In an effort to make installing and updating the addin easier for non-technical users, I have to date based my addin's installation on the use of Excel's XLSTARTUP folder. This meant that it was relatively easy to save the file in this location, start up Excel, and all was good. While a completely acceptable solution under normal conditions, loading from this location seems to have become a bit of a problem for my addin recently.
This has forced me to install my addin as a fully fledged addin going forward and will affect those users using the manual install option. The download that includes the installer takes care of all of the housekeeping for the installation in the background, so (theoretically) running the installer should be a quick and painless exercise. If you make use of the textamount function, please read the important note at the end of this article.
For users that prefer the manual option, please follow these steps to ensure that the addin is installed correctly going forward:
- Ensure that Excel is not open before installing or updating the addin.
- Delete the existing ieaaddin.xlam file located in the %appdata%\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART folder.
- Download the latest version of the addin from the downloads page.
- Save the downloaded ieaaddin.xlam file to your downloads folder.
- Follow the instructions from this Microsoft article to install the addin properly.
Going forward, when updating manually, the downloaded file can be saved directly to the %appdata%\Microsoft\AddIns folder to overwrite the previous version.
Important information regarding the textamount function
When transitioning from v1.1.7 to v1.2.0, users that have used the textamount function may be prompted to update from a now non-existent addin file when opening files containing this function. Cells containing the textamount function may also display a #NAME? message. Ignore the prompt to update, then once the file has opened, go to cells where you have used textamount and select Correct TextAmount formula from the addin's ribbon. This will update the formula to find the addin in its new location and will need to be repeated for each cell containing the textamount function.
If you experience any difficulties installing or updating the new version of the addin, please drop me a line using the helpdesk or the forum.