HowTo: Create a COM add-in, XLL UDF and RTD server in one assembly

You know, a pessimist differs from an optimist by his attitude to a glass: the former thinks the glass is half empty, while the latter considers it's half full. When I was contemplating on the circumstances that made me write this post, I worked out another definition... Read the rest of this entry →

Video HowTo: Customize Fluent Ribbon UI in Outlook 2007 Inspectors (VB.NET)

Most of Office 2007 applications have the Fluent Ribbon UI. Today we will explore the most popular methods of customizing this part of the user interface on example of Outlook 2007 Inspectors... Read the rest of this entry →

Video HowTo: Customize Fluent Ribbon UI in Outlook 2007 Inspectors (VSTO)

Most Office 2007 applications have the Fluent Ribbon UI. Today we will have a look at the most frequently used methods of modifying this part of user interface and we’ll take Outlook 2007 Inspectors as an example... Read the rest of this entry →

Technical Evangelist, Add-in Express 2010 for IE and news from “office” fields

This post is in fact a copy of the newsletter that I sent out yesterday. I have to admit the newsletter was quite a success and brought the results much better than I had hoped for :) But let's not put the cart before the horse, first comes a story... Read the rest of this entry →

Why not to use Visual Studio 2003 (.NET Framework 1.1) for developing Office extensions

We insist on not using .NET Framework 1.1. Why? Because there is a high probability that an Office extension developed with this .NET Framework version will break down other Office extensions developed in higher .NET Framework versions... Read the rest of this entry →

Supporting several Office versions in an add-in. Interop assemblies and late binding.

When accessing a COM type library in .NET via early binding you need to use a corresponding interop. An interop for an Office application is a .NET assembly providing meta-information about objects, properties, methods, and parameters available in the type library (=object model) of the Office application. Microsoft provides interops for all Office applications starting from Office version 2002... Read the rest of this entry →

Video HowTo: Customize Outlook Inspector using Advanced Outlook Regions (VB.NET)

This video HowTo showcases the capabilities of Add-in Express Advanced Regions for customizing inspectors in Outlook 2000 - 2007. Using Advanced Regions you can embed any .net forms into a native Outlook Inspector window and position it to the right, to the left, above or below the inspector window, or overlaying it... Read the rest of this entry →

Video HowTo: Customize Outlook Inspector using Advanced Outlook Regions (VSTO)

This visual HowTo showcases will demonstrate what Add-in Express Advanced Regions can offer you for modifying Outlook 2007 inspectors. Using Advanced Regions you can embed your .net form into a native Outlook Inspector window and place it to the left, to the right, at the top or at the bottom of the inspector window or even overlay it... Read the rest of this entry →

Visual Studio 2010, Office 2010 and Add-in Express 2010

Every time when I set about to write on some topic like this, I am torn by internal strife - whether to develop a theme in such a major-marketing tone, so characteristic of bravura press-releases that have already flooded web-sites of component vendors, or simply publish a post on the blog... Read the rest of this entry →

Video HowTo: Customize Outlook Inspector toolbars (VB.NET)

Today we are going to explore the capabilities of the ADXOlInspectorCommandBar component that you can use to add your own toolbars and modify existing ones in Outlook 2000, XP and 2003. This component as well as ADXOlExplorerCommandBar is context-sensitive... Read the rest of this entry →

Video HowTo: Modify Outlook Inspector command bars (VSTO)

This visual sample highlights the capacities of the ADXOlInspectorCommandBar component that you can use to add your own toolbars and modify existing ones in Outlook 2003. Like ADXOlExplorerCommandBar, this component is also context-sensitive... Read the rest of this entry →

Video HowTo: Customize Outlook Inspector in a VB.NET COM add-in

A couple of weeks ago I came across an interesting article on MSDN - Building a C++ Add-in for Outlook 2010. Aha, Outlook 2010, I need to scrutinize it when I have a spare minute, definitely I will find something remarkable there. This is what I thought when added a new task with the link to that article to my TODO list. Well, I've got a spare minute today... Read the rest of this entry →

Video HowTo: Customize Outlook Inspector menu (VB.NET)

This is yet another short HowTo sample of the serious exploring all possible ways of the Outlook UI customization. And today we will show you how to customize the Inspector main menu in Outlook 2000-2003... Read the rest of this entry →

Video HowTo: Customize Outlook Inspector menu (VSTO)

We continue a series of short video HowTo samples that focus on various ways of customizing the Outlook user interface. Today we are going to look into the main menu of Outlook 2003 Inspector... Read the rest of this entry →

HowTo: Register your MS Office add-in with WiX

If you are using Microsoft’s WiX toolset to build a setup for your Add-In, then there are several ways to register the Add-In. I’ve seen examples that use a custom action to call RegSvr32.exe to do the registration. But since RegSvr32.exe does nothing more than calling the DllRegisterServer function of our Add-In, why not calling that directly from a custom action?... Read the rest of this entry →

Add-in Express for Office – Generation 2010 roadmap

We started Generation 2010 in November, 2009 and even had time to release Add-in Express 2010 for Internet Explorer. As for "Office", for quite a long time there have been more questions than answers. And, quite naturally, we've been dependent not only on the plans of Microsoft but Embarcadero's schedule as well... Read the rest of this entry →

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