Create VSTO install package using VS2013 Installer - visual-studio

I have tried to create a package for a VSTO addin using windows installer in Visual Studio 2013 but having no success. By that I mean I can create a exe and msi by using the Visual Studio Installer Setup Wizard and selecting everything as default, which seems to all run ok when installed but I don't get my addin appear anywhere in Word (I have looked in File-Options-Addins- com addins/dissabled addins).
I have spent quite a lot of time googling to find some instructions but with no success. Can anyone please help me by either writting some instuctions on here or pointing me to a link where someone has already done it?
Can I point out, I know how to create a package using Installsheild instead but I was having a few issues with that, so wanted to try this instead. So please don't suggest that as an approach, or wix.

You don't mention which version of Word you're using. Traditionally, this has been a nightmare - but I would guess that the most horrible things has been fixed in more recent versions of Office. In particular I'm thinking of the "KB908002" which had to be applied during setup (don't know if that is the case still).
One thing that may be forgotten is that you are required to install the "Microsoft Primary Interop Assemblies" (PIA) on the target machine, and that you have to apply the correct PIA depending on which version of Office you have on the target machine.
Anyway, this article http://blogs.msdn.com/b/vsod/archive/2008/04/22/troubleshooting-com-add-in-load-failures.aspx will give you quite a few ideas. Specifically, enabling the Fusion logging which has help me way back.
Good luck!

Related

Visual basic - Access to path denied

I'm writing a project in Visual Basic 2008 Express Edition, which used to work completely fine until that moment, when I decided to install MS Chart Control in order to create a diagram in my project.
This didn't work (error "failed to register activex control" when dragging the tool into the form; although I registered everything successfully as an administrator) and many hours googling myself through forums made it clear to me, that this seems to be a general bug. At least I couldn't find a solution.
So now, I removed the tool MS Chart Control again, but still, I get error messages, when I build my project. After reinstalling Visual Basic 2008 Express Edition completely and removing all references that pointed on the MS Chart Library, I managed to delete some of them.
However three errors still remain, when I build the project. All of them of the same kind:
"Cannot write to the output file "C:...\Visual Studio 2008\Projects\Test\Test\obj\Debug\Test.Form1.resources".
Access to the path 'C:...\Visual Studio 2008\Projects\Test\Test\obj\Debug\Test.Form1.resources' is denied."
(same thing with two other files in the Debug-folder)
I again spent several hours searching through forums, but could not find a helpful answer. I already tried reinstalling everything again as well as rebooting windows and emptying the bin.
I also made sure, that the folder properties of 'Debug' are set on 'full access'.
Still, Visual Basic can not write on these files anymore.
I would be very grateful for any answer. Please note, that I am not an expert, neither on programming nor on computer-troubleshooting, so I would be happy about generally understandable (step-by-step) answers.
Many thanks in advance!
Regards,
c.
I just found out, that it works, if I open Visual Basic Studio as an administrator.
Strange, because a month ago, it always worked fine and I don't think I have changed anything about the folder or datas properties.
Anyway.... that solved the problem, I guess.

Could not start visual basic

When I try to start my visual basic to open a project it doesnt seem to be working and keep prompting a error 'VB6EXT.OLB' could not be register. What does that mean? Need helps on this matter, thanks
Just Right Click on VB6.exe and CLick On Run As Administrator..
Hope It works
VBE6EXT.OLB is the Visual Basic for Applications Extensibility Library. That filename seems to indicate that you're dealing with version 5.3, which apparently shipped with Microsoft Office 2000. It would seem your VB6 project is an Office Automation project then?
Google turns up the following links, which may be helpful:
BUG: Interface methods in the VBA Extensibility Library (VBE) are changed
PRB: Visual Studio Setup program may include Office OLB files in setup list
Neither seems to directly answer your question, but they seem like a good place to start.
Since Visual Basic 6 (and Microsoft Office 2000 as well) hit end-of-life well before Windows Vista was released, there may be a fundamental conflict between them. You might be better off trying to develop your application on an older version of Windows.
This just happened to me (literally seconds ago) and I came HERE first stop.
I was looking for THE answer. As it happened, MS-Office 2010 offered to repair the problem...
... and, skeptically, I accepted.
To my astonishment I was soon greeted by my FAVOURITE splash screen in the world - I've got my Rubberduck
Anyway, I'm relieved the Auto Fix worked...

