Creating Office Solutions in Visual Studio
You can use Visual Studio Tools for Office to create document-level solutions and application-level solutions. The projects that are available to you depend on which combination of products you have installed. For more information, see Features Available by Product Combination.
Document-level projects support Microsoft Office Word 2003 and Microsoft Office Excel 2003. They include two main parts: a Microsoft Office 2003 document and an assembly. The document can be a Word document (.doc), a Word template (.dot), an Excel workbook (.xls), or an Excel template (.xlt). The assembly is a .dll file generated from a Visual Basic (.vb) or C# (.cs) file. The assembly contains managed code that adds functionality to the document.
Application-level projects support a variety of applications in Microsoft Office 2003 and the 2007 Microsoft Office system. These projects consist of an assembly that contains the functionality of the add-in. The assembly is a .dll file that is loaded when the Microsoft Office application is started. An add-in has access to all types in the object model of the application.
In This Section
- How to: Create Visual Studio Tools for Office Projects
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Describes how to use the Visual Studio Tools for Office Project Wizard to create a Visual Studio Tools for Office project.
- Visual Studio Tools for Office Project Templates Overview
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Describes the project templates included with Visual Studio Tools for Office.
- Visual Studio Tools for Office Project Events
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Describes the
Startupevent andShutdownevent, which are included in Visual Studio Tools for Office projects.
- Properties in Visual Studio Tools for Office Projects
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Describes the properties that are exposed in the Properties window.
- Document vs. Template Files
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Discusses the different ways to make your Word document available to your users and briefly describes the advantages of each.
- Limitations of Global Templates and Add-ins
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Explains that Visual Studio Tools for Office projects are not supported as global templates or Excel add-ins.
- How to: Re-enable an Application-Level Add-in That Has Been Disabled
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Provides the steps to follow to re-enable add-ins if Outlook stops loading them.
- Assemblies in Office Projects Overview
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Explains the role of managed-code assemblies in Office projects. Also, discusses the issue of keeping the assembly with the Office document versus keeping it on a server.
- Application and Deployment Manifests in Office Solutions
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Explains the role of application and deployment manifests in locating assemblies for Office solutions.
- How to: Open Office Solutions without Running Code
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Explains how you can open a document or workbook that contains managed code extensions without running the assembly code.
- How to: Set Up Configuration Information for an Office Solution
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Explains how to manually add a .config file to your Office solution.
- Namespace Considerations in Office Solutions
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Provides guidance for changing the namespace of your solutions.
- Threading Support in Office
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Explains how background threads interact with the Office object model.
- Collaborative Development of Office Solutions
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Discusses the extra steps required to enable collaborating developers to open a solution that uses managed code extensions and test the assembly.
- Globalization and Localization of Office Solutions
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Discusses issues involved with localizing Office solutions, including static text, which must be handled separately from the assembly and other managed resources.
- How to: Localize Excel Solutions
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Demonstrates how to store strings for Microsoft Office Excel 2003 user interface elements in the project's default assembly resource file to enable localization.
- Combining VBA and Managed Code Extensions
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Discusses the issues involved with having Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) in a Visual Studio Tools for Office solution.
- How to: Permit Code to Run Behind Documents with Restricted Permissions
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Provides steps for enabling your code to access the object model of protected documents.
- Information Rights Management and Managed Code Extensions Overview
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Discusses the issues involved when using Information Rights Management (IRM) with Visual Studio Tools for Office solution documents.
- Document Protection in Office Solutions
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Explains how to work with a protected Word document in Visual Studio.
- Password Protection on Office Documents
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Describes the behavior of Visual Studio Tools for Office solution documents and workbooks that require a password to open.