"Remove add-in's upon exit" macro

A macro can do the job, but everyone needs to remember to run the macro.

An addin can be programmed to run when SW closes. However, I have seen that SW often fails to trigger events that signal that SW is closing.

If you get a macro, it would be a simple thing to create an addin that triggers the macro. Then you can decide whether to trigger the macro at startup (more reliable) or shutdown. That, or you can convert the macro to an addin, maybe with built-in options to control how the addin is triggered and what addins are released.

Template for creating an addin in VB. Follow the comments, shake and stir as needed:

Well I don't think it is that straightforward. You can use a macro to load and unload addins, but if you want to know what addins there are, you need to tweak with registry. Of course you can write a quick-n-dirty solution if you know what addins to close, but if you want the macro to work regardless of what addins are installed and running, be prepared for some registry programming.

-h-

since these on/off settings are stored in the registry it seems like you only need to write a program to restore an exported registry key

open solidworks set all addins to OFF close solidworks Then backup the addins key in the registry then write a batch file to apply the back up registry then the batch file would call the solidworks.exe

change all the solidworks shortcuts on everyone's box to point to the batch file instead. This should change the registry first & then start solidworks with all addins off -- this way there should be no need to monitor solidworks shutting down.

What I don't know of is how to mechanically do this -- or if you need to write a windows script instead.

I hope this gets you going in the right direction though

Steve T.

Same web page, different module. Feel free to use the registry utilities (plug into VB program).

I assumed there was an API to access a list of available addins. It appears there is no such animal.

Oh gosh, now _that_ was clever.

No scripting is needed. You could use normal windows scheluded tasks to apply the registry values eg. every morning. You can apply a registry file silently by command "regedit.exe /s c:\foo\bar.reg"

-h-

I'v made (with the help of this NG) a macro for loading or unloading a addin DLL. The way it works that it chacks if the defined DLL is loaded it unloads it and vice versa...

Now I have a cleared all my addins from starting with SW and only start them whenever I need them. the advantage with this is that it does not write anything at the registry, so next time the addin is not started... so I would gather that it's just what you need... only it's not the exact solution you asked :p

------------------------------------------------------ Dim swApp As Object

Dim RetVal As Long

'Path to the add in DLL Const strAddInPath As String = "C:\Program Files\whatever\example.dll"

Sub main()

Set swApp = Application.SldWorks If Not swApp Is Nothing Then RetVal = swApp.LoadAddIn(strAddInPath) 'Load Add in If RetVal = 2 Then 'add in already loaded 'Unload the add in swApp.UnloadAddIn strAddInPath End If End If Set swApp = Application.SldWorks End Sub

-------------------------------------------------------

I added something so it only removes a specific addin. In this case it removes photoworks from SW2004.

I noticed that when this macro is run the checkbox on the photoworks addin does not accurately reflect the actual status of the addin, but the change actually happens as evidenced by the photowork toolbar disappearing.

I wasn't able to find an API call that lists loaded addins.

I think it is possible to get SW to read a macro on startup. Haven't checked this out though.

'TOGGLE SPECIFIC ADDIN ' ' KVICK 060301 TOGGLES ADDIN ' PBK 060302 ADDED ERROR CHECK AND ONLY REMOVES ADDIN ' ' Dim swApp As Object Dim BoolStatus As Boolean Dim RetVal As Long

'Path to the add in DLL Const strAddInPath As String = "C:\Program Files\SolidWorks2004\photoworks\pworks.dll"

Sub main()

Set swApp = Application.SldWorks If Not swApp Is Nothing Then RetVal = swApp.LoadAddIn(strAddInPath) 'Load Add in Select Case RetVal Case 0, 1, 2 'add in already loaded 'Unload the add in swApp.UnloadAddIn strAddInPath Case -1 BoolStatus = MsgBox("An Error Occured Loading" & strAddInPath, vbInformation, "DLL Unload Status") End Select End If Set swApp = Application.SldWorks End Sub

' 0: Success. Add-In load was successful. ' ' 1: Add-In not loaded. However, this is not an error condition. ' ' -1: Add-In not loaded. Unknown error occurred. ' ' 2: Add-In not loaded. Add-In is already loaded.

Nice... Here's the "commandline" for running macros on startup...

"C:\Program Files\SolidWorks\SLDWORKS.exe" /m "X:\Macros\what.swp"