Addin Bars Move in Word.

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Addin Bars Move in Word.
Some Terminal Services users open Word addin bars missing/move 
Tony Hao




Posts: 3
Joined: 2009-04-27
Hi,

We have applications using the addin express COM to add documents from Outlook, Word, etc. to our database software.

There is a particular user site that is experiencing strange behavior when using the Office Tools particularly in Word where the addin bar is in Word, then after closing and returning to Word the toolbar is missing. They can sometimes find the toolbar listed in view, toolbars then tick it making the item available again only to disappear later.

Also when certain users open an email or create a new email in outlook the addin bar is there but the Outlook email toolbar moves down below the email Subject line. You can move it back into position with the normal Outlook bars as well as ours but it returns to just below the Subject line again after opening a new email.

This site is using a Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition SP2 users access through Terminal Services. 3.6 GHZ Intel Xeon chip, 3.84 gig Ram.

They are using MS Office 2003 (11.8237.8221) SP3 Part of MS Office Standard Edition 2003.

Add In Express Version ?Â?Ð?ã 2009 Tools use 4.4.1913 at present

Since we have hundreds of user's not having any issues, and this site has had similar issues with previous versions of addin express tools I am wondering if it is a configuration issue with this particular TS server? Any suggestions would be appreciated. I can ask the user for more information if needed. I am NOT the programmer, I just install and configure the software, but our programmer has access to this site.

Regards
Tony
Posted 27 Apr, 2009 22:49:09 Top
Andrei Smolin


Add-in Express team


Posts: 18793
Joined: 2006-05-11
Hi Tony,

Thank you for providing an exhaustive description of the issue. This shortens the way in a great degree.

There is a particular user site that is experiencing strange behavior when using the Office Tools particularly in Word where the addin bar is in Word, then after closing and returning to Word the toolbar is missing. They can sometimes find the toolbar listed in view, toolbars then tick it making the item available again only to disappear later.


Below is a fragment of the manual that I can't find on our web site for some reason:

Word add-ins, command bars, and normal.dot
Word saves changes in the UI to normal.dot: move a toolbar to some other location and its position will be saved to normal.dot when Word quits. The same applies to add-ins: their command bars are saved to this file. See some typical support cases related to Word add-ins and normal.dot below.
?Â?Ð?? For reasons of their own, some organizations use read-only normal.dots. In this case, installing the add-in raises a warning, when Word tries to save normal.dot and finds that it is read-only.
?Â?Ð?? The user can set the Prompt to Save Normal Template flag located on the Save tab in the Tools | Options menu and in this way decide whether to save normal.dot or not. This may lead to a mess: some command bars and controls are saved while others are not.
?Â?Ð?? Other companies store lots of things in their normal.dot files making them too big in size; saving such files requires extra time.
?Â?Ð?? We have had scenarios in which normal.dot is moved or deleted after the add-in is installed; naturally, command bars disappear as well.
You may think that using temporary command bars in these cases is a way out, but this may not be your case: see http://www.add-in-express.com/docs/net-commandbar-tips.php#temporary
We know the only workaround: don't use normal.dot in a way, which wasn't designed by Microsoft. Normal.dot is a per-user thing. Don't deprive the user of the ability to change its UI. Move all excessive things to other templates. Always insist on clearing the Prompt to Save Normal Template flag. If it is possible, of course...



Also when certain users open an email or create a new email in outlook the addin bar is there but the Outlook email toolbar moves down below the email Subject line. You can move it back into position with the normal Outlook bars as well as ours but it returns to just below the Subject line again after opening a new email.


Please check if you use the Outlook Inspector command bar component, not the generic command bar component. I assume the issue occurs in Outlook 2000-2003 when Word is the default e-mail editor. Is this correct? We have a sample project that demonstrates http://www.add-in-express.com/files/projects_pub/hidewdandolcommandbars.zip. I'd also check if this issue relates to the way in which normal.dot is managed on that PC.


Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express Team Leader
Posted 28 Apr, 2009 06:53:07 Top
Brendon Colloty


Guest


Hi Andrei,

I'm the developer on these products - thanks for the feedback on Normal.dot - we have been seriously running out of places to look to explain this behaviour for this customer.

