How to place Addon to own subfolder

[michaelsh]

My addon consists of multiple assemblies.

When I place all the files straight into
NinjaTrader 8\bin\Custom
NT8 detects the addon - all good

When I place all the files into my own subfolder
NinjaTrader 8\bin\Custom\MyAddon
NT8 does not detect it

Same behavior with NT8 standard addon sample.

How do I place addon assemblies into separate subfolder?

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NT8 version 8.0.5
Windows 10 64 bit

[NinjaTrader_Jesse]

Hello michaelsh,

I wanted to check, are you referring to when you export as a compiled assembly and then placing those in a separate location? Or is this some other configuration?
Also, are you re-referencing these items after manually moving them?

By default imports are imported to the NinjaTrader 8\bin\Custom and referenced to this folder in the config. You can edit the reference if you want to move the assemblies in some cases. In the ninjaScript editor, you would right click and choose References to change the location.

I look forward to being of further assistance.

[michaelsh]

Hi Jesse,

We use Visual Studio solution with referenced NinjaTrader.Core and NinjaTrader.Gui

We will be distributing this addon using custom installer. It will have about 15 referenced assemblies, including some standard libraries. I thought for practical reasons it is better to place these addon and assemblies into separate folder inside NinjaTrader 8\bin\Custom
Otherwise it may potentially interfere with assemblies from other vendors.

Documentation states that:
... place the DLL into the appropriate subfolder (NinjaTrader 8/bin/Custom/AddOns, or a subfolder in this directory)

https://ninjatrader.com/support/helpGuides/nt8/en-us/?developing_add_ons.htm

However dlls are only being detected if placed directly in NinjaTrader 8/bin/Custom

All subfolders seem to be ignored

[NinjaTrader_Jesse]

Hello,

Thank you for the reply.

The NinjaTrader.Core and NinjaTrader.Gui references should only be used in visual studio but not actually copied to the custom folder in case that is why you mentioned these two references specifically. These items will be referenced by the platform automatically.

In the case the standard libraries are items that come with the platform, you would need to just reference the installed version that comes with the platform in the program files directory location. Other libraries you would need to ensure they are in the custom folder.

I will need to check the help guide entry, this may be a typo. I see in the actual project file the build event points to NinjaTrader 8\bin\Custom to support the files only being loaded in the custom directory.

I look forward to being of further assistance

[michaelsh]

Jesse,

- I'm not copying NinjaTrader.Core and NinjaTrader.Gui. I've mentioned just so you understand the environment

- By standard libraries I mean some nuget packages that we are using that might as well be used by other vendors, e.g. nlog.dll, etc.

As I understand from your reply, I must place all my assemblies in NinjaTrader 8\bin\Custom folder.
Placing assembies in subfolder, e.g. NinjaTrader 8\bin\Custom\MyAddon won't work.

Is that correct?

[NinjaTrader_Jesse]

Hello,

Yes, this would be correct, you can test this by compiling the example project and placing it in the addons folder. After starting the platform it does not ask you if you want to confirm the addon whereas placing it in the custom folder it will detect it and ask you.

Regarding the third party libraries, in this case if you are using a custom installer you may need to check if the file exists and if not install it. I am unsure if you are able to check the dependency version in the installer also, this could potentially matter if some item uses an old version where you use a new version. If that specifically becomes and issue down the line, we could look into a more specific example to see what could be done in that situation.

I look forward to being of further assistance.

[michaelsh]

Thanks Jesse

I hope NinjaTrader adds support for subfolders in future. This is very useful when deploying large addons.

[ClickAlgo]

Hi Guys,

I am in the same boat, I have multiple assemblies which I am attempting to merge into a single assembly to be added to the custom folder, but I would prefer a unique folder for my AddOns and it's assemblies when merging does not work.

Have you managed to provide flexibility for AddOn developers so that we do not have to place all our assembles into the same folder? As Michael has mentioned this could cause potential conflicts and is not very well designed.

So is there a workaround and if not, are you planning to pickup the AddOn assemblies from sub folders in the future?

Paul.