Office as a development platform with Visual Studio 2008

1. Office as a development platform with Visual Studio 2008 Daniel Moth Developer and Platform Group Microsoft http://www.danielmoth.com/Blog

2. AGENDA • VSTO Overview • Office Ribbon Designer • Custom Task Pane • Action Pane • Outlook Form Region Designer • Word Content Controls • VBA <-> VSTO interop • ClickOnce Deployment

4. Roadmap v3.0 (in VS2008) • Workflow & Microsoft SharePoint support • Office 2007 system-specific features, file format, UI • App-level add-ins for more client applications • Deeper server-side programming • VSTO fully integrated into Visual Studio 2008 2005 SE • App-level add-ins for most popular Office apps • Runtime support for key Office 2007 UI elements (Custom Taskpane, Ribbon, Outlook form regions) • Runtime support enabling Office 2003 doc-level customizations to run in Office 2007 2003 2003 2007 2007 2005 • Custom Document ActionsPane • Host Controls on document surface • Cached data in the document • Server-side data processing • Application-level add-ins for Outlook

5. VSTO Functionality Over Time • SP Workflow, • new designers, • functional extensions • infra investments • 11 Office add-ins, • infra investments • Outlook add-ins, • VSTA in InfoPath • functional extensions • infra investments • Doc-level

6. Doc-Level Version Resilience • v1 solutions use the VSTO v1 runtime • v2 solutions use the VSTO v2 runtime • v3+ solutions use the VSTO v3+ runtime • Reduces the number of runtimes (improves performance, working set) • Eliminates type name clashes in DefaultDomain • Based on the Managed Add-in Framework • Common VSTO/VSTA runtime

7. Set the scene inc document level addins

8. “Fluent” UI Ribbon, Custom Task Panes, Actions Pane, Form Region

9. Office Ribbon • New Look and Feel for Office UI • Replaces Command Bars in “the big 5” Office apps • Introduces a new extensibility model: RibbonX • Enables you to • Customize office tabs, Add to built-in tabs • Remove tabs, groups and controls • Add to Office menu, Override built-in UI Group Tab Control Ribbon

10. XML-based Customisation Support Ribbon XML structure requires a specific hierarchy For example: <customUIxmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2006/01/customui" onLoad="OnLoad"> <ribbon> <tabs> <tab idMso="TabAddIns"> <group id="MyGroup" label="My Group"> <toggleButton id="toggleButton1" size="large" label="My Button" screentip="My Button Screentip" onAction="OnToggleButton1" imageMso="AccessFormModalDialog" /> </group> </tab> </tabs> </ribbon> </customUI>

11. Ribbon Customization • Office built-in support for XML-based customization model • VSTO 2005 SE support • Simplifies hookup from .NET via pre-generated classes and sample XML • VSTO v3.0 (Visual Studio 2008) support • Adds full-blown visual designer support • “Export to XML” option • A more robust programming layer inc. events

12. Design Surface Ribbon Designer Property Grid Ribbon Control Toolbox

13. Custom Task & Actions Panes • VSTO simplifies and speeds up task pane UI design process with visual designers and .NET hookup • Actions Pane • More robust, easier to program alternative to Office’s built-in “Smart Document” technology • Custom Task Pane • The same general idea as Actions Pane, only on the application add-in level, not individual doc

14. Pane UI Customization

15. Custom Task Panes and Action Panes

16. ActionsPane Architecture WinForms UserControl (ActionsPane) VSTO Invisible ActiveX Control Document Actions Task Pane

17. Outlook Form Region Features • New technology in Outlook 2007 for enhancing and replacing Outlook’s built-in forms • Code behind form region is implemented as COM add-in • New controls provide built-in look & feel and data binding to Outlook data

18. 4 Types of Form Regions • Adjoining and Separate • Custom and built-in forms • Replacement and Replace-all • Custom forms only • Reading Pane can display all types except Separate

19. Adjoining in Reading Pane

20. Adjoining in Inspector

21. Separate

22. Replacement & Replace-All

23. VS2008 Outlook Form Regions • VSTO eases development of Outlook form regions • Configure form region with a simple, intuitive wizard • Debugging (F5), Intellisense • Import • Use wizard to import Outlook-created OFS file • Controls are referenced & cast to correct name & type • Design • Designer supports WPF and Windows Form controls • Properties window exposes manifest

24. Outlook Form Region

25. Fluent UI

26. Word Content Controls

27. Word Content Controls • New experience for developing structured documents in Word 2007 • New UI for developers to access Word Content Controls • Programmable through Word Object Model • Support for XML Mapping

28. Toolbox Support • Word content controls available in Toolbox • Increases discoverability of content controls • Drag-and-drop experience

29. Property Grid Support • Easily access the properties and events of the content controls

30. Programming Paradigm • Windows Forms style programming model • Generate event handlers • Support for IntelliSense

31. Word Content Controls

32. Two-Way Simple Data Binding • Two methods to data bind • Drag and drop support from Data Sources window • Set up through the property grid

33. UI Feature Availability

34. Where we’ve been, what’s left • VSTO Overview • Office Ribbon Designer • Custom Task Pane • Action Pane • Outlook Form Region Designer • Word Content Controls • VBA <-> VSTO interop • ClickOnce Deployment

35. You enable VBA via COM Interop Interop implemented at design time You can then call VSTO from VBA with IntelliSense after building the project Call VSTO from VBA

36. VBA and VSTO Interop

37. ClickOnce for Office Add-ins • Low-impact deployment mechanism • Self-contained • Solutions installed per user • Prerequisites are installed if the user is an admin • ClickOnce support • Full end-to-end solution installation • Richer version-independent security model • Offline access via the ClickOnce Cache

38. ClickOnce Deployment

39. Summary • The rationale for the VSTO architecture • Bring together Office and .NET • Provide a sophisticated developer experience • Provide a solid baseline runtime infrastructure • Office is a true development platform

40. MSDN in the UK • Visit http://msdn.co.uk • Newsletter • Events • Screencasts • Blogs

41. Resources • Visit the VSTO Developer Center http://msdn.microsoft.com/office/tool/vsto/default.aspx • VSTO Help documentation on MSDN http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/d2tx7z6d(vs.90).aspx • VSTO Forum http://forums.microsoft.com/msdn/ShowForum.aspx?ForumID=16 • VSTO Team Blog http://blogs.msdn.com/vsto2

42. VSTO Design-Time Stack Excel, Word, Info Path Info Path Excel, InfoPath, Outlook, PowerPoint, Visio, Word, Project Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Word SharePoint IDE Hosting Separate IDE Outlook Workflow Document Solutions Add-ins Ribbons Form Regions Project Templates Item Wizards Visual Studio

43. VSTO/A Runtime Stack Office Client Host Managed/ Unmanaged Host Doc-Level Solution App-Level Add-in Doc-Level Solution App-Level Add-in VSTO Runtime VSTA Integration Doc Task Pane Host Item Controls Win Forms Controls Custom Ribbon Custom Task Pane Custom Form Region Common VSTO/A Runtime AppDomain Management Security Enforcement Deployment and Updating .NET CLR Managed Add-in Framework (MAF) ClickOnce