Viewing the List of Available COM Add-ins

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By default, there is no menu item or toolbar button to display the COM Add-ins dialog box, but you can easily display it.

To add a menu item or toolbar button for the COM Add-ins dialog box

  1. In the Microsoft® Office XP application, click Customize on the Tools menu.

  2. Click the Commands tab.

  3. In the Categories list, click Tools.

  4. In the Commands list, click COM Add-ins. You might have to scroll through the list to find it.

  5. Drag the COM Add-ins command to a toolbar or a menu.

  6. Close the Customize dialog box.

    Note   In Microsoft® Outlook®, you can access the COM Add-Ins dialog box if you click Options on the Tools menu, click the Other tab, and then click Advanced Options. In the Advanced Options dialog box, click COM Add-Ins.

When you click the COM Add-Ins toolbar button or menu item, the COM Add-Ins dialog box appears, showing the list of available COM add-ins. You can load (connect) or unload (disconnect) an add-in by selecting the check box next to it. Loading a COM add-in loads it into memory, so you can work with it. Unloading an add-in removes it from memory; you cannot use the add-in until you load it again.

You can add a new COM add-in to the list by clicking Add and locating the add-in. Clicking Add and selecting an add-in that does not appear in the list registers the add-in DLL if it is not registered already and adds the add-in to the list of available COM add-ins for an Office XP application.

To remove a COM add-in from the list, select it, and click Remove. Removing an add-in deletes the registry key that contains the name and load behavior of the add-in. The registry contains information about a COM add-in in two places. As with any other DLL, the add-in's DLL is registered as a unique object on the system. Additionally, information about the add-in is placed in another section of the registry to notify Office applications that the add-in exists. This section is deleted when you remove an add-in from the list. The DLL itself remains registered, and if you add the add-in to the list again, the add-in's informational section is re-created in the registry.

**Note   **You can add only DLLs that are COM add-ins to the list of available add-ins in the COM Add-Ins dialog box. Moreover, only add-ins registered for the application you are working in can be registered. For example, if you are working in Microsoft® Access, you cannot add a COM add-in that is registered only for Microsoft® Word and Microsoft® Excel. In addition, you can create COM add-ins for the Microsoft® Visual Basic® Editor. Loading and unloading a COM add-in for the Visual Basic Editor is slightly different from doing so for COM add-ins in the host application's user interface.

See Also

What Is a COM Add-in? | COM Add-ins vs. Application-Specific Add-ins | Viewing Available Application-Specific Add-ins