I've created a Word Add-In for 2007-2010 using Visual Studio 2010, and I'm using ClickOnce deployment; however, I'd like to at least prompt the user before performing the update, something as simple as "There is a new version available, would you like to update? Y/N".
I can see that non-Office ClickOnce applications have this ability, but I can find nothing anywhere about doing this on Office Add-Ins. I also see tons of people asking this question, but nobody seems to have an answer, and I find it interesting that the number of people asking this question seems to trail off after 2008...does this mean that there's a way to go about this that I'm missing?
Similar question over here
Check Updating Solutions section here
Related
Few question about VSTO project I don't understand:
Registration - unlike native Office Plugin, where I've an installation project, how does the deployment work in managed add-in? After building the project, I do have the necessary entries in the registry that define the plugin (HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Addins...). Where is the code that perform this registration?
Also, why in the HKCU? I'd like the plugin to be defined for all users (in HKLM). How do I change that?
How does Visual Studio know to start Outlook, when I press F5? In the property page for the project, under the debugging tab, the 'Start Option' is set to 'Start project'. Who tells Visual Studio that starting the project means starting Outlook?
Looking for more materials about VSTO. Can you recommend a resource?
A few answers
1. Basically the same for a managed project except that the Reg entries point to the .MANIFEST file, which in turn identifies the dll of the addin assembly.
Ohhh. this is a LONG story, there's lots of info on the web about it. Google "registering an addin for all users".
Short version is that it's possible, but requires some really weird and difficult to explain registry shinanigans.
If you've created an Outlook addin property, then by virtue of that project type, VS knows what to do on start.
I've never found a good definitive source for vsto material. Google's been my best friend for that kind of info. Andrew Coates has a pretty decent list here though
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/acoat/archive/2007/08/02/vsto-resources.aspx
I have no explicit information but currently I'm working through http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff937654.aspx which so far has been a great source of information. Please let me know if this worked out for your Outlook project.
My solution currently contains 20 projects in total. These are all window
applications.
But lately after my OS(Windows XP SP3) downloaded updates from Microsoft and after adding just one window form in one of the projects, VS 2003 IDE starts crashing when trying to debug the solution. After crashing VS needs to be reinstall....
ANY advice that might save me from having to reinstall VS2003 over and over?thanks.
I'd disable all addons you might have installed and see if that helps (VS is usually quite stable, but some addons are not). If so, re-enable them one by one to find which one causes the problem
If that doesn't help, see if you can re-create the crash with a minimal solution, and if you can, it might be worth talking with MS about it, their Connect website might be a good place to start.
Please note, if you edit your question to give more specific information (VS version & edition, what projects you're using etc) someone might be able to give a more specific answer, but I think with that generic question, you'll only get generic answers.
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...
I recently got a job working for a company who uses several programming languages but mainly focuses on C#, and thus uses Visual Studio 2008.
As lame as it sounds, I don't know how to use it productively. I don't know any of the keyboard shortcuts, I didn't know you could restrict builds to certain parts of a solution until someone showed me. I'm sure there's a way to "Clean" "Build" "Run" without manually initiating each process, but I don't know what it is.
If it was just a "Search the help" problem, that'd be easy to solve, but I don't even know what I might be missing. Is there a productivity feature that everyone else uses and I don't? {Shrug}
So, what simple features of Visual Studio am I likely to be missing, and how can I find out other power-features to help me become more productive?
You can learn tons from walkthroughs, like the File/New/NerdDinner talk that Scott Hanselman gave at Mix 2009. The talk is online here:
http://videos.visitmix.com/MIX09/T49F
Until I saw that talk I didn't realize that you could just drag a SQL Server data file into the Visual Studio APP_DATA folder, and it would automatically hook it up for you. A copy of the data file also goes along for the ride when you build your application.
There are several books that just talk about Visual Studio and how to use it productively. Here are some:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/dd285474.aspx
The problem with providing tips in an online forum like this one is that it can be difficult to "connect the dots." The walkthroughs are really good because you can see where things are in Visual Studio, and what sequences of steps are required to perform common actions.
Sara Ford wrote the book on VS tips and tricks:
http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft%C2%AE-Visual-Studio%C2%AE-Tips-PRO-Developer/dp/0735626405/
Here is a blog post with 24 of Sara Ford's tips
http://blogs.msdn.com/saraford/archive/2009/05/28/devdays-09-24-visual-studio-tips.aspx/
I also recommend James Avery's book:
http://www.amazon.com/Visual-Studio-Hacks-Tools-Turbocharging/dp/0596008473
I hope this helps.
As a start here is a poster which shows all the keyboard shortcuts for commonly used features of VS2008 (in C# mode).
In terms of tooling, ReSharper has a number of good features for improving productivity within VS2008.
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.