Add-in Express Wizard - COM Add-ins, Smart Tags and RTDS

Based on the Microsoft Office extensibility, Add-in Express provides you with a comprehensive component set for creating any types of Microsoft Office plug-ins for Outlook, Excel, Word, Visio, Project, InfoPath, etc.

For Office extension projects, Add-in Express adds a special RAD module that implements all necessary interfaces required by extensibility technologies. This is the main module which centralizes the general logic of the add-in, and allows you to add your own command bars, ribbon tabs and controls with a couple of clicks.

To create a COM Add-in project choose File|New|Others (File|New for Delphi 5) and go to the Add-in Express tab in the New Items window and double-click the MS Office COM Add-in icon. This will start the Add-in Express Wizard. With this, you can specify a name of the COM add-in project, a destination folder for the project, one or several host applications COM add-in is being designed for, a display name for the COM Add-in coclass and more.

First, you should name the add-in project.

Second, you should choose one or several host applications COM add-in is being designed for.

If you create an Outlook add-in you can add an option page for the main Options dialog box or a property page for Outlook folders.

Third, you should specify a coclass name that will be used as a name of add-in interfaces and a name of the class that implements your add-in. Also the Add-in Express Wizard allows you to specify an add-in display name and add-in description that will be displayed in the COM Add-in Manager of the host application.

Finally, you should check your settings and press the Finish button. Your COM add-in project is ready to work.

How to get more details

 •  Add-in Express in action - success stories

 •  HOWTOs section

 •  Sample add-ins for Outlook, Excel, Word

 •  Add-in Express Downloads