June 2006 - Posts

CreateDOCX Sample Program
27 June 06 02:51 PM

This post covers a very simple program for creating an Office Open XML word-processing document. The source code for this program is included in the attachment, or you can download it here . The syntax for using the CreateDOCX program is shown to the Read More...

Postedby dmahugh | 7 Comments    

Attachment(s):CreateDOCX.zip

Creating Open XML Documents
26 June 06 03:05 PM

The packaging API in the .NET 3.0 framework (formerly known as WinFX) provides low-level support for reading and writing Open XML documents. And now that Office 2007 Beta 2 is out, more developers are starting to ramp up on how to work with the packaging Read More...

Postedby dmahugh | 2 Comments    

Sharepoint's Support for Blogs, Wikis and RSS
26 June 06 01:53 PM

A new Channel 9 video today covers Sharepoint's support for blogs, wikis, and RSS. Sharepoint PMs Tim McConnell and Renee Lo give a guided tour of the new features, and also discuss some of the thinking behind Sharepoint's approach. Here's the link. The Read More...

Postedby dmahugh | 0 Comments    

Office Programmability Tips
22 June 06 04:09 AM

Here's a nice summary of the benefits of developing Office add-ins with the new VSTO AddinLoader. Security and administration of add-ins was clumsy in the old days (i.e., Office 2003), but things have changed. Good riddance, mscoree.dll. That post is Read More...

Postedby dmahugh | 0 Comments    

The Low-down Hoe-down on LEAGIS
21 June 06 08:12 PM

In state government, like any other field, there are technology leaders and technology losers. The state of Florida is a true leader in this field, and this week I've had the opportunity to spend some long hours with the developers of their unique and Read More...

Postedby dmahugh | 2 Comments    

Code Snippets for Open XML Development
17 June 06 01:10 PM

The Open XML code snippets are out! These are a well-organized set of snippets that do the basic things every developer needs to do when working with Open XML documents. They're free, and all of the snippets come in C# and VB versions. Download them here. Read More...

Postedby dmahugh | 0 Comments    

Vista Includes Debug!
16 June 06 06:34 PM

<friday evening rant while waiting for traffic to die down> I have a favorite utility program, a piece of software that has been included with every shipping Microsoft operating system since the earliest versions of DOS. I'm talking about Debug, Read More...

Postedby dmahugh | 0 Comments    

Adding Custom XML Parts from the Word Object Model
16 June 06 06:49 AM

There are several different ways to insert a custom XML part in an Office Open XML documents: you can manually add the part and set the necessary relationships ( here's an example of that on OpenXmlDeveloper.org ), you can use the .NET 3.0 packaging API, Read More...

Postedby dmahugh | 2 Comments    

Dual-boot Vista/XP
15 June 06 02:22 PM

Last night I took a flying leap into the world of Vista. I've meant to install it for a while, but was a bit afraid of losing the ability to run all my old XP applications -- I didn't want to get in a situation where I had to fight with some not-ready-for-Vista Read More...

Postedby dmahugh | 0 Comments    

Developer Tools for Office 2007 Beta 2
14 June 06 06:33 AM

If you're looking to get started on developing software with Beta 2 of the 2007 Microsoft Office System, you'll need more than the free Beta bits . You'll need WinFX .NET 3.0, VSTO, various SDKs, Visual Studio extensions, and more. Mark Bower has put Read More...

Postedby dmahugh | 0 Comments    

Dan Bricklin Interviews Alan Yates
13 June 06 09:39 AM

Speaking of FUD (below), it's refreshing when you hear two class acts calmly discussing the state of their industry. Dan Bricklin, inventor of the spreadsheet, interviewed Alan Yates, GM of Office business strategy, at a Microsoft reception at TechEd Read More...

Postedby dmahugh | 1 Comments    

Living In The Past
13 June 06 09:32 AM

There have been some strange FUD-based arguments put forth around file formats lately. You'd think people would feel good about the openness that the industry has embraced: ODF is now ISO-ratified , and Open XML is moving rapidly through the Ecma standards Read More...

Postedby dmahugh | 0 Comments    

Office Business Applications
12 June 06 04:03 PM

Office Business Applications, or OBAs, are a new breed of business solutions built on the 2007 Microsoft Office System. These applications feature the familiar people-ready interfaces that users already know and love in Word, Excel, Outlook and Sharepoint, Read More...

Postedby dmahugh | 0 Comments    

WinFX becomes .NET 3.0
09 June 06 02:34 PM

To clarify Microsoft's development-tools strategy and make it easier for developers to understand the growing Microsoft development platform, a new change has been announced this afternoon: WinFX will henceforth be known as version 3.0 of the .NET framework. Read More...

Postedby dmahugh | 1 Comments    

Open XML at TechEd and Codeplex
09 June 06 09:40 AM

If you're going to be at TechEd in Boston next week, be sure to check out Brian Jones's presentation on the Office Open XML file formats. It's Wednesday at 5:30, and Brian has all the details on his blog . If you've been doing any development around Open Read More...

Postedby dmahugh | 0 Comments    

Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar
09 June 06 09:14 AM

If you're doing complicated CSS markup, or just doing something simple like hacking up the CSS on your MSDN blog (for example :-)), there's a tool you must have: the Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar . It adds the above toolbar to your browser, which Read More...

Postedby dmahugh | 4 Comments    

VSTO Cypress: Full Support for Office 2007!
08 June 06 12:00 PM

If you're a VSTO developer looking to get a head-start on Office 2007 development, life has been complicated lately because the available versions of VSTO didn't support Office 2007. Well, as of yesterday life got simpler with the release of "Cypress," Read More...

Postedby dmahugh | 1 Comments    

No time to learn Office 2007? Start here ...
07 June 06 09:41 AM

The 2007 Microsoft Office System has so much new functionality and so many new features that it's a bit intimidating. Where do you start learning? You can download the beta, of course, and many people have done just that -- there were 500,000 downloads Read More...

Postedby dmahugh | 0 Comments    

Google's Spreadsheet: Excel It Ain't
06 June 06 09:16 AM

Google has decided to enter the spreadsheet business, and starting today they're taking applications for participation in the beta. It will be some type of web application, with an HTML-based thin-client UI, but most of the details haven't been announced Read More...

Postedby dmahugh | 3 Comments    

BI and Data Warehousing Webcasts
05 June 06 09:57 AM

Office 2007 will deliver a wide array of new BI capabilities, especially when combined with the BI and data warehousing features of SQL Server 2005. If you're new to BI and DW, or just new to SQL 2005, there are four info-packed TechNet webcasts coming Read More...

Postedby dmahugh | 0 Comments    

BDC Metadata Generator
05 June 06 06:00 AM

If you're wondering where to start in learning to create BDC( Business Data Catalog) connectors to back-end relational data sources, here's a tool that can save you time: Jonah Burke's Database Metadata Generator . It's a Codeplex project, so anyone can Read More...

Postedby dmahugh | 0 Comments    

Adbobe Picks a File-Format Fight
02 June 06 12:01 PM

The last two weeks have seen a big increase in the amount of press coverage and blog discussions of file-format issues. Working draft 1.3 of the Open XML spec is out , Office 2007 Beta 2 was released, and now Adobe is threatening legal action regarding Read More...

Postedby dmahugh | 6 Comments    

Sharepoint as a Platform
01 June 06 11:22 PM

There's some interesting info on Microsoft's presspass site about how various developers are building on the Sharepoint platform. Learn more here. We're seeing a lot of creative work taking place in the Sharepoint community these days, and it's good to Read More...

Postedby dmahugh | 0 Comments