On the subject of Word/Outlook toolbars and hiding/showing these - I dont suppose you have a VB.NEt version of the sample you sent through? Im only somehat C# savvy and converting it will take me some time.

One other thing - the Add ins in question are not shared between Outlook and Word/Excel etc.
We have separate Outlook(only) and Office(all but Outlook) products, mainly for marketing reasons. Can you let me know which parts apply to which Add ins?

Thanks,

Brendon Colloty
Posted 29 Apr, 2009 02:11:04 Top
Tony Hao




Posts: 3
Joined: 2009-04-27
Thanks for your quick Feedback Andrei.

This gives us more avenues to pursue, this particular user is getting pretty desperate for an answer to this problem as are we.

Also, the main user that complains about this issue does Not have Word set as the default editor for Outlook. Brendon can pick up on some of these other issues I am not sure about "the Outlook Inspector command bar component, not the generic command bar component"?

Regards
Tony

Posted 29 Apr, 2009 06:57:47 Top
Andrei Smolin


Add-in Express team


Posts: 18793
Joined: 2006-05-11
Hello Brendon and Tony,

I am not sure about "the Outlook Inspector command bar component, not the generic command bar component"


ADXCommandBar is a generic command bar component that you can use to create toolbars in any Office application excepto for Outlook. In Outlook, you need to use ADXOlExplorerCommandBar and/or ADXOlInspectorCommandBar components.

I dont suppose you have a VB.NEt version of the sample you sent through?


The VB version of this sample is http://www.add-in-express.com/files/projects_pub/hidewdandolcommandbars-vb.zip

Also, the main user that complains about this issue does Not have Word set as the default editor for Outlook.


Can you please send me screenshots describing the issue to the support e-mail address (see readme.txt)? I'd also like to look at the code that deals with creating this toolbar.


Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express Team Leader
Posted 29 Apr, 2009 11:58:55 Top
Brendon Colloty


Guest


Hi Andrei,

We are using the OL Inspector and OL Explorer toolbars in Outlook - this add in has been running for a long time now in various versions of Office and ADX.

The Outlook Add in has a single ADXOlExplorerCommandBar and a single ADXOlInspectorCommandBar. The commands on the two toolbars are slightly different but effectivelyt do the same job. These are working fine in 99% of our installations.

We have added support for Office 2007 Ribbon UI to the latest couple of versions - of the product - if the user has Office 2007 they get the Ribbon control in the email editor - if not they get the old style OLiToolbar.

There is nothing marticularly special about the code - its primarily event code based on the button clicks on the toolbars. No rocket science here :)

We are doing a couple of extra things in Outlook - Monitoring events for ItemSend and Selecvted Item changed so we can prompt the user to save outgoing emails or to save read emails.
We also monitor the Sent Items folder looking for new mailitems appearing in there.

What code do you need - If I sent the AddIn Module code would that be enough?

Cheers,

Brendon
Posted 29 Apr, 2009 21:20:11 Top
Tony Hao




Posts: 3
Joined: 2009-04-27
Hi Andrei,

Sorry for the late reply, I've had to gather the information you requested from clients. I have sent an email to your support address.

Thanks and Regards
Tony
Posted 30 Apr, 2009 04:03:24 Top
Andrei Smolin


Add-in Express team


Posts: 18793
Joined: 2006-05-11
Hi Tony,

I've just got the e-mail. Thank you.

Brendon,

Yes, please send the add-in module.


Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express Team Leader
Posted 30 Apr, 2009 04:55:41 Top
Brendon Colloty


Guest


Hi Andrei,

Sorry to be a pain but I am struggling to pull the HideOutlook abd Hide word example apart to use in our two separate add ins.

I have an Outlook Add in with one Inspector command bar that I need to have visible when an inspector is open.

And a shared add in for Word and other apps that has a single command bar that I need to show in word docs and hide in Outlook emails.

Sny elp you can give me with this would be appreciated.

Regards,

Brendon Colloty
Posted 05 May, 2009 19:55:41 Top
Andrei Smolin


Add-in Express team


Posts: 18793
Joined: 2006-05-11
Hi Brendon,

You can try changing the SupportedApps property of the CommandBar components to restrict their visibility in your host applications.


Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express Team Leader
Posted 07 May, 2009 13:02:02 Top