Unable to debug ArcGIS 10.2 add-in on ArcMap with “No GUI components found in this Add-In”

Question

I am working on an ArcGIS add-in (a very simple toolbar with a few buttons) with VB.Net and ArcObjects SDK in Visual Studio 2010. The solution was built successfully and the debug settings were configured.

When I hit Debug, ArcMap application was opened. I couldn't find the toolbar docked anywhere on the ArcMap toolbar. I went to "Customize" -> "Add-in Manager" and the add-in being debugged was not there. Then I tried "Add From File...", located the "esriaddin" file and clicked "Install Add-in". It populated a message box saying "No GUI components found in this Add-In."

I made some Google searches but haven't got any luck to reach a solution yet.

What was I missing? Has anyone come across the same issue and any direction?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Try clicking build first, then open the arcmap separately and check the add-in manager inside of arcmap to see if it got added to the application. If so, you should be able to find it and turn the toolbar on.

Answer 2

I'm not sure about .Net, but I debugged this issue for the Java SDK. You have to make sure you are using the correct versions for compiling. In java, it was an old archive version of jdk1.6 32 bit.

Then I was referencing something wrong inside the xml document. I had changed the name of my JAR file (taken from project name by the ArcObjects SDK). In the xml document it was still pointing towards the old name.

This may not help you, but if anyone else searches this error and is using tje Java SDK, hopefully it will help.

Answer 3

I struggled with this same issue with a 10.0 add in. We had a 10.1 update that worked with 10.1 but trying to install it to 10.2.2 gave me that exact error. So much for upward compatible! I then tried to build 10.2.2 code and kept having this error. Others mentioned needing to build to x86 so I did that although the 10.1 was on Win7-64 and ran with AnyCPU....
I believe the final key for me was in the config file. I had set version to 10.2.2 As soon as I changed that to 10.2, the darn add-in installed just fine. Nice waste of a day for an extra '.2'