How do I set permissions on my VSTO outlook add-in?

I am trying to distribute my Outlook Add-In to the rest of the company.
I'm using Visual Studio 2008 Professional and Outlook 2003. In VS I used an installed template for Outlook 2003. It created a solution with BOTH a project and an installer.
I use the project and created an Add-In. It works GREAT on my PC in development. Now, I want to distribute it. Here's where things go haywire. The nice little installer they provide DOESN'T ACTUALLY WORK.
The installer runs and places the files where they are to go, but the add-in doesn't run. Instead it gets errors about not having permissions. The installer didn't automatically set the security settings for you.
No problem. You just have to set those settings... right? But no where can I find a simple list of those settings.
I've been to http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb332051.aspx a thousand times from almost every possible link on the web. I've read every Microsoft paper that I can find on VSTO add-Ins. Unfortunately everything seems to reference some magic script... "Just include the sample code..."
[rant] IF A SECTION OF CODE OR AN ENTIRE SOLUTION IS REQUIRED TO DISTRIBUTE YOUR CODE IT IS NOT SAMPLE!! IT IS REQUIRED !!! [/rant]
There. I feel better.
Since I installed VS2008, I don't have the directory:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office SE Resources\Samples
No problem, right? Just DL it from microsoft. I've downloaded every "vstor.exe" that I can get my hands on. They all offer to "repair or uninstall" my current installation, but no matter what I choose, the vstor.exe crashes.
HELP!!!
I just want to know what I need to do (the manual steps, if necessary!!!!!) to get my friggin app distributed.
No magic "include this gizmo". No fifty-thousand page diatribes.
Anyone know how this is ACTUALLY done?!
I got it to work.
I was able to get a "sample code" update from Microsoft that allowed me to follow the walk-through.
I still think that's utterly ridiculous to HAVE to use sample code to easily distribute your app. However it is working at the moment.
The link I used was given to me by anonymous use on a different board. Whoever you are THANK YOU!!!!
Here is the link I was given:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=6991E869-8D5B-45F4-91E7-B527BD236F4C&displaylang=en
This allowed me to actually get my hands on that mysterious "sample" code even though I use VS2008 Professional.

Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 & 2008 fails to create project, what other alternative do i have?

Visual C++ doens't work on my Vista. both 2010 and 2008 fails to create new projects. what alternative do i have ? I am sick of googling and trying out all the other hacks to fix it.
What other alternatives? If you're tired of trying the "hacks", I'd be looking at one or more of the following, in no particular order.
Use a different IDE.
Re-install Visual Studio.
Re-install Windows along with all your other apps (including VS).
Try installing Visual Studio in a newly created virtual machine.
Upgrade to XP :-)
Raise a support call with Microsoft.
Hire someone to fix the problem for you.
Provide more detail in this question.
Really, the possibilities are (figuratively) endless. There are any number of problems that could be causing this and the detail is a bit light on at the moment. What I tend to do is always have a fresh-install VM of XP lying around so I can test problems in environments that haven't been heavily changed from the originals.
No doubt we will be able to provide more help once the problem has been narrowed down some more. Sorry I can't help more than that at the moment.
I might guess that you are having trouble creating the projects because you don't have permission to the folder where you're trying to write them. Try right clicking on Visual Studio and saying 'Run as Administrator' then create the project.
You could use DevC++ or Eclipse as the compiler perhaps.

Visual Studio setup problem - 'A problem has been encountered while loading the setup components. Canceling setup.'

