There is a good chance that this problem can be cured by using a technique described in DevForce "Classic" Installation Guide. You will need to adjust this technique for differences for the names used in DevForce "Classic" and "DevForce EF". BTW, the Addins directory for Vista is C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\MSEnvShared.
Check for “bad” Add-in
ð Launch Visual Studio
ð Select Tools ► Add-in Manager … from the menu.
Add-in Manager probably shows that the IdeaBlade Object Mapper is present as in the following
If you don’t see the Object Mapper listed, see the section entitled “No Object Mapper in Add-In Manager”, below.
Visual Studio “remembers” the last time it tried to use this Add-in and it can’t load what it remembers.
Copying a new version of the Object Mapper Add-in on top of the old copy won’t work. Visual Studio won’t try to load it again until we make it forget about this Add-in.
The trick is to
· Rename the IdeaBlade.DevTools.Orm.AddIn file temporarily,
· convince Visual Studio that it is gone,
· restore the Add-in file name, and
· cause Visual Studio to discover it anew.
The AddIns Directory
Visual Studio looks for an XML file in its “AddIns” directory.
That directory varies depending upon your edition of Visual Studio and how you installed it.
The preferred location is:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\MSEnvShared\AddIns
For the All Users location, you must have the Show Hidden Files and Folders option turned on to see the Application Data folder.
Alternatively, the directory may be in the user’s directory space at
%HOMEPATH%\My Documents\Visual Studio 8\AddIns
You can copy and paste this into Windows Explorer. Realize that this directory may not exist.
Jiggle the Object Mapper AddIn file
We can proceed now that we know where Visual Studio keeps its Add-in information.
ð Exit Visual Studio.
ð Navigate to the Visual Studio “AddIns” directory
ð Rename IdeaBlade.DevTools.Orm.AddIn to IdeaBlade.DevTools.Orm.AddInXX
ð Confirm for Windows that it is OK to change the file extension.
ð Launch Visual Studio.
ð Select Tools ► Add-in Manager … from the menu.
ð Verify that “IdeaBlade Object Mapper” is no longer listed.
If you still see the Object Mapper listed, you won’t be able to revive the Object Mapper. There is some other reference to it somewhere. Please contact Customer Support.
ð Exit Visual Studio.
ð Restore IdeaBlade.DevTools.Orm.AddInX back to IdeaBlade.DevTools.Orm.AddIn
That should do it. Now we verify that the Object Mapper is installed.
ð Launch Visual Studio again.
ð Look for “IdeaBlade Object Mapper” at the top of the Tools menu.