Add-in Express for .NET 2007 - is it worth it?

[Ben]

Hi

We need to create a few add-ins for our company for Outlook & Excel.

Having racked our brains a little when trying to create one for Outlook we
are looking to simplify the process as much as possible (without spending a
fortune as it is for in-house rather than commercial usage).

Getting to the point will http://www.add-in-express.com/ make things
considerably easier?

Any input would be much appreciated.

Thanks
B

 

[Patrick Schmid [MVP]]

What are you trying to do for add-ins? VSTO might be an option for you
without having to spend money for Add-In Express.

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
***
Outlook 2007 Performance Update: http://pschmid.net/blog/2007/04/13/105
Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
***
Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
RibbonCustomizer Add-In: http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
***
Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed

 

[XL-Dennis]

Ben,

I recently made a blogpost about the tool:
Add-in Express 2007 for Microsoft .NE
http://xldennis.wordpress.com/2007/04/17/add-in-express-2007-for-microsoft-net/

Patrick ---> It make the shimming procedure for Office 2007 *very* easy ;-)

---------------
With kind regards,
Dennis
Weekly Blog .NET & Excel: http://xldennis.wordpress.com/
My English site: http://www.excelkb.com/default.aspx
My Swedish site: http://www.xldennis.com/

 

[Patrick Schmid [MVP]]

Dennis,

turns out that I needed to modify the shim quite a bit to make it work
with my add-in (special modifications for my add-in). So my time
building my own shim paid off in the end...

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
***
Outlook 2007 Performance Update: http://pschmid.net/blog/2007/04/13/105
Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
***
Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
RibbonCustomizer Add-In: http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
***
Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed

 

[Ben]

Hi Patrick

Thanks for your post.

We are trying to write initally some simple add-ins in VB .NET that:

1 - A toolbar button and context menu item in Outlook that Querys our SQL
Server database, runs a Stored Procedure and then saves the emails to a file
location returned by the Stored Procedure, finally automatically printing
the email and moving the email to a "Saved" folder in outlook.
- This will also fire upon sending an email to prompt the save to a file
location & printing
- This will be extended in the future to monitor the amount of time that
the user has spend viewing & writing the email to record the time

2 - A toolbar button in Excel that retreives information from selected cells
(and the cells next to it), shows a form which is partially populated by the
data from excel, the user completes the data which runs a Stored Procedure
and automatically prints a Crystal Report.

3 - A upgraded print macro in Word - previously written in Word Basic and
VBA mixture. This may be difficult as the add-in/macro repacement must be
executed by a VBA macro. A requirement of a 3rd party software that cannot
be changed.

Our first attempt was with outlook and we have had problems with the
Load/Unloading of the macro upon starting of outlook. I dont mind spending
a few ££ if it is going to make life much easier! It is just that the
budget cannot be huge as we are not a large company nor reselling the final
product.


PS: we are using VS 2003, but have access to VS 2005 Express and VB 2005
Express. All clients are currently running Office Professional 2003 and XP
SP2. We may in the future upgrade to Office 2007.

Many thanks for all your help.

B

What are you trying to do for add-ins? VSTO might be an option for you
without having to spend money for Add-In Express.

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
***
Outlook 2007 Performance Update: http://pschmid.net/blog/2007/04/13/105
Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
***
Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
RibbonCustomizer Add-In: http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
***
Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed

Hi

We need to create a few add-ins for our company for Outlook & Excel.

Having racked our brains a little when trying to create one for Outlook
we
are looking to simplify the process as much as possible (without spending
a
fortune as it is for in-house rather than commercial usage).

Getting to the point will http://www.add-in-express.com/ make things
considerably easier?

Any input would be much appreciated.

Thanks
B

 

[Patrick Schmid [MVP]]

Do you have VSTO 2003 available to you?
You could get VSTO 2005 SE for free, but for that you need VS 2005, and
I don't think the Express editions do it.
Maybe Add-in Express is not the worst solution for you...What do you
think Dennis?

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
***
Outlook 2007 Performance Update: http://pschmid.net/blog/2007/04/13/105
Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
***
Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
RibbonCustomizer Add-In: http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
***
Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed

Hi Patrick

Thanks for your post.