I've had a serious issue with my Visual Studio 2008 setup. I receive the ever-so-useful error 'A problem has been encountered while loading the setup components. Canceling setup.' whenever I try to uninstall, reinstall or repair Visual Studio 2008 (team system version). If I can't resolve this issue I have no choice but to completely wipe my computer and start again which will take all day long! I've recently received very strange errors when trying to build projects regarding components running out of memory (despite having ~2gb physical memory free at the time) which has rendered my current VS install useless.
Note I installed VS2005 shell version using the vs_setup.msi file in the SQL Server folder after I had installed VS2008, in order to gain access to the SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services designer in Business Intelligence Development Studio (this is inexplicably unavailable in VS2008).
Does anyone have any solutions to this problem?
P.S.: I know this isn't directly related to programming, however I feel this is appropriate to SO as it is directly related to my ability to program at all!
Note: A colleague found a solution to this problem, hopefully this should help others with this problem.
A colleague found this MS auto-uninstall tool which has successfully uninstalled VS2008 for me and saved me hours of work!!
Hopefully this might be useful to others. Doesn't speak highly of MS's faith in their usual VS maintenance tools that they have to provide this as well!
I had the same error message. For me it was happening because I was trying to run the installer from the DVD rather than running the installer from Add/Remove programs.
In my case, uninstalling from Add&Remove Programs didn't work. Instead, the problem was due to a recently hotfix installed through automatic updates. The hotfix to VS 2008 (in my case) has the number KB952241, so I uninstalled it using Add/Remove Programs checking on the show updates option. After it was unistalled the problem was gone.
I encountered the same problem and found a very easy solution.Go to the following Link:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vs2008/bb968856.aspx
and run VS AutoUninstall tool .This will automatically remove all the components of VS 2008.
Cheers
Sure enough, for me, it was the hotfixes. In Add/Remove Programs, check the "Show Updates" box, and remove ALL of the Hotfixes associated with your version of VS2008. Then try the "Change/Remove" button - it should now proceed without a hitch.
Well, it did for me, anyway... ;-)
I have Visual Studio Team System 2008 Development Edition, and had to remove all updates and Hotfixes:
Update KB972221
Hotfix KB973674
Hotfix KB971091
Reboot, then the following Hotfix appeared, which I then removed as per #riaraos' answer:
Hotfix KB952241
Before the Change/Remove would work!
Hope that helps someone else.
Uninstall hotfixes installed in related to vs2008 and then try again.
It worked for me and hopefully it will for you as well.
Thanks,
Zelalem
Remove the following hot fixes and updates
Update KB972221
Hotfix KB973674
Hotfix KB971091
Restart the PC and try to uninstall now. This worked for me without problems.
Microsoft itself posted a KB article about this, and that article has a service pack that they claim fixes the problem. See below.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/959417/
It took a while for the associated update to install itself, but once it did, I was able to run the Visual Studio setup successfully from the Add/Remove Programs control panel.
You should look for the MSI setup logs in the temp directory of your system. They will contain detailed inforamtion about why the setup failed.
I had a similar installation problem with Visual Studio 2008 which I was able to resolve by studying the logs.
I think this sort of question is entirely appropriate to the forum, especially if an easy solution can be found, as would save others hours of pain.
Unfortunately I dont have the solution, but would suggest (if you haven't already)
Run FileMon to see if the
installer is looking for specific
files which are no longer there -
this may give some clues.
Painful, but try uninstalling other apps based upon the VS shell (eg 2005) first.
Thanks, riaraos, uninstalling KB952241 was the solution for me, too. Before doing that I tried to run the installer from "Programs and Features" and from the installation DVD without success. I did not want to completely remove the VS 2008 installation but only add a few components.
Notes on my system:
Windows 7 Beta 1
Visual Studio 2008 SP1
Okay I had the same issues first my VS2008 was acting up so i tried to uninstall it and it didn't work...I read online that using an AutoUninstall by MS will do the trick it did just that , but left a lot of nasty files behind..
So i used "Windows Install Clean Up" and cleaned up more stuff that had to do with VS..
then went back into Add and remove in control panel Removed the KB952241...
then opened up Ccleaner and scanned the registry found a lot of left behind crap from VB2008 removed all that once that was done.
I went ahead and launch the installed back from the CD again and BAM its working.
I did all this without having to restart my PC..
Hope this helps people who are stuck..like i was
In my case, installing visual studio SP1 unbroke the uninstall/repair functionality.
Windows 7 suggested to "Uninstall using recommended settings" after hitting OK in the error message. It solved the problem.
Solution to this is
http://www.dotnetzone.gr/cs/forums/48758/ShowThread.aspx#48758

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