Hi =?Utf-8?B?QWxleA==?=,
I'd like to try to create a COM Add-in. I know that I need either Visual
Basic 5.0 or later or Office 2000 Developer. When I open MS Word and get
into Microsoft Visual Basic Editor I have version Microsoft Visual Basic 6.3.
Is this the same as Visual Basic?
No, this isn't the same
If you want to use Office 2000 or 2002 to develop a COM Add-in then you need to
have the Office Developer Kit; this isn't available for Office 2003.
VBA is a subset of "the real, classic" Visual Basic. Mostly, it has the same
basic structures and gives you quite a few of the basic functions and methods
available in its "big brother". But it uses a different Forms package, and
supports creating things like DLLs, EXEs, ActiveX controls... and Add-in DLLs
for Office.
The Office Developer Kit for Office 2000 and 2002 adds that capability to the
Office VB Editor. But you can't buy them any more in the stores; you'd have to
try something like Ebay.
As a matter of fact, I'm not sure you can still be classic VB6 in stores any
more, either. Microsoft is pushing everyone and everything towards .NET. You can
build Add-ins in the .NET Framework, but the whole thing still isn't very stable
(requires an "iffy" workaround called a "Shim" to properly register the Add-in
under COM so that it runs as it should).
Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org
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