We are trying to write initally some simple add-ins in VB .NET that:

1 - A toolbar button and context menu item in Outlook that Querys our SQL
Server database, runs a Stored Procedure and then saves the emails to a file
location returned by the Stored Procedure, finally automatically printing
the email and moving the email to a "Saved" folder in outlook.
- This will also fire upon sending an email to prompt the save to a file
location & printing
- This will be extended in the future to monitor the amount of time that
the user has spend viewing & writing the email to record the time

2 - A toolbar button in Excel that retreives information from selected cells
(and the cells next to it), shows a form which is partially populated by the
data from excel, the user completes the data which runs a Stored Procedure
and automatically prints a Crystal Report.

3 - A upgraded print macro in Word - previously written in Word Basic and
VBA mixture. This may be difficult as the add-in/macro repacement must be
executed by a VBA macro. A requirement of a 3rd party software that cannot
be changed.

Our first attempt was with outlook and we have had problems with the
Load/Unloading of the macro upon starting of outlook. I dont mind spending
a few ££ if it is going to make life much easier! It is just that the
budget cannot be huge as we are not a large company nor reselling the final
product.


PS: we are using VS 2003, but have access to VS 2005 Express and VB 2005
Express. All clients are currently running Office Professional 2003 and XP
SP2. We may in the future upgrade to Office 2007.

Many thanks for all your help.

B

What are you trying to do for add-ins? VSTO might be an option for you
without having to spend money for Add-In Express.

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
***
Outlook 2007 Performance Update: http://pschmid.net/blog/2007/04/13/105
Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
***
Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
RibbonCustomizer Add-In: http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
***
Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed

Hi

We need to create a few add-ins for our company for Outlook & Excel.

Having racked our brains a little when trying to create one for Outlook
we
are looking to simplify the process as much as possible (without spending
a
fortune as it is for in-house rather than commercial usage).

Getting to the point will http://www.add-in-express.com/ make things
considerably easier?

Any input would be much appreciated.

Thanks
B

 

[XL-Dennis]

Hi Ben (and Patrick),

"All clients are currently running Office Professional 2003 and XP
SP2. We may in the future upgrade to Office 2007."

This suggest that Add-in Express can be useful:
a) provide neutral interop assemblies which are included in the setup.
b) can handle both Commandbar etc (2003 and earlier) and Ribbon (2007) in a
smooth way.

c) VSTO 2005 SE only works with 2003 Pro / Standalone and all versions 2007

"we are using VS 2003, but have access to VS 2005 Express and VB 2005
Express."
a) Add-in Express is said to work with all versions.

b) VSTO 2005 SE only works with Pro version and higher.

I have only used Add-In Express with VS 2005 Pro. There shouldn't be a
problem to
create a COM add-in that target Outlook, Word and Excel.

There also exist a 30 days money back guarantee.

Add-in Express take cares of the 'framework' for COM Add-ins but You need to
do the work to create each of the tasks.

It's a good strategy to make sure that You're able to solve the tasks the COM
add-in should be used for. Do You today have workable solutions in VBA?

Finally, I have no commercial interest in Add-in Express.

---------------
With kind regards,
Dennis
Weekly Blog .NET & Excel: http://xldennis.wordpress.com/
My English site: http://www.excelkb.com/default.aspx
My Swedish site: http://www.xldennis.com/

 

[dex3703]

Hi Ben,

We are also having intermittent problems getting an Outlook plugin to work.
Would appreciate being able to talk to you a little more about it, if you're
interested. You can email me at derek.dexheimer at ascentium dot com.

Thanks in advance,
Derek

 

[Ben]

Thank you all for your posts.

I think I will just buy it and give it a go, as you say if its not right for
me I will apply for the 30 day money back!

Thanks
B

 

[Ben]

Hi Derek

Ive just emailed you.

Regards
B

Hi Ben,

We are also having intermittent problems getting an Outlook plugin to
work.
Would appreciate being able to talk to you a little more about it, if
you're
interested. You can email me at derek.dexheimer at ascentium dot com.

Thanks in advance,
Derek