Outlook 2010 extensibility, which API to choose? - c#

I would like to add some features to the Outlook 2010 application.
Those features will include:
adding a button to the ribbon,
manipulating the calendar,
display Windows Form after the ribbon button is pressed.
I managed to find out that there are several ways to interfere with Outlook programmatically. They are: the object model, PIA, MAPI, and auxiliary APIs. (Source)
Which approach would you recommend to achieve the above requirements? I would like to use C#. Any tip on Outlook development is very welcome.

VSTO is probably the easiest way to do that, since it's got designer support in Visual Studio for working with the ribbon.
You can get started by using Create New Project in VS, and expanding the "Office" menu.

Related

Re-purposing Office commands through code

Office Ribbon buttons and other commands can be "re-purposed" using XML and onAction method. I have already done that successfully. Is there an equivalent C#/Object Model way of doing it too? Google hasn't shown much promise.
Background: The main Ribbon of my add-in is using visual designer. If I use the XML method of re-purposing, my main Ribbon will not be loaded. Other than this road bump, I'm interested in finding the solution in general too.
After spending some time, I learned that there is no way of doing this from C# code. I must switch to XML Ribbon approach. Fortunately the Visual Designer can help you translate your existing ribbons into XML format. You can right-click the Ribbon in Visual Designer and choose "Convert to XML" command.
I also found that XML Ribbon approach is far more powerful in the sense that it can access Office 2013 and 2016 features that the Visual Designer cannot. For example the Office Backstage and new context menus are only accessible in XML approach.

Outlook AddIn, there are two duplicate Ribbon shows in Ribbon bar .

I developed Outlook AddIn and create the setup project for 64bits using Visual Studio 2013.
My office is 64bit as well. Currently my problem is that there are two ribbons menu instead of one.
After installating, I open my outlook and check. I can only see one ribbon menu.
but I load my outlook second time, there can be see two ribbons. so I mouse over to these two ribbons.
one is my setup project name and another one is my outlook addin name. but they do the same purpose
and all layouts and functions are same. I would like to know why did two ribbon come out instead of one.
Best Rgds,
dartfrog
Looks like you didn't unregister the add-in from Visual Studio before running the installer. Use the Clean context menu button as shown on the screenshot:
You can disable add-ins in the host application. Just go to the COM Add-ins dialog and unselect the required one.

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I'm creating an Excel plugin in VS2013 with C#, the plugin should be compatible on Excel 2007, 2010 and 2013. If such control can only be created on the latest version of Excel (2013) that may not be an option for deploy. I´ve already created a traditional Windows form to do this, but I'll like to know if there are better ways to show new controls to the user, closer to where the action is occurring. Thanks!

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I am planning to develop an AddIn for MS Outlook 2010. This addin will place a control next to Search Textbox in outlook. But I don't know how to achieve this. I searched a lot but found addins for Ribbon/Pane. Any pointer would really helpful for me.
My Environment: VS2012 Ultimate, MS Outlook 2010, C#
You can't explicitly customize that area. A VSTO Task Pane or Add-in Express Form Region could give you some alternatives. Otherwise, you'd need to use the Win32 API and do some window subclassing to paint a control there, as per the technique used here:
Creating Adjacent Windows In Outlook in C++ for Visual Studio 2008
http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/OlAdjacentWindows/

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A major part of our work is creating and manipulating certain XML files, for which have a custom editor. The editor is starting to get creaky and we are looking at building a replacement. Since VS2010 has recently arrived, ostensibly with an improved add-in architecture (MEF?), I am interested in the possibility of building the editor as a custom editor within Visual Studio.
It would have to appear in the same way as the code editor or the Designer - a tab item, of which there can be many open at once, containing the GUI we use to edit the files. It would integrate with VS's Edit menu. It could use the output window to display messages. It would appear the same as any other editor within Visual Studio.
Right now, I am looking for examples of add-ins that work in a similar way - ideally with source code - to see whether this model would suit our requirements. I am also looking for any documentation or tutorials relevant to creating a VS2010 add-in, or information about VS2008 add-ins if this is still relevant.
Any input is welcome. Thanks!
You want to look at the Managed Extensibility Framework for VS 2010. Since 2010 is written in .net you can create add on components using it.
Code editor extension for VS 2010.
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Custom Editor Extensions
Update:
Since someone asked in a comment, I thought I would post this link on creating add ons for vs 2008: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/bb968855.aspx

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