Extending the Spotfire installation

Use the following procedure to extend Spotfire with custom capabilities. This procedure is an overview of all of the tasks required to create, build, debug, and deploy a Spotfire extension.

About this task

Perform these tasks in Microsoft Visual Studio®, in Spotfire Package Builder, and in the installed Spotfire client.

Note: This help refers to options and configurations in Visual Studio 2017. The steps might vary when using other versions.

Before you begin

You must have a supported version of Visual Studio installed and configured for a Spotfire client.
You must have Spotfire Package Builder installed. See Spotfire Package Builder for more information.
You must have the Spotfire Windows application installed on your computer.
You must have administration access to Spotfire Server.

Procedure

In Visual Studio, open an existing extension or create a new extension.
If you are creating an extension, use the Spotfire® extension template.
Build the extension.
In Spotfire Package Builder, add the extension to a configuration that includes the Spotfire client.

Important: In compliance with the design guidelines for Spotfire extensions, only one add-in implementation is available in the project; however, the project can contain any number of extensions.
In Visual Studio, develop and debug the extension.
In Spotfire Package Builder, build a Spotfire package file containing the extension.
In Spotfire Server, use the web interface to add the Spotfire package file to the Spotfire Server to the deployment area for distribution.

Results

After the package is distributed, users who start a Spotfire session and access the Spotfire Server are prompted to download updates. If the user accepts the prompt, the extension is downloaded to the client computer, and the client restarts. The extension is loaded in the running Spotfire instance.