How to test for Word 2003 PIAs during install

[David Thielen]

Hi;

If Word 2003 is installed after .NET is installed, then the PIAs are set to
run on first use. This means the file Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.dll is
not in the GAC, but will be placed there when my add-in starts.

If Word 2003 is installed before .NET is installed, then the PIAs are set to
not install. This means when my add-in goes to run, it will fail.

So, how do I handle this in my installer. If I set the existence of
Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.dll as a launch condition, then if the PIAs
are set to load on first use I will then force the user to reinstall Office,
select custome install, and install the PIAs - when all of that is
unnecessary as they will auto-install the first time my add-in runs.

If I don't have a launch condition and they installed Office before .NET,
then my add-in won't run.

Any suggestions on how to solve this?

 

[Peter Huang]

Hi

I think you may take a look at the link below.
Microsoft Visual Studio .NET may detect the Microsoft Office 2003 Primary
Interop Assemblies as dependencies when you create a Microsoft Visual
Studio .NET Setup project
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=824012

We do not recommend to deploy office 2003 PIA with setup project. I think
for this scenario, we would better to write a FAQ or readme to tell the
customer that to install the addin t he prerequirement is to install office
2003 PIA.

Best regards,

Peter Huang
Microsoft Online Partner Support

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[David Thielen]

Hello;

I'm afraid that that article just repeats this same problem. A FAQ or readme
is a terrible way to present this as no one ever reads those.

Please ask the word group what the suggested solution is for this issue.

thanks - dave

 

[Peter Huang]

Hi

As the article I provide before, to deploy office 2003 we need the enduser
to install it with office 2003 installer.
In you setup project you may try to check the GAC directory to see if the
PIA is there, if no just popup a dialog to tell the customer.

If you do need the office installer like feature, it is the recommended
approach to send a feedback on the website before.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/contactus.aspx?Sitename=0

Thanks for your understanding!

Best regards,

Peter Huang
Microsoft Online Partner Support

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[David Thielen]

Hi;

But here is the problem - if the PIAs are not there and I popup a dialog,
but they are set to run on first use - then there was no need for the dialog.

To be blunt - this is a very bad way to handle an install. If we have to do
it this way we will have to say something like:

"You may not have the Office 2003 PIAs installed yet. (We cannot tell for
sure as Microsoft can not give us a way to determine if they are set to load
on first use.) The next time you start Word, if AutoTag does not start, this
may be why. (Microsoft's wrapper for add-ins fails silently in this case so
we cannot tell you why the add-in failed.) If this happens, please re-install
Office 2003 and it will then install the three PIA files. (Microsoft will not
let us include these three files in our install to avoid this problem.) We
apologize for any inconvience this may cause. We have tried to make
installation as paibless as possible but we are limited in what we can do by
Microsoft."

Do you think this is a clear statement for the pop-up dialog box? I'm open
to suggestions but I don't want our users blaming us for difficulties that
Microsoft causes.

thanks - dave

 

[Peter Huang]

Hi

Thank you for your input.
But so far as the KB sugggestion, we suggest the end user to install the
office 2003 PIA because it is of the office 2003 installer's work.

Also I think you can write the FAQ to let the end-user know that the
prerequirement of the usage of the addin is to install office 2003 PIA, you
may write a detailed steps about how to check and install that.

Or I think you may try to contact MSPSS.
http://support.microsoft.com

Thanks!

Best regards,

Peter Huang
Microsoft Online Partner Support

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.