Getting Started (Visual Studio Tools for Office)

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This page is specific to

Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

Other versions are also available for the following:

Microsoft Visual Studio 2005/.NET Framework 2.0

Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office system (version 3.0)

Getting Started (Visual Studio Tools for Office)

This section will help you get started using Visual Studio Tools for Office to develop solutions that take advantage of Microsoft Office 2003 and the 2007 Microsoft Office system.

Microsoft Office offers a platform that provides many possibilities for application development using managed code. Visual Studio and the Microsoft .NET Framework provide Rapid Application Development (RAD) programming capabilities that help you create Office-based solutions to suit a variety of business needs.

In This Section

What's New in Visual Studio Tools for Office: Describes new features and features that have changed since the previous version of Visual Studio Tools for Office.
Installing Visual Studio Tools for Office: Provides information and steps for installing the Visual Studio Tools for Office development tools, the runtime that enables Visual Studio Tools for Office solutions to run on end user computers, and the Microsoft Office primary interop assemblies.
Office Solutions Development Overview: Provides background information needed for developing Visual Studio Tools for Office solutions.
Features Available by Application and Project Type: Describes which applications and projects are needed for features such as Ribbon extensibility, custom task panes, actions panes, and form regions.
Office Documents in the Visual Studio Environment Overview: Describes how document-level Visual Studio Tools for Office projects work with the Visual Studio integrated development environment.
Common Tasks in Office Programming: Provides links to topics that can help solve common problems.
Getting Started Programming Document-Level Customizations for Excel: Provides a summary of the important concepts needed to use Visual Studio Tools for Office to create document-level customizations for Microsoft Office Excel.
Getting Started Programming Document-Level Customizations for Word: Provides a summary of the important concepts needed to use Visual Studio Tools for Office to create document-level customizations for Microsoft Office Word.
Getting Started Programming Application-Level Add-Ins: Provides a summary of the important concepts needed to use Visual Studio Tools for Office to create application-level add-ins for Microsoft Office 2003 and the 2007 Microsoft Office system.
VBA and Visual Studio Tools for Office Solutions Compared: Describes the relative strengths of Visual Basic for Applications and Visual Studio Tools for Office for developing Office solutions.
Getting Started Writing Code: Describes how to find the code view in the Visual Studio designer when you are working on a Visual Studio Tools for Office project.

Related Sections

How Do I in Visual Studio Tools for Office: Provides links to categorized lists of Help topics that address key programming tasks.
Office Development Samples and Walkthroughs: Provides links to sample applications and topics that give step-by-step instructions for performing common tasks.
Upgrading and Migrating Office Solutions: Provides information about how to migrate projects that were created by using earlier versions of Visual Studio Tools for Office to the current release.
Architecture of Visual Studio Tools for Office Solutions: Describes the components of Visual Studio Tools for Office solutions and how they work at design time and run time.
Designing Office Solutions: Provides information about how to create a Visual Studio Tools for Office project and configure your project in Visual Studio.
Developing Office Solutions: Provides information about how to implement code and user interface customizations in a Visual Studio Tools for Office project.
Security in Office Solutions: Provides information about security requirements for Visual Studio Tools for Office solutions.
Deploying Office Solutions: Provides information about how to make Visual Studio Tools for Office solutions available to your users, and describes the major issues to consider when you choose a deployment method and set security.
Office Solutions Development: Contains links into native developer reference material for Office applications.
Visual Studio Tools for Office Technical Articles and Visual How Tos: Contains links into videos and technical articles about Visual Studio Tools for Office.