Cannot Launch office Word 2007 via automation

[Rosh K. Mathews]

Hi there,

I have installed the Office 2007 beta version. Instead of upgrading from the
existing Office 2003, i installed Office 2007 as an additional version.

I tried to automate Ofiice Word 2007 beta. but WinWord 2003 is getting
launched instead.

If i double click on a doc file, WINWORD2003 is getting launched instead of
WINWORD 2007 beta.. but it is ok if i open a ppt file or excel file.

Is this as per design, or is it a bug which will get fixed in a future
release.

Can i invoke an instance of my old Office WinWord... i.e. Office 11 instead
of Office 12? If yes, how?

Any advices will be most welcome..

Thanks in advance,
Rosh K. Mathews.

 

[Beth Melton]

It sounds like Word 2003 is the registered Word application. Repair
the Office 2007 installation and that should correct the issue.

Additionally, what you encountered will occur when you install Office
versions side-by-side since only one version can be set as the
"default" application so each time you start Word 2003 it will
re-register itself. This is one of the reasons why Microsoft advises
against side-by-side installation. I encounter this as well and have
for several Office versions.

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[Rosh K. Mathews]

I agree and hope that users should not install multiple versions of Microsoft
Office. But if Microsoft is providing such options, i have no other choice
other than to test those scenarios too.

I hope Microsoft gets informed and take appropriate steps. (If Microsoft
dont recommend, they shouldnt have allowed this choice for the user in the
first place. They should have allowed only UPGRADE.) []

Rosh K M

 

[Beth Melton]

Microsoft does know about issues that can occur when you install
versions side-by-side. None of them are major but there are indeed
some drawbacks such as what you are encountering since there can be
only one registered/default version of an application that owns the
file associations. The primary issues I've encountered fall into the
same category which is sharing common utilities or data.

Personally, I'll take the warnings before I'd ever want Microsoft to
force me to upgrade. There are those of us who do need multiple
versions installed and typically those who do are advanced enough to
recognize why something occurs and how to correct it. If Microsoft
were to ever take this ability away then there would be a LOT of
unhappy customers.

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

I agree and hope that users should not install multiple versions of
Microsoft
Office. But if Microsoft is providing such options, i have no other
choice
other than to test those scenarios too.

I hope Microsoft gets informed and take appropriate steps. (If
Microsoft
dont recommend, they shouldnt have allowed this choice for the user
in the
first place. They should have allowed only UPGRADE.) []

Rosh K M

It sounds like Word 2003 is the registered Word application. Repair
the Office 2007 installation and that should correct the issue.

Additionally, what you encountered will occur when you install
Office
versions side-by-side since only one version can be set as the
"default" application so each time you start Word 2003 it will
re-register itself. This is one of the reasons why Microsoft
advises
against side-by-side installation. I encounter this as well and
have
for several Office versions.

 

[Rosh K. Mathews]

Hi Beth,

Thanks a lot for replying. I hope that does answer my questions. I have one
more doubt though. When i call "CreateDispatch(Word.Application.12) " on a
system where Office 2007 and Office 2003 are simultaneously residing, it is
invoking Office 2003 still. I assumed i could invoke Office 2007.

Funny enough, I repaired Office 2007 installation and when i called this,
Office 2007 came up. For curiosity sake, i called
"CreateDispatch(Word.Application.11)" assuming that it will invoke Office
2003. Alas, it invoked Office 2007 again.

Did u face anything like this sort ?

Regards,
Rosh K Mathews.

 

[Beth Melton]

Ah! I didn't realize what you were actually doing. I agree, it
shouldn't work that way if you are explicitly defining the version.

Bear in mind you are using a beta version. I do recall this being
reported but I don't know the status of the issue. I know this doesn't
help you now but I would check this again with RTM and see if the
issue was resolved.

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[Rosh K. Mathews]

Thanks a lot Beth. That helps a lot.