‘Office Development’ category archive

Outlook Object Model: 4 things developers might not know

Today, I will cover 4 topics of Outlook development tasks that are not commonly known or mainstream. You can argue about how well known each task is but you will lose. These tasks are not commonly known because you don't always need them. They are beyond the basics. But, if you master them, you can look upon other Outlook developer with a snooty little smirk... Read the rest of this entry →

Range Selection in Excel add-ins – good manners for developers

Having been fully absorbed in developing our frameworks for a while, I lost any connection with the other part of our business - ablebits.com. Doh, I shouldn't have allowed this to happen. I clearly realized that on last Saturday evening when, to the wailing of snow storm Xavier raging across this country, I installed the latest version of the Excel Ultimate Suite on my laptop... Read the rest of this entry →

Office Newswire: Office Developer Tools for Visual Studio 2012 are here!

Now that Office 2013 is generally available (aka GA), it's go-time! Time to assess and decide what to do and when. I know you will upgrade to Office 2013 and to SharePoint 2013. It's not if… it's when... Read the rest of this entry →

Office 2013 is for sale; Office App Store already dead; COM Add-ins alive and well

As you know, Office 2013 is now available for purchase. Like all editions before it, Office 2013 is, "the best Office yet". If it weren't, I sure hope MSFT wouldn't release it. I don't think, "This version is quite as good as the last version" works as a tagline... Read the rest of this entry →

Office Newswire: Are Office 2013 licensing terms draconian?

Microsoft tells customers to start renting Office via Office 365 or purchase a severely limited perpetual license. The press hates this decision, calls it draconian, and tells us everyone will switch to Google Docs... Read the rest of this entry →

Office Newswire: Microsoft, burn the boats already!

Microsoft find themselves in an entirely new and foreign landscape. The successes of their past will not help them here. The demands are new. The language is different. People here do not work as they do in the old country of their past. Microsoft must find it within themselves to match wits with their enemies and succeed... Read the rest of this entry →

Office Newswire :: Microsoft Releases Office 2013

Three days ago, Microsoft surprised us all by releasing Office 2013. I wasn't expecting it to happen until March. Maybe Office for iOS will arrive in March instead. Who knows?! That's why this is fun to watch... Read the rest of this entry →

Office Newswire: Microsoft Office 2013 will not be free

It's eerie, the quiet. Office 2013 went RTM something like three years ago. It feels that way to me at least. Not much new is going on (publicly at least) except for the blog posts from the various Office teams. It's all quiet here on the Western front... Read the rest of this entry →

Office Newswire: A new year. A new Microsoft?

A new year, a new Microsoft roadmap. Here is some palace intrigue. The editorial is based on an old/stale PowerPoint slide but that doesn’t prevent it from being interesting. If it can be trusted, looks like the Office 16 is planned for 2015... ... Read the rest of this entry →

Developing a Word Task Pane App

Today's sample will integrate with the Microsoft Translator API. The app will allow you to select text within Word, translate the text, and view the translation results. This type of task pane is not the same animal we know and love as Office developers. This type of is the kind a web developer-type would love... Read the rest of this entry →

Office Newswire: Are Apps for Office & SharePoint worthy of your time?

Today I have a question to get us started talking to each other. Are the Apps for Office and SharePoint worthy of your time, talent and resources? What do you think? Are you building apps for the app store? Do you think Apps for Office is a viable platform? Bring it! ... Read the rest of this entry →

How to create an Excel Content Pane App

Last we spoke, I was dealing with the limitations of the Apps for Office development model. This time, I played it straight and didn't try to exceed its limits. I thought life would be simple. I'd find a decent API to use for pulling in some data to Excel via a Content App. Simple right? ... Read the rest of this entry →

Office Newswire: Should Office become the operating system?

Because Microsoft has thrust upon us new version of Windows and Office, there is a lot of prognosticating by those who make a living prognosticating. When it comes to predicting the future, I believe the best advice is to do what the best weather people (man or woman) do... Read the rest of this entry →

How to develop an Excel Task Pane App

Instead of an article, this is more like a memoir... "Ty Anderson: An Apps for Office developer memoir". The new Apps for Office development model provides plenty of new possibilities for Microsoft Office developers. Although new, they give the appearance of familiarity. Do you think I'm crazy? ... Read the rest of this entry →

Office Newswire: Did Microsoft Sin(ofsky)? + Office for iOS Rumors are true! ++ Yammer: What’s its impact?

I appreciate lots of things about life. I’ll skip the normal stuff of family and friends… they’re a given. I’ll also skip fine wine, scotch, and a good steak. They are great and are best enjoyed with friends. But they are not germane to this post. Something that is germane and has to do with enjoying life is... Read the rest of this entry →

Creating WiX installation projects for VSTO-based Office add-ins

In the last two articles, I've shown you how to create a WiX installer for Add-in Express based add-ons from scratch and how to convert your existing setup projects to WiX. In this blog, I'll show you how to create a WiX installer for Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO) based Office add-in projects... Read the rest of this entry →

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