Chapter 2: Getting Started with the Add-in Wizard

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Overview

"Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces,
I would still plant my apple tree".

--Martin Luther

Although you could create an add-in by creating the necessary classes and methods yourself, it is much easier and faster to use the Add-in Wizard provided by Visual Studio .NET.

There are several reasons for using the Add-in Wizard, even if you're an experienced add-in developer. First, the wizard creates two projects and inserts them into the solution (.sln) project. The first is an add-in project and the second is a setup project. Creating a setup project isn't an intuitive process and I much prefer to have the wizard do it for me. Without a setup project, you won't be able to debug your add-in. The wizard also creates a .reg file for registering your new add-in. Finally, the wizard creates a globally unique identifier (GUID) for your add-in and ensures that every required method is included in the Connect class. It's very easy to forget, and it might seem a minor detail, but if something is missing, you could spend hours trying to determine the meaning of some of the cryptic diagnostics that emit from Visual Studio. The wizard guarantees that you don't get caught in that trap.

In this chapter, I show you how to use the Add-in Wizard to create your first add-in. Then you'll modify the add-in to cause it to actually respond to a click on its menu option. Finally, you'll explore the more important methods of the add-in Connect class.



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Writing Add-Ins for Visual Studio  .NET
Writing Add-Ins for Visual Studio .NET
ISBN: 1590590260
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2002
Pages: 172
Authors: Les Smith

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