Dot Net or Not?

[Bob Inwater]

I have done a bit of reading on the future of VBA vs. Dot Net and I am now
really confused. I guess that Dot Net tools are pretty evolved for Word and
Excel but have not heard much about it for Project. Can anyone give me the
“Readers Digest†version of where we stand?

 

[JackD]

I have done a bit of reading on the future of VBA vs. Dot Net and I am now
really confused. I guess that Dot Net tools are pretty evolved for Word and
Excel but have not heard much about it for Project. Can anyone give me the
"Readers Digest" version of where we stand?

..Net stuff is in what is called VSTO (Visual Studio Tools for Office. This
is a software package that you can purchase (I think it is ~US$500) and as
far as I know is mostly focused at Word and Excel. I imagine it would work
with Project, but has nothing specifically included for Project. There is a
VSTO 2005 beta which you can download and play with
http://blogs.msdn.com/vsto2/archive/2004/06/30/170315.aspx. Let me know if
you find anything which is specific to Project in it. Personally I've heard
nothing about VSTO and Project.

I know that many office developers are hoping that VBA will be continued in
Office 12 so that their old applications continue to work, and I haven't
heard anything that indicates that this is not the case. If so be prepared
to hear some real loud noises coming from Office users. I think that
discontinuing VBA would be a tremendous mistake by Micrsoft.

-Jack

 

[mobe]

You can always write a managed addin in .net (Other Project Types -
Extensibility - Shared Add-in) and add a project reference for
Microsoft.Office.Interop.MSProject.dll. This uses the com interface. It is a
slower cycle to develop and test (having to install and uninstall the addin,
and attach the debugger, etc), but gives you a proper dev environment to
develop the code in. So any forms and database code you have to do is easier
from that perspective

I guess it depends how complex a solution you are trying to implement, or
even what you are trying to achieve.