Distribute custom toolbar without destroying user customization?

[CSI]

I'm primarily a database developer, so please forgive me if there's an easy
fix to this...

We have a custom toolbar(security-related) that needs to be rolled out to
about 3000 users of Office 2000 and 2003, and needs to appear in every Office
app except Access. In Word (and Project), creating and auto-launching a
custom template containing the toolbar does the trick nicely without
destroying user customization, but in Excel and PPT, the required .XLB and
..PCB customization files are overriding all toolbar customization added by
users. It doesn't matter if I place the files in All Users or in the
individual profile folders -- it still wipes out the user changes.

There will be some unhappy power users if we can't find a way around this,
because the toolbar will be rolled out one way or another. We've spent way
too much time on this -- any suggestions will be GREATLY appreciated... this
isn't something we'd normally do, and we're out of ideas. Thanks.

 

[Jonathan West]

I'm primarily a database developer, so please forgive me if there's an
easy
fix to this...

We have a custom toolbar(security-related) that needs to be rolled out to
about 3000 users of Office 2000 and 2003, and needs to appear in every
Office
app except Access. In Word (and Project), creating and auto-launching a
custom template containing the toolbar does the trick nicely without
destroying user customization, but in Excel and PPT, the required .XLB and
.PCB customization files are overriding all toolbar customization added by
users. It doesn't matter if I place the files in All Users or in the
individual profile folders -- it still wipes out the user changes.

There will be some unhappy power users if we can't find a way around this,
because the toolbar will be rolled out one way or another. We've spent
way
too much time on this -- any suggestions will be GREATLY appreciated...
this
isn't something we'd normally do, and we're out of ideas. Thanks.

For Word, take a look at these three articles

Distributing macros to other users
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/MacrosVBA/DistributeMacros.htm

What do Templates and Add-ins store?
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/WhatTemplatesStore.htm

Creating Custom Toolbars for Templates
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=262

--
Regards
Jonathan West - Word MVP
www.intelligentdocuments.co.uk
Please reply to the newsgroup
Keep your VBA code safe, sign the ClassicVB petition www.classicvb.org

 

[CSI]

Thanks for replying, but as mentioned in my post, Word and Project are
working fine. It's Excel and Powerpoint that are the problems, because of
the .XLB and .PCB files.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

We have a custom toolbar(security-related) that needs to be rolled out to
about 3000 users of Office 2000 and 2003, and needs to appear in every Office
app except Access. In Word (and Project), creating and auto-launching a
custom template containing the toolbar does the trick nicely without
destroying user customization, but in Excel and PPT, the required .XLB and
..PCB customization files

No PCB file is required to distribute toolbars to PPT users. It's entirely the
wrong way of going about it, in fact.

The PCB file is where PowerPoint *records* changes that the user or addins have
made to the UI; toolbars, menus, locations of both, etc. It's not the way to
*distribute* or make changes.

Your addin code should be creating a toolbar programmatically, adding buttons,
telling PPT what subroutines to run when the buttons are clicked and so on.

When it does that, the user's PCB will record the changes, but that's really
only PPT's concern; not yours as a developer, not your users' as ... er ...
users.

Have a look here and the following pages for specifics on how to do the deed in
PPT:

Creating and Installing Add-ins, Toolbars, Buttons
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/index.html#name_Creating_and_Installing_Add-ins-
_Toolbars-_Buttons_

 

[CSI]

Thanks, Steve, I'm looking at that site now. We inherited this project from
someone at another facility, who had much of it done already, so we followed
his path, which included the PCB. Our PPT add-in does have code for the
toolbar buttons, but it doesn't create the toolbar itself.

Is it similar in Excel, or will that be a whole different method?

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Thanks, Steve, I'm looking at that site now. We inherited this project from
someone at another facility, who had much of it done already, so we followed
his path, which included the PCB. Our PPT add-in does have code for the
toolbar buttons, but it doesn't create the toolbar itself.

The examples on the site should get you started.

Is it similar in Excel, or will that be a whole different method?

I'd ask about this on one of the Excel-specific groups. I'd guess it's similar bout
don't know; and I'd hate to lead you as far astray as "someone" already has with