Working with Add-in Designers
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An add-in designer is a file included with the template project that helps you create and register your COM add-in. You can create a COM add-in without including an add-in designer, but the add-in designer simplifies the process of creating and registering the add-in. You can use an add-in designer to specify important information for your COM add-in: its name and description, the application in which it is to run, and how it loads in that application.
Similar to forms in a Visual Basic project, an add-in designer (shown in the following figure) has a user interface component and an associated class module. The user interface component is never visible to the user when the add-in is running, however; it is visible only to the developer at design time. You can think of the add-in designer as a sort of dialog box where you specify settings for an add-in.
The Add-in Designer (Example)
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The class module contains the events that occur when the add-in is loaded or unloaded. You can use these events to integrate the add-in into the application.
When you create the add-in DLL, Visual Basic 6.0 uses the information you have given to the add-in designer to properly register the DLL as a COM add-in. Visual Basic 6.0 writes the add-in's name, description, and initial load behavior setting to the registry. The add-in's host application reads these registry entries and loads the add-in accordingly.
See Also
Building COM Add-ins for Office Applications | Configuring an Add-in Designer | Creating COM Add-ins for Multiple Applications | Working with Host Application Object Models | Specifying Load Behavior | Writing Code in the Add-in Designer | Hooking a COM Add-in Up to a Command Bar Control | Debugging a COM Add-in | Making the DLL | Distributing COM Add-ins | COM Add-ins and Security