Distributing COM Add-ins

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If you are planning to distribute your COM add-in to other users, you must install all the necessary files on each user's system and register the add-in. How you do this depends on the environment in which you are developing the add-in.

In This Section

• Distributing COM Add-ins Created with Office Developer
  If you are developing in Microsoft® Office XP Developer, the easiest way to distribute a COM add-in is to create a setup program for the add-in.
• Distributing COM Add-ins Created with Visual Basic 6.0
  If you are developing in Microsoft® Visual Basic® 6.0, the easiest way to distribute a COM add-in is to include the add-in designer in the Add-in project and then create a setup program for the add-in.

Related Sections

• Building COM Add-ins for Office Applications
  By building COM add-ins, you can extend the functionality of your Microsoft® Office-based applications without adding complexity for the user.
• Working with Add-in Designers
  Create and register your COM add-in with an add-in designer.
• Specifying Load Behavior
  Load (connect) the add-in, and make it available to the user; or unload (disconnect) the add-in, so it cannot be run.
• Writing Code in the Add-in Designer
  Begin writing code in the designer's class module when you have specified general information for a COM add-in in the add-in designer.
• Hooking a COM Add-in Up to a Command Bar Control
  Integrate your COM add-in (if it has a user interface) with the host application in some way, so the user can interact with it.
• Debugging a COM Add-in
  Load and use the COM add-in from within a Microsoft® Office XP application to test and debug it.
• Making the DLL
  Turn your COM add-in into a DLL when you have finished debugging it.
• COM Add-ins and Security
  Specify security settings for Microsoft® Office XP applications in the Office XP Security dialog box.