First steps at plug-in development

[PeterK]

I understand that every ACT add-in needs a reference to act.framework.dll found in Act2013 in C:\ACT_Premium_2013_SP1\ACTWG\GlobalAssemblyCache\Act.Office.Addin.dll.

When I simply add this reference to a vanilla VS 2010 solution I get this warning:

Warning 1 The referenced assembly "Act.Framework, Version=15.1.108.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=ebf6b2ff4d0a08aa, processorArchitecture=MSIL" could not be resolved because it has a dependency on "System.Workflow.Activities, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35" which is not in the currently targeted framework ".NETFramework,Version=v4.0,Profile=Client". Please remove references to assemblies not in the targeted framework or consider retargeting your project. WindowsApplication1

The code I'm trying to run is:

Imports Act.Framework
Public Class Form1

     Dim ActFwk1  As New Act.Framework.ActFramework

End Class

Can someone suggest what causes this and what I need to do to remove it and also to get the ActFramework recognised by intellisense within VS.  Thanks

[knif · Accepted solution]

You're location is probably the better one. I have that file path as well.

The path I mentioned before was the final installed path for ACT. The only portion of that that would change on a 32 bit OS would be "Program Files (x86)" to just "Program Files."

[knif]

In your project properties, you need to switch the target framework from .NET 4.0 Client, to .NET 4.0. The default for any new 4.0 project is the client profile, so it just needs to be changed.

[PeterK]

Thanks for your quick response.

Sorry but I can't find a drop down .NET Framework anywhere in the project properties.

This link refers to a target framework dropdown list but I can't manage to locate it.  Perhaps I'm acting blind !  Another clue to its location would be good. Thanks.

[knif]

The thing with the MSDN site, is that it usually defaults to the most recent version of the product, so the link you sent refers to VS 2012. The drop down has moved in that version.

This one should be for VS 2010. For those who don't want to click, in the project properties, you go into the Compile tab, then press the Advanced Compile Options button at the bottom. The drop down for the target framework will be in the new window that pops up.

[PeterK]

Got it !  I now have Intellisense  on Act class. Thanks.

But I now have a warning:

Error 1 Reference required to assembly 'Microsoft.Practices.Unity, Version=1.2.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35' containing the type 'Microsoft.Practices.Unity.IUnityContainer'. Add one to your project. C:\Users\peter\documents\visual studio 2010\Projects\ActSimple1\ActSimple1\Form1.vb 5 9 ActSimple1

Which .dll do I need to load to solve this issue ? 

[ The only literature I can find on this class is that suggests it is "no longer being maintained.]

[knif]

I found a lot of DLLs here:  C:\Program Files (x86)\ACT\Act for Windows

Note that I'm running on Win7 64-bit. I'm not sure if this is the best place to grab from for a plugin. I've only developed a few stand-alone applications that push/pull data from ACT in batch. Hope this helps though.

[PeterK]

Fantastic - all I have to do is look for a DLL in the same place as the Act.Framerwork.dll with the a name that matches that in the error message -  for 32 bit that's C:\ACT_Premium_2013_SP1\ACTWG\GlobalAssemblyCache\Microsoft.Practices.Unity.dll.  As you say the location of the .dll depends on 32/64 bit. 

Once I add this reference - all the errors go !   Thanks again for your help.  I can now move to step 2 - trying to get something useful out of the database...

[knif · Accepted solution]

You're location is probably the better one. I have that file path as well.

The path I mentioned before was the final installed path for ACT. The only portion of that that would change on a 32 bit OS would be "Program Files (x86)" to just "Program Files."

[jimdurkin]

Check out this posting.

http://community.act.com/t5/Act-Developer-s-Forum/Where-can-I-find-Act-Shared-Diagnostics-dll-versio...

-- JIm

[PeterK]

Thanks Jim.