Environment Variables for ​.NET Customization

There are 4 environment variables, with significant values, available for use with the .NET Customization capability.

CAF_ADDINS_PATH

If this environment variable is unset, the program behaves as if it has been set to the product installation directory. The value can be multiple paths, separated by ';' and the application will search all of them in sequence for AddIns.

The application will search for <module_name>Addins.xml in the directories until it finds a matching file. Once a <module_name>Addins.xml file is found, the application searches the directories for files with the same name. The list of addins is read from these xml files, duplicate entries within the matching files are disregarded.

When customizing, users will probably want to have the product installation directory in the path list to locate standard AVEVA AddIns delivered with the product.

CAF_UIC_PATH

The CAF_UIC_PATH implicitly appends the installation folder.

If this environment variable is unset, the program behaves as if it has been set to the product installation directory. The value can be multiple paths, separated by ';' .

The application will search for <module_name>Customisation.xml in the directories until it finds a matching file. Once a <module_name>Customization.xml file is found, the application searches the directories for files with the same name. The list of customization files is read from these xml files, duplicate entries within the matching files are disregarded.

Each <…>Customization.xml file contains a list of .uic files. The path for which may be a filename, when the uic file is in the same directory, or a full pathname to the where the uic file exists.

Files can use the notation '$1.uic'. The application will substitute the current Project Code (E.G. APS) for $1 on start up. An error will be raised if the file is not found unless the Optional="true" has been specified.

For example:

<UICustomizationFiles>

<CustomizationFile Name="Module" Path="admin.uic" />

<CustomizationFile Name="Project" Path="$1.uic" Optional="true"/>

<CustomizationFile Name="MessageAddin" Path="MessageAddinMenu.uic" />

</UICustomizationFiles>

</UICustomizationSet>

On start-up, the application will look for the uic files specified. An error will be raised if one is not found unless the optional=’true’ has been specified.

The uic files are processed in order. UI containers must have been defined before UI components are added to them.

In addition to using the CAF_UIC_PATH to look for <…>Customization.xml files, the application will also use it to locate resource files.