I finally found the object model documentation for Microsoft Office.
However it talks about interop assemblies and stuff that sounds like .NET. I don't use .NET directly, and I don't really want to learn much about it. Is there a way to just use plain COM/ActiveX classes/interfaces to automate MS Word/Excel?
Here's a KB article that can help you get started: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/216686/
...and this one: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307473/EN-US/
Related
I need to write a cascading shell extension à la 7Zip. It appears that only the .Net 4 framework supports this, but even in March 2012, MS still advises against using a managed language for this purpose.
So what unmanaged languages are available to write shell extensions for Windows (XP, Vista, 7)?
I read that writing a COM DLL is not easy even for seasoned C++ developpers, so it's probably a dead-end for non-pros. VB6 has been deadware for a decade. I looked at PureBasic and PowerBasic but they don't seem good candidates either.
So is there simply no reasonably easy language to write a cascading shell extension?
As a work-around, is there a library that I could call from VB.Net that would handle the hard part?
Thank you.
There is not a lot you can do if you're not willing to go into the unmanaged world. There is a series of articles on codeproject. This is the first of such articles. They helped me quite a bit. It is written in unmanaged c++ using visual studios ATL project which takes care of some other classes that you would otherwise have to deal with.
COM objects may not be the easiest thing to understand but once they're working they are fairly solid. If anything just treat it as a learning experience.
I'm about to work on some Outlook add-ins. It's been years since I did this; and probably several object model revisions!
Can anyone recommend some references to help get me started: blogs, sites, books??
Thanks
If your budget can afford it (ie. the product is making money), I would highly recommend Add-in Express. Lots of samples, documentation, and support -- but requires using their tooling. (It makes Outlook ever so slightly-less of a PITA to deal with.)
However, if you prefer to stick with a (free with VS) Microsoft solution -- it works fairly well, but is missing some "niceties" -- then check out the VSTO on MSDN page as a first stop an follow the links out. There are also some good sample projects, templates, and VSTO tools on codeplex.
Happy coding.
Edit: I guess I must be bored :-) Here are some selected links that I found helpful. some of these are very specific/advanced, and some are more general. The arrangement is in no particular order.
MSDN Outlook 2010 Top-Level. Links to documentation (MAPI, PIAs) etc.
SGriffin's MAPI Internals. Lots of details wrt MAPI. Generally on low-level access but also a good source to find out about changes, new documentation or tools, etc. He could probably rewrite MAPI from memory.
MFCMAPI Program & Source Invaluable tool for inspecting MAPI folders, properties, and whatnot. Is Microsofts "reference example" for most "How do I do x in MAPI?".
OutlookSpy Program. This isn't free, but there is a trial. It may or may not work better than MFCMAPI for particular needs. This was written by the author of Redemption, a supplement/replacement for the PIA OOM access. Dimastr has also answered a number of (advanced) Outlook/MAPI forum posts online -- always a good person to look out for.
Outlook 2010 Messaging API (MAPI) Code Samples - Covers basic (wrapper) implementations of the providers (address/store/transport). All native C++.
OutlookCode.com Site promotes some Outlook books by Sue Mosher. I can't vouch for the books, but the site is a mixed-blessing with some good links, some useful advice, and some downright ugly code :-) Also has a forum.
Visual Studio Tools for Office in VS2010 has come a long way. I used to make (and sell) an Outlook add-in for Tablet PC's and it was very complicated back then. A properly designed add-in in .NET would need to set up a separate AppDomain to avoid stomping on other add-ins and implement all kinds of workarounds to avoid leaving orphaned Outlook processes when the main window closed.
VSTO does all this "out of the box" now.
Outlook Solutions in Visual Studio
Don't forget this MSDN forum as a great resource:
Outlook for Developers Forum:
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/outlookdev/threads
BTW, #pst: you can still use late-binding to work with the newer Object Models within a version neutral ADX project.
#Josh: VSTO already loads each add-in into it's own AppDomain
#everyone: I work for ADX, feel free to ping me for any questions.
I've got a game in VB6 and it works great and all, but I have been toying with the idea of creating a scripting engine. Ii'm thinking I'd like VB6 to read in flat text script files for me and then lex/parse/execute them.
I have good programming experience, and I've built a simple C compiler, as well as a LOGO emulator before.
My question is:
Are there any tools that I can use, like Lexx/Yakk/Bison to help me? How should I approach this problem in regards to lexing, parsing, and feeding the commands back to VB6 so I can handle them? Is this idea a BAD IDEA in the sense that there are too many obstacles in the way (For example, building minesweeper in assembly, though not impossible, is very difficult, and a bad idea.)?
Use the Microsoft® Windows® Script Control because it is easy to integrate into existing VB6 applications. The control supports VBScript, JScript, or any other "Active Script" implementation.
