Properties Merged from OLEObject or OLEControl

After the control has been added to the document or spreadsheet, the experience of using the control on the design surface should be very close to that of working with a standard Windows Form. However, there are some differences. The biggest difference appears when you click a Windows Forms control in the document and use the categorized view in the Properties window. If you compare a Windows.Forms.Controls.Button with a Microsoft.Office.Tools.Excel.Controls.Button, you will see the extra properties merged in from the OLEObject. These properties are listed in the Misc category to denote that these properties are coming from OLEObject.

Excel Control Properties That Are Added from OLEObject

The OLEObject merge done for controls in the Microsoft.Office.Tools.Excel.Controls namespace adds several properties to VSTO extended controls that are not in the base Windows.Forms controls. Table 14-1 shows the most important properties that are added for controls in Excel.

Table 14-1. Additional Excel Control Properties

Name	Type	Access	Description
BottomRightCell	Excel.Range	Read-only	The Range object that represents the cell that lies under the lower-right corner of the control.
Enabled	bool	Read-write	Determines whether the control is enabled. If you set this to false, the control will show grayed-out in Excel. This enables you to control whether the control will accept input at runtime.
Height	double	Read-write	The height, in points, of the control.
Left	double	Read-write	The distance, in points, from the left edge of the control to the left edge of column A.
Placement	object	Read-write	Determines how the control will be placed. This can be one of three values: xlFreeFloating (equivalent to Do not move or size with cell setting in the placement dialog) xlMove (equivalent to Move but do not size with cell setting in the placement dialog) xlMoveAndSize (equivalent to Move and size with cell setting in the placement dialog)
PrintObject	bool	Read-write	Determines whether the control will print when the worksheet is printed. This can prove very useful if the control you are using is something like a button that should not be part of the final printed document.
Shadow	bool	Read-write	Determines whether Excel should provide a drop shadow for the control. When set to true, Excel will provide a simple black drop shadow around the control
TopLeftCell	Excel.Range	Read-only	The Range object that represents the cell that lies under the upper-left corner of the control.
Top	double	Read-write	The distance, in points, from the top edge of the control to the top edge of row 1.
Visible	bool	Read-write	Determines whether to hide the control at runtime.
Width	double	Read-write	The width, in points, of the control.

 

Word Control Properties Added from OLEControl

The OLEControl merge done for controls in the Microsoft.Office.Tools.Word.Controls namespace adds several properties to VSTO extended controls that are not in the base Windows.Forms controls. Table 14-2 shows the most important properties that are added for controls in Word.

Table 14-2. Additional Word Control Properties

Name	Type	Access	Description
Bottom	float	Read-only	The distance, in points, from the top edge of the first paragraph on the page to the bottom of the control
Height	float	Read-write	The height, in points, of the control
InlineShape	InlineShape	Read	Returns the InlineShape object in the Word object model corresponding to the controlreturns null if the control is not inline
Shape	Shape	Read	Returns the Shape object in the Word object model corresponding to the controlreturns null if the control is inline
Left	float	Read-write	The distance, in points, from the left edge of the control to the left edge of the first paragraph on the page
Name	string	Read-write	The name of the control
Right	float	Read-only	The distance, in points, from the right edge of the control to the left edge of the first paragraph on the page
Top	float	Read-write	The distance, in points, from the top edge of the control to the top edge of the first paragraph on the page
Width	float	Read-write	The width, in points, of the control

Many of the properties for controls running in Word are dependent on the wrapping style of the control. If the control is inline with text, the Left, Bottom, Right, Top, and Width properties will throw an exception. Why? Word represents ActiveX controls as either Shapes or InlineShapes depending on how the control is positioned on the document, and the positioning properties are only available on Shapes that are controls whose wrapping style is Behind text or In front of text.

Word controls also have an InlineShape and Shape property that provide you with access to the InlineShape or Shape object in the Word object model corresponding to the control.