How Explorer Loads Custom Task Assemblies

ArcGIS Explorer loads custom tasks automatically when they are referenced in an NMF file. Below you can find information on how Explorer finds, downloads, and loads the task assemblies. After reviewing this information, you may wish to read the summary steps on how to deploy custom tasks.

What are task assemblies?

Custom tasks are deployed in assemblies. This topic defines the term 'task assembly'.

Task Elements in NMF files

ArcGIS Explorer works out which tasks it needs to load by reading task information from a NMF files. This topic tells you about how NMF files store the details of a Task, so you can ensure that your custom tasks are specified correctly in map and task NMF files.

ArcGIS Explorer Tasks folder

ArcGIS Explorer loads task assemblies from subfolders of the Tasks folder, which is located in the current user profile. This topic gives you more information about the location and structure of the folders where custom tasks are stored and loaded from on your machine. This information is particularly useful at the development stage, as understanding the tasks folder can help you to debug your custom task.

Task Downloading

An NMF file may reference a task which does not already exist on the machine in the Tasks folder. In this case, Explorer will automatically download the task to the machine, by copying the task assembly from a location specified in the NMF file. This topic gives you more information about how you can specify a download location for a task assembly, in order to ensure it's correctly downloaded to users machines.