COM Addin not honoring XP Themes

[mlwiles]

I have a C++ COM addin, built in VS 2005 that does not seem to honor XP
Themes. I have tested it in Word 2003 & PowerPoint 2003. None of the
dialogs that I have look like I would like them too.

I have tried several variations of the following instructions:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;830033

Is there anything special that VS 2005 needs in order for this to work?

Thanks in advance !!!

 

[Zathras]

I've had this problem with a client recently.

The answer is to produce a small file called a manifest file.

Now this file has to be related to the host application. So if your add-in
is say Microsoft Word it is related to WINWORD.EXE and the manifest file
would be WINWORD.EXE.MANIFEST

This is because your COM-Addin works within the Host.

I'm a bit pressed for time at the moment however if I get a chance I'll dig
out the manifest file used for that last client, however I did get it off
MSDN.

 

[mlwiles]

I failed to mention that I did get the themes to work with your
suggested method, however I do not like this solution (I dont want to
mess with the parent application even though it is just placing a file
in the office directory) - if this is the only way I can get the themes
to work, then I wont do it. Since this is not an internal product, I
dont like the idea of modifying a customers office product in that way.
But thank you very much for your reply.

-Mike

 

[Zathras]

It's a pity you are using C++.

I think much the same as you but in my case I'm using C#, therefore the
other solution given in the link in your original post would fit in with my
needs.

The manifest I used for a client but had the agreement of their IT Steering
Committee to use the manifest, but they would not allow the use of any C#,
just VB.Net

I've been using the CTP version of Cypress and this does not seem to exhibit
the same behaviour; ie you get nice XP like controls, so there is no need for
a manifest or other weird technique.

 

[mlwiles]

Agreed... thanks again for your reply.

I wish I could use C# ... then I would just go ahead and use VSTO
(which is so easy to use) But we also do not want to have a dependance
on .NET framework being available. We promise support for Office 2000
& XP so .NET was frowned on.

And thanks for your sympathy about C++ ...