Custom task pane

[David Shaked]

How can I develop a custom task pane, preferably operating in both Word 2002
and Word 2003?

VSTO offers some custom task-pane capabilities that support Word 2003 only.
Does VSTO support completely new task panes (as opposed to modifying existing
task panes)? Is there any other approach to develop a custom task pane?

 

[Cindy M -WordMVP-]

Hi =?Utf-8?B?RGF2aWQgU2hha2Vk?=,

How can I develop a custom task pane, preferably operating in both Word 2002
and Word 2003?

VSTO offers some custom task-pane capabilities that support Word 2003 only.
Does VSTO support completely new task panes (as opposed to modifying existing
task panes)? Is there any other approach to develop a custom task pane?

There is no way to create a taskpane for Word 2002. SmartDocuments and VSTO 2005
use the XML capabilities in Word 2003 PROFESSIONAL (or Standalone; Office Word
2003 standard or small business doesn't support these) for the custom task
panes. There is no equivalent in Word 2002.

Best you could do for Word 2002 would be to dock a BIG toolbar at the edge of
the window, then position a UserForm over it. Or use a .NET Addin to create such
a toolbar with Windows or custom controls the toolbar will support.

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

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