Add-in Express for Microsoft Office and .net VS Add-in Express Regions for Microsoft Outlook and VSTO

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Add-in Express for Microsoft Office and .net VS Add-in Express Regions for Microsoft Outlook and VSTO
 
S?bastien Lange




Posts: 34
Joined: 2022-09-21
Hi,

This is not clear for me whether "Add-in Express Regions for Microsoft Outlook and VSTO" product is a subset of "Add-in Express for Microsoft Office and .net" product... Could you explain?
If the former is not a subset of the latter, do they have components in common?

I actually have a license for Outlook regions, but I now need at least add-in deployment features. Hence my question...

Best regards,
S?bastien
Posted 12 Oct, 2022 12:08:44 Top
Andrei Smolin


Add-in Express team


Posts: 18793
Joined: 2006-05-11
Hello S?bastien,

On add-ins.
There are two technologies allowing creating add-ins for Office:
- VSTO allows creating VSTO add-ins
- Add-in Express allows creating COM add-ins

On products.
Add-in Express for Microsoft Office and .net is a the product that you use to create COM add-ins. This product includes a feature called Add-in Express Regions for Outlook, Excel, Word and PowerPoint.
Add-in Express Regions for Microsoft Outlook and VSTO is a library that you use in VSTO projects. It provides VSTO developers with Add-in Express Regions for Outlook.

On deployment. Check https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/vsto/deploying-an-office-solution-by-using-clickonce?view=vs-2022.

Add-in Express vs. VSTO.
===
Add-in Express for Office and .net cannot be used with VSTO because it provides its own architecture for Office add-ins, different from VSTO?Â?Ð?és. Below you will find a list of the main differences.

Version-neutrality. With Add-in Express you can support all versions of Office 2000 ?Â?Ð?ã 2019 and desktop versions of 365 with a single code base and a single setup project.
Most VSTO versions support only 2 versions of Office - the newest and the previous.

Multi-host. With Add-in Express you can support several host applications in 1 project. In VSTO you will need to create as many add-ins as many hosts you plan to support.

Deployment. VSTO only supports ClickOnce. Add-in Express supports several technologies and installation types, including:

Msi-based setup projects for per-user and per-machine installations (Visual Studio Installer, InstallShield and WiX).
ClickOnce publishing - it allows you to create non-admin per-user installations. Add-in Express supports ClickOnce in a special form (please let me know if you need the details).
ClickTwice - this is an msi-based web-deployment technology our own that supports automatic updates for per-user and per-machine add-in installations.

Add-ins disabled at start-up. For a VSTO add-in, this occurs because the load time exceeds the system limits; imagine the computer being busy with some task and this prevents Outlook from starting fast enough. This doesn't occur for a COM add-in by design.

Roaming profiles. Unlike VSTO based add-ins, COM add-ins do not roam across user profiles. It is because one of the registry branches (under HKEY_CURRENT_USER) where a COM add-in writes its registration information does not roam. As the result a COM add-in works only in the profile where it was installed. A possible workaround is moving that registry branch from one profile to another. An administrator can do this by using Group Policy.
===

Feel free to ask me if you have any questions or need more information.

Regards from Poland (CEST),

Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express Team Leader
Posted 13 Oct, 2022 05:01:18 Top
S?bastien Lange




Posts: 34
Joined: 2022-09-21
"ClickOnce requires that you install your solution separately for each user of a computer"
However I need to install it globally on the PC (install per PC).

Does it mean my VSTO add-in is not compatible at all with install per PC and with Windows Installer (.msi)?
Posted 13 Oct, 2022 07:43:50 Top
Andrei Smolin


Add-in Express team


Posts: 18793
Joined: 2006-05-11
Hello S?bastien,

You can google for using MSI to deploy a VSTO add-in. I believe I saw such articles in the past. As to creating a per-machine VSTO add-in, I'm not sure whether this is possible to do: I simply don't know as we don't use VSTO add-ins.

I would recommend against using per-machine add-ins:
- Installing and updating a per-machine add-in requires administrative permissions while per-user installations requires standard permissions only.
- To update a per-machine add-in, all users must close the add-in's host application(s). Consider a terminal server where some users are on vacations or business trips with their Outlooks still running.
- Sooner or later, your customer may decide that the add-in should be installed for some users, not for all users; this will require you to switch to per-user deployment.

If you can create an .MSI to deploy a per-user add-in, you can use Group Policy in corporate scenarios: you supply the .MSI to an admin who uses system tools to deploy the .MSI to specified users. Typically, the .MSI would run when the user logs in on the domain.

Regards from Poland (CEST),

Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express Team Leader
Posted 13 Oct, 2022 08:01:25 Top
S?bastien Lange




Posts: 34
Joined: 2022-09-21
Hi Andrei,

About :
"Add-ins disabled at start-up. For a VSTO add-in, this occurs because the load time exceeds the system limits; imagine the computer being busy with some task and this prevents Outlook from starting fast enough. This doesn't occur for a COM add-in by design."

I have converted my project from VSTO add-in to a COM add-in.
But Outlook has detected my new COM add-in as a slow add-in. This seems to be the new COM one because I can see "AddinModule"

[img]https://www.dropbox.com/t/Ndi16p1EIwC92mVb[/img]

Have I missed something?

Best regards,
S?bastien
Posted 19 Oct, 2022 08:02:40 Top
Andrei Smolin


Add-in Express team


Posts: 18793
Joined: 2006-05-11
Hello S?bastien,

There are several delays that Outlook traces. The delay at startup is one of them. Another one is working slowly when switching between folders. This is your case. Check suggestions at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vba/outlook/concepts/getting-started/support-for-keeping-add-ins-enabled.

Regards from Poland (CEST),

Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express Team Leader
Posted 20 Oct, 2022 03:41:13 Top