devxlogo

Using the Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office System

Using the Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office System

Why Trust Us

ffice is a staple in most corporations, and .NET developers can easily take advantage of its power and omnipresence. The Visual Studio Tools for Office provide the ability to use .NET code with Office 2003 applications. With it, you can create code using Microsoft Visual Basic .NET (VB.NET) or C# (or other .NET languages) and integrate that code into your own Office 2003 tools.

Examining the Code
Once the wizard has run, you can examine the project it created. The first item to examine is the references added by the wizard. The wizard creates a project with all the standard .NET references (System, System.Data, System.XML, etc.) and it also adds references to Microsoft.Office.Core, Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word and Microsoft.VBE.Interop.Forms. These references are assemblies used to communicate with Office 2003 and are installed when you perform a complete installation of Office 2003. If you haven’t installed them from your Office 2003 CDs, the Visual Studio Tools for Office will do that for you.

The next item to examine is the class created by the wizard. The class created by the wizard is partially defined in Table 1.

Table 1: Definition of the class created by the Visual Studio Tools for Office Wizard.

Property/Method

Description

ThisDocument

Handle to the current document

ThisApplication

Handle to the current application

ThisDocument_Open

Subroutine called when the document opens

ThisDocument_Close

Subroutine called when the document is closed

FindControl()

Function that searches the current document for a handle to acontrol. Used for accessing controls added to a document

Range()

Returns a range object that can be manipulated in workbooks anddocuments. In Excel, a range can be defined as a cell or range ofcells.

Other functions and properties

There are literally hundreds of others. For the purposes of thisarticle, the ones defined above are the ones most commonly usedwhen integrating with Office.

Other items to note are the properties ThisDocument and ThisApplication (ThisDocument is known as ThisWorkbook in Excel 2003 projects). These variables are references to the current document and application. These two variables are cast as their proper Office data types in the _Startup() subroutine created by the wizard.

 Friend WithEvents ThisDocument AsCreating the Web Service
The first step is to create a Web service called ZipService with a WebMethod called GetZipInfo. To create a Web service, open the New Project dialog box in Visual Studio .NET. Select Create New ASP.NET Web service and call it ZipService. Add the following code to your Web service:
 
  _   Public Function GetZipInfo(ByVal cZip
 devxblackblue
About Our Editorial Process
At DevX, we’re dedicated to tech entrepreneurship. Our team closely follows industry shifts, new products, AI breakthroughs, technology trends, and funding announcements. Articles undergo thorough editing to ensure accuracy and clarity, reflecting DevX’s style and supporting entrepreneurs in the tech sphere.
See our full editorial policy.
About Our Journalist
 
 Charlie Frank
 
 Charlie has over a decade of experience in website administration and technology management. As the site admin, he oversees all technical aspects of running a high-traffic online platform, ensuring optimal performance, security, and user experience.
  View Author 
 
   Show More  
 
  
   Linkedin      Twitter   
  
  
©2024 Copyright DevX - All Rights Reserved. Registration or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Sitemap — Privacy Policy