vsto 2008 compatibility

[laurin]

Hi guys

I want to create a plugin which is compatible with outlook 2003 and outlook
2007. I write this plugin with vsto 2008. Is it right when i take a outlook
2003 plugin solution template? Is this add in upward compatible? I don't use
any version specific features...

thanks for you answer in advance,

kind regard

laurin

 

[Ken Slovak - [MVP - Outlook]]

Always compile using references to the earliest version of Outlook that you
intend to support, in this case Outlook 2003. There will be no Ribbon
support of course, or support for any other feature new to Office/Outlook
2007.

 

[laurin]

Thank you for your fast reply.
Okey, i wrote a outlook plugin which worked fine with outlook 2003. Now i
tried to install this outlook addin (with the standard installer) on a
system with outlook 2007. I know the standard created installer doesn't
install the vsto runtime and the PIA. So I manually installed the vsto
runtime (vstor.exe) and the PIA for the office 2007 system. But the plugin
is always inactive. When i try to activate it manually, it says cannot load
the addin because there is a com runtime error. Where can i get a more
detailed error message? Or what did i wrong?

Thank you for your help in advance.

kind regards

 

[Ken Slovak - [MVP - Outlook]]

Installing a VSTO addin on a target system requires a lot more than just the
runtime, Framework and PIA's. Did you set up a CAS policy for full trust for
your addin assemblies? Did you work with the deployment guide for VSTO at
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb332051.aspx?

 

[laurin]

Thank you. Now - after 1 hour of workthrough everything works fine. Why is
this not in the standard installer template? cumbersome!

Now one further question: If i launch my addin in outlook 07 there is in the
inspector in the ribbon one tab add-in, where my toolbar buttons are in a
ribbon. Is there a way to include a ribbon in my add-in to. so if the addin
is used with office 07 the ribbon gets added, else the normal toolbar?

kind regards

and great thanks

 

[Ken Slovak - [MVP - Outlook]]

Making VSTO deployments transparent and simple is something we've brought up
with the product group many times, believe me.

The ribbon uses an entirely different set of interfaces and callbacks than
the CommandBars interface. There is no supported way of developing a VSTO
addin for Outlook 2003 that will also support the ribbon. For one thing the
shim loader is a dll and can't be hacked to shim calls to the
IRibbonExtensibility interfaces.

Any CommandBars interfaces for Inspectors will always be shown in that
Add-ins tab in Outlook 2007.

There are ways of supporting the ribbon when compiling for Outlook 2003, but
they are undocumented and unsupported and can't be used with VSTO. They can
only be used with shared managed code addins or unmanaged code addins, not
VSTO.

 

[laurin]

okey, thanks again.

That's all I needed.

kind regards