I have used the Windows Script Control in four projects and it works extremely well. Very easy to integrate. I wish Microsoft would have given us a replacement in .NET, and made it as easy to use. (I understand the control is not needed in .NET, but having the ability to simply create an object that handles everything is nice.)
Windows Script Control
The Microsoft® Windows® Script Control
is an ActiveX® control that provides
developers with an easy way to make
their applications scriptable. This,
in turn, enables users to extend
application functionality through
scripts, much as they do with macros
today.
INFO: Where to Obtain the Script Control at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/184739. Includes links to other howto support articles.
Chapter 13: Adding Scripting Support to Your Application at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa227413(VS.60).aspx
Designing a Calculator at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa227421(VS.60).aspx
How To Use Script Control Modules and Procedures Collections, Inserted from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/184745
How To Use the AddObject Method of the Script Control, Inserted from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/185697
SAMPLE: SCRIPTEX.EXE Uses the ScriptControl with Visual Basic, Inserted from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/189484
Windows Script Control can be downloaded at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=d7e31492-2595-49e6-8c02-1426fec693ac&displaylang=en. (Supported Operating Systems: Windows 2000; Windows 98 Second Edition; Windows ME; Windows NT; Windows Server 2003; Windows XP)
MSDN Search of "MSScriptControl.ScriptControlClass" at http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Search/en-US?query=%22MSScriptControl.ScriptControlClass%22&ac=8
MSDN Search of "Windows Script Control" at http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Search/en-US?query=%22Windows+Script+Control%22&ac=8
MSDN Search of "MSSCRIPT" at http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Search/en-US?query=MSSCRIPT&ac=8
Unless you're doing it for your own instruction, you may want to try using Lua: VB6 - Lua Integration
If you're willing to use VBScript rather than VB6 you might be able to just use the MSScriptControl to run the commands rather than creating your own. Here's an article discussing using it from a .Net app, though it's an ActiveX control so should give you quite a bit of flexibility.
The control can be downloaded from here.
I've actually seen some quite reasonable implementations of compilers/interpreters in VB6[1] - It's not the language I would choose (few functional features, insufficent static type system), but with experience, you can outweigh these drawbacks and be quite productive - So why not.
You can use the GOLD parser generator that supports VB6 as a start.
[1]: Somewhere on PSC or in this download repository I think ...
Note that there is the MSScriptControl too.
There also appears to be an additonal alternative for VB6:
SadScript is an variant of VB6 most prominently used for VB6 as an scripting engine in MMORPGS .
See here for more : What is sadscript? Can I use it in vb.net? Why hasn't anyone I have asked heard of it?
We are in the process of creating active-x controls used within our application.
Since Microsoft stopped supporting classic Visual Basic, is it wise to use Visual Basic to develop the Active X control or the latest VC++/ATL/MFC libraries provide more feature where we can create controls faster by leaving Visual Basic flexibility?
We will not be able to use .NET/VB.NET/C# since the application is supposed to work inside containers and containers may not support latest .NET runtime.
Any other language is best fit for Active X control development other than VB and VC++?
I, personally, would recommend using Delphi for this. It is still actively developed, and has the control you get with C++, but a rapid development environment more like VB.NET.
#nobugz: If you are really interested what is ActiveX in Delphi, look at docwiki. Normally it is 100% source code (yours + VCL, VCL is also available as sources) with autogenerated COM wrappers. So all potential security problems are also in source code. If you find a security problem in VCL, please send a bug report to Quality Central.
Here is a good example on how to create ActiveX Controls with C# .NET
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/cs/CreateActiveXDotNet.aspx
By all means VB6 is the best language. After reading your question I feel that you are a VB6 developer. If you know VB6 and use it then why hesitate using it for producing ActiveX controls.
I program in Delphi as well as VB6 along with VB.NET and C# but creating ActiveX controls is the easiest in VB6 compares to all other development tools.
If you are hell bent on not using VB and if you are looking for an alternative then try out PowerBasic (commercial - very costly) or PureBasic (commercial but affordable) Get it from here or better still MinGW (a GNU C++ compiler).
I have to say that VB6 with a good book like Developing COM/ActiveX Components with VB6: A Guide to the Perplexed you will be up and running faster.
Is it possible to use an ActiveX/COM object from ColdFusion? If so, where's the documentation or samples for it?
(non ColdFusion programmer, asking on behalf of a ColdFusion programmer)
see: Integrating COM and CORBA Objects in CFML Applications
If you're worried about COM object performance, use .NET based CFML Engine like BlueDragon for the Microsoft .NET Framework
You can call both COM objects and .Net assemblies natively in ColdFusion both with excellent performance. Check out the following in the cf docs:
http://livedocs.adobe.com/coldfusion/8/htmldocs/cfobject_01.html
http://livedocs.adobe.com/coldfusion/8/htmldocs/help.html?content=dotNet_01.html
Examples are included in the docs.