Features and limitations
Features of the current version:
Development features:
- Develop .NET-based Add-Ins directly from within
Office (just like VBA).
- A source control is built-in so that from any
computer with Microsoft Office, after authentication,
you can access and modify the source code of an add-in.
You can also easily revert to a previous version of an
Add-In.
- Test the changes to the source code of an Add-In
without restarting Office (and most of the times even
without restarting the Add-In itself).
Deployment features:
- Automatically deploy an Add-In (or an update)
throughout the company.
- End-users can automatically receive updates and new
add-ins without restarting Office and without closing
their current document.
- End-users can see the list of all the available
Add-Ins in the company and pick up only the Add-Ins they
need.
- End-users can have multiple versions of the same
add-in.
- Add-Ins are downloaded only when needed (streaming).
Features of the developed code:
- The code is compiled (not interpreted) and is able
to access all the resources and the features that
Visual-Studio-developed add-ins can access.
- Create user-interfaces with a built-in WPF interface
designer (WinForms is also supported but no interface
designer is included yet).
- Write code in C# (and VB.NET soon).
- Support for the full .NET Framework.
- Add extensibility to your Add-Ins, so that end-users
can customize or expand them.
Security features:
- Decide who in the company has the right to execute
what.
- From any workstation, instantly see the source code
that corresponds to one of the installed Add-Ins
(directly from within Office) (after authentication).
- From any workstation, instantly see the Change Log
(i.e. history of modifications) of any of the installed
Add-Ins (directly from within Office) (after
authentication).
- Optionally, require validation by a particular group
before deploying an Add-In to the whole company.
Limitations of the current version:
- Add-ins that are written in languages other than C#
(and soon VB.NET) cannot be included into this system
(but they can still be distributed separately or
side-by-side)
- Add-ins for which you don't have the source code
cannot be included into this system (but they can still
be distributed separately or side-by-side)
- The following features are still under development
and will be included in upcoming releases:
- An advanced step-by-step debugger
- Support for more advanced C# language features
- Support for VB.NET
- Support for running the solution while in
offline mode
- Improved support for WinForms (no built-in interface
designer is available yet) (but WPF is already supported and
has an interface designer)
- Better packaging and fine-tuned integration with
ActiveDirectory
Please feel free to contact us
for more information concerning any of the
features/limitations above.