Posts Tagged ‘C#’

Creating custom task panes for Excel 2013 – 2003

When building task panes for Microsoft Excel, Add-in Express provides developers with two options; using the standard Microsoft Office task pane or the more flexible Add-in Express advanced Office task panes... Read the rest of this entry →

Working with Microsoft Word templates: C# sample

This is a continuation of the work we did in my previous article. The difference is, we will use a pre-built template for inserting data. Instead of inserting data "willy-nilly", we need to find where to insert it within the document's pre-defined structure... Read the rest of this entry →

Populating Word documents with data from external sources (database, SharePoint, Outlook, etc.)

Today, I have three main C# code samples that insert data into Word. Each sample method creates and then goes to town inserting data. It is a simple strategy and works very well to get you started integrating data into Word... Read the rest of this entry →

Working with Word document properties, bookmarks, content controls and quick parts

Even though the object model can be somewhat daunting it gives you amazing flexibility and power over programmatically bending MS Word to your will. In today's article we'll have a look at the Microsoft Word document properties, content controls, quick parts and bookmarks, and how you can access and use these objects in your own add-ins... Read the rest of this entry →

Working with multiple Microsoft Word documents: C# add-in example

In today's article we'll take a look at how you can combine information and text from various existing Microsoft Word documents into a single document. We'll create a Word add-in that will allow the user to select and insert different paragraphs from one or more existing Word documents, into another document... Read the rest of this entry →

Building custom task panes for Word 2013 – 2003

When building a Word add-in using Add-in Express, you have a choice of either creating a standard Office task pane or using the Add-in Express advanced Office task panes. In this article, we'll take a look at both approaches.... Read the rest of this entry →

Customizing Word main menu, context menus and Backstage view: C# sample

Microsoft Word, like all the Office applications, introduced the Ribbon UI in Office 2007. However, Office 2003 still has a pretty big install base. This means that you will need to cater for the different user interface components that accompany Word 2003 and older.... Read the rest of this entry →

Automating Word Mail Merge in Visual Studio – C# sample

The Mail Merge functionality in Microsoft Word is one of the most powerful features that enables you to create, amongst other things, simple form letters. It is, however, one of the tricky things to get your head around when trying to automate it in either an Office add-in or a stand-alone application using the Word Object model... Read the rest of this entry →

Customizing built-in Office Ribbon groups – C# Excel add-in example

Customizing the built-in Microsoft Office ribbon groups is something that many people have tried but they usually hit a brick wall in the process. Unfortunately, it is not possible to customize the built-in ribbon groups, however, you can create your custom Office ribbon group and "replace" the built-in group with your own... Read the rest of this entry →

Working with Outlook tasks: how to create, get and delete Task and To-Do items

Outlook tasks are a great way to keep track of things you need to do. I use it every single day! A task item is a standard Outlook type and by default all tasks are flagged for follow-up when created. When any items such as an e-mail, task or contact are flagged for follow-up it automatically becomes a to-do item and is visible in your To-do bar... Read the rest of this entry →

Working with Outlook Accounts, Stores, Folders and Items

Any user of Microsoft Outlook will tell you that you cannot use Outlook without first setting up an account. This account can either be an Exchange server, POP or IMAP account, although Outlook can support any MAPI style account too.... Read the rest of this entry →

Customizing Outlook main menu, context menus and Backstage view

Often, the focus of an Outlook add-in centers around a custom ribbon or form region. I think this makes sense. They are sexy, upfront, and what everyone wants to see. But they are not enough. A good Outlook solution should provide other user interface customizations that allow the user to execute your solution's logic. These other methods are, arguably, the less-sexy, more utilitarian UI components. I am referring of course to the main menu, context menus, and the backstage.... Read the rest of this entry →

The Outlook UI: Explorer and Inspector Windows. What is customizable?

It can take some time to familiarize yourself and understand the various different components of the Outlook UI. Outlook is made up of windows, panes and forms. The two types of Outlook windows are Explorer and Inspector windows... Read the rest of this entry →

Outlook views: How to create a custom view for calendar, task, mail items

Outlook views allow you to group, sort and view all the different types of Outlook data within the View panel of the Outlook Explorer window. Outlook comes with a few built-in views for each Outlook item type (mail, task, calendar, etc.) which can be accessed via the View tab... Read the rest of this entry →

Create Office add-ins with Visual Studio 2012 Express

Today I am going to break our long-time tradition of announcing major version releases only with the announcement of the new minor update of Add-in Express for Office and .net. "What is special about this build?" you may ask me. Well, I have the answer. Apart from minor improvements and bug fixes the new build (7.2.4055) adds support for Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows Desktop... Read the rest of this entry →

Outlook 2013 add-ins and Visual Studio 2012: Getting started for VSTO developers

Today we'll focus on how developers, coming from a Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO) background, can get started developing add-ins for Outlook 2013 using Add-in Express and Visual Studio 2012 (C#, VB.NET or C++.NET).... Read the rest of this entry →

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