Working with RibbonX
When you customize the ribbon with the June CTP of VSTO, it can be difficult to identify errors in your XML markup. Because XML is case-sensitive, it is easy to introduce errors and can be difficult to find exactly where in your mark up the error occurs. Two things you should do to help resolve this:
1. Get IntelliSense. If you attach the schema that Office provides for the ribbon (called CustomUI.xsd), you'll have IntelliSense available as you type in the XML markup. This makes it much easier to add the mark up because it can be difficult to remember all of the XML tags and attributes available for various controls, and you don't have to guess what the casing for these elements should be. You can find the schema at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=15805380-F2C0-4B80-9AD1-2CB0C300AEF9&displaylang=en. Save the CustomUI.xsd file to <C:\>\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Xml\Schemas, and then reference it in the project properties of your add-in. You now have intelliSense!
2. Enable Error Messages. You can set an option to show UI errors within add-ins. To do this open the Options dialog box for the application and click Advanced. Scroll down to the General tab and select the Show add-in user interface errors checkbox. If you set this option in one application, it will affect all Office applications.
Now, if you try to load an add-in that has an error in the XML markup, you'll receive an error message giving you an indication of where the error occurred and why it occurred.
You can learn about this, and other tips when customizing the ribbon with VSTO in my upcoming book: Visual Studio Tools for Office for Mere Mortals.
--Kathleen
