ESRI add-in

An add-in can be used to attach Python to standard controls like buttons or drop down selection lists. It can also be used from Data Driven Pages, so that some python runs each time a DDP page is selected.

It consists of a ZIP file with configuration and python code in it, with the extension changed from .zip to .esriaddin.

The easiest way to create one is to use the ESRI wizard to make a new project and then to modify the files to add your code.

Create an add-in

First create the template using the ESRI Python Add-In Wizard.

Add your code. (Just like that no additional help needed. :-)

This will give you a makeaddin.py script that you can run to build the .esriaddin file.

I use Visual Studio set to run makeaddin.py when I do an F5 to run the project.

I have ArcMap set to search my source directory on startup. (See Data Driven Pages for help.) Then I only need to reload ArcMap to test new versions.

What's in an esriaddin file?

I opened my DDP extension in emacs. It looks like this:

 Filemode      Length  Date         Time      File
 ----------  --------  -----------  --------  -------------------------------
 -rw-rw-rw-      1897  23-May-2018  15:22:30  config.xml
 -rw-rw-rw-       694  19-Apr-2018  12:18:14  README.txt
 -rw-rw-rw-      2834  30-Apr-2018  10:27:38  makeaddin.py
 -rw-rw-rw-     11951  20-Apr-2018  10:19:58  Images/cc_logo_64x64.png
 -rw-rw-rw-     27711  19-Apr-2018  10:12:54  Images/ormap.png
 -rw-rw-rw-      4543  23-May-2018  12:24:52  Install/ccmap.py
 -rw-rw-rw-      5859  23-May-2018  12:07:48  Install/arc_utilities.py
 -rw-rw-rw-      4293  18-May-2018  12:08:28  Install/cancellations.py
 -rw-rw-rw-      3182  28-Mar-2018  11:36:54  Install/mapnum.py
 -rw-rw-rw-      4592  11-May-2018  16:28:44  Install/MXDReport_tool.py
 -rw-rw-rw-      3932  29-Mar-2018  11:33:26  Install/mxd_report.py
 -rw-rw-rw-     10504   3-Apr-2018  16:52:26  Install/ormapnum.py
 -rw-rw-rw-      3400   3-Apr-2018  16:03:32  Install/printMaps.py
 -rw-rw-rw-      7128  21-May-2018  16:30:22  Install/PrintMaps_tool.py
 -rw-rw-rw-     13514  18-May-2018  12:37:22  Install/zoomToMapNumber.py
 -rw-rw-rw-      4336  21-May-2018  16:30:22  Install/ZoomToMapNumber_tool.py
 -rw-rw-rw-       186  12-Apr-2018  16:40:12  Install/__init__.py
 -rw-rw-rw-      2547  25-Apr-2018  16:49:52  Install/ORMAP_config.py
 ----------  --------  -----------  --------  -------------------------------
               113103                         18 files

If you look in my source code you will see ONLY ccmap.py in the Install/ folder. I tweaked the makeaddin.py script to copy all the other files in there, so that I can share most of the code with other projects. There is probably a good way to do this directly in Visual Studio too.