Voigt




Posts: 2
 Joined: 2008-09-15
Hi,
I have a problem with installation of 2 addins located in the same folder.

I wrote following custom setup action to register 2 addins, because adxloader.dll expects manifest file named adxloader.dll.manifest.

// Create copy of the first manifest and register
copy FirstAddin.dll.manifest adxloader.dll.manifest
regsvr32 /s FirstAddin.dll

// Create copy of the second manifest and register
copy SecondAddin.dll.manifest adxloader.dll.manifest
regsvr32 /s SecondAddin.dll

However, sometimes (not always) this error occurs:
Add-in Express Loader Log File: 09/14/2008 08:08:30
Error loading the manifest file. The 'adxloader.dll.manifest' file has a wrong format or it doesn't exist

Manifests are still the same and I believe thay are correct
They look like this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
<assemblyIdentity name="FirstAddin, PublicKeyToken=922407a0dcd99066" />
<loaderSettings generateLogFile="true" shadowCopyEnabled="true" privileges="administrator" />
</configuration>

If I try to copy manifests and register addins manually after my setup (using the same commands above) than it success.
I have no other custom actions in my setup project except these.
Posted 15 Sep, 2008 05:24:12 Top
Eugene Astafiev


Guest


Hi Michael,

Try to pause the thread of execution after each statement: 

// Create copy of the first manifest and register
copy FirstAddin.dll.manifest adxloader.dll.manifest
regsvr32 /s FirstAddin.dll

// Create copy of the second manifest and register
copy SecondAddin.dll.manifest adxloader.dll.manifest
regsvr32 /s SecondAddin.dll


Does it help?
Posted 15 Sep, 2008 08:40:10 Top
Michael Voigt




Posts: 2
 Joined: 2008-09-15
I tested it more and this error log seems not to be created by setup (as I thought before), but during the startup of target application.
This error log is created only for FirstAddin.dll (target application = outlook) and not for SecondAddin.dll (target application = word).

I also tried to disable Word as Outlook e-mail editor, but it did not helped.

I blamed setup in previous post, because regsvr32 is called only during setup and I thought that adxloader.dll.manifest is needed only during regsvr32 registration.

After small research it looks like that Addin Express tries to search for adxloader.dll.manifest at every startup of Outlook.
If I copy "FirstAdddin.dll.manifest" to "adxloader.dll.manifest" before starting Outlook, everything looks OK.
If I delete "adxloader.dll.manifest" and restart Outlook, error log is created again.


However, addin seems to be registered and working, but I am afraid that something will fail later, because of ignored problem.

Questions:
- Can you confirm that "adxloader.dll.manifest" is required for every startup of Outlook?
- If yes, how can I handle this situation with 2 addins in the same directory? Is it possible?
Posted 15 Sep, 2008 11:00:45 Top
Eugene Astafiev


Guest


Hi Michael,

1. Yes, the manifest must be located in the same folder with the adxloader.dll.
2. No, you need to place add-ins in separate folders.
Posted 15 Sep, 2008 16:59:13 Top