PLEASE READ FIRST - What is VSTO and non-VSTO resources

Question

Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO) is a set of tools for the C# and VB.NET developer. It primarily aids in extending the user interface of Office 2003 and 2007 applications. Using the VSTO templates the developer can create managed code COM Add-ins for many Office applications. For Word and Excel, VSTO also offers a managed code alternative to VBA in the form of document-level customization templates. For more information, see the Please Read Next message.

 The Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO) forum is for VSTO-specific questions. Please feel free to post questions or issues specifically related to developing managed code applications using VSTO.
 
If you have questions or issues pertaining to non-VSTO specific topics such as Office application versions other than those listed above, VBA, classic VB, C++, ASP.NET, WinForms, Shared Add-ins, etc., please post them in the appropriate Microsoft forum or newsgroup. The list of links below will provide you with a good starting point from which you can find the right forum or newsgroup for your question.

 

 

These links provide access to complete lists of Microsoft forums and newsgroups.
 
MSDN Forums Site – http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/categories/ 

(until all forums are migrated to the new interface, some forums are located at http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/default.aspx?SiteID=1 )

Newsgroups Site (all groups) – http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/

General Office newsgroups site - http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?d=1

 List of links to "How to" articles about programming Office applications using .NET languages  -

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/311452

 

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 This is a list of the most commonly asked non-VSTO topics and links to the appropriate forums and/or newsgroups.

Office Products

 OFFICE FILE FORMATS    

• Office OpenXML
  - OpenXMLDeveloper.org
  - OpenXML SDK forum
  http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/oxmlsdk/threads/
  
• Office binary file formats
  - Forum
  - obtaining

GENERAL OFFICE DEVELOPMENT

• Forums
  • Office 2007 development: Innovate on Office
    http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/innovateonoffice/threads/
  • Office VBA: Visual Basic for Applications (ISV forum) 
    http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/isvvba/threads/
• Newsgroups
  • General developer issues: officedev newsgroup
    http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.office.developer.officedev.other&lang=en&cr=US
  • General programming issues: office.developer.vba newsgroup
    http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.office.developer.vba&lang=en&cr=US 
  • Office Automation and working with PIAs: office.developer.automation newsgroup
    http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.office.developer.automation&lang=en&cr=US
  • COM add-in issues and IDTExtensibility2: office.developer.com.add_ins newsgroup
    http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.office.developer.com.add_ins&lang=en&cr=US
  • Web component issues: office.developer.web.components newsgroup
    http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.office.developer.web.components&lang=en&cr=US
    

ACCESS

• General programming questions: access.modulesdaovba newsgroup
  http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.access.modulesdaovba&lang=en&cr=US
• Form coding questions: access.formscoding newsgroup
  http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.access.formscoding&lang=en&cr=US

 

EXCEL

• Charting issues: excel.charting newsgroup
   http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.excel.charting&lang=en&cr=US 
• General programming issues (classic VB & VBA): excel.programming newsgroup
   http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.excel.programming&lang=en&cr=US
• General programming (VB.NET): Xtreme VB Talk, Office automation forum
  http://www.xtremevbtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=105
• Worksheet function issues: excel.worksheet.functions newsgroup
  http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.excel.worksheet.functions&lang=en&cr=US
• Excel Services (Sharepoint)
  http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/sharepointexcel/threads

 

INFOPATH

• InfoPath issues: infopath newsgroup
  http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.infopath&lang=en&cr=US

 

INFORMATION BRIDGE FRAMEWORK

• Information Bridge Framework issues: office.informationbridge newsgroup
  http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.office.informationbridge&lang=en&cr=US

 

OUTLOOK

• General programming issues: outlook.vba newsgroup
  http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.outlook.program_vba&lang=en&cr=US
• Form coding issues: outlook.program_forms newsgroup
  http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.outlook.program_forms&lang=en&cr=US

 

POWERPOINT

• PowerPoint programming issues: powerpoint newsgroup
  http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.powerpoint&lang=en&cr=US

 

PROJECT

• Project programming issues: project.develoer newsgroup
  http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.project.developer&lang=en&cr=US

 

VISIO

• General development issues: visio.developer newsgroup
  http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.visio.developer&lang=en&cr=US

 

WORD

• General programming issues: word.programming newsgroup
  http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.word.vba.general&lang=en&cr=US
   
• VBA and Template Add-in issues: word.vba.addins newsgroup http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.word.vba.addins&lang=en&cr=US
• Conversion issues: word.conversions newsgroup
  http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.word.conversions&lang=en&cr=US
• Mail merge issues: word.mailmerge.fields newsgroup
  http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields&lang=en&cr=US
• Page layout issues: word.pagelayout newsgroup
  http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.word.pagelayout.fields&lang=en&cr=US
• Table issues: word.tables newsgroup
  http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.word.tables&lang=en&cr=US

 

Languages and Technologies

Data 
    ADO.NET 
     http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/adodotnetdataproviders/threads/
    ADO (classic) 
    http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx?dg=microsoft.public.data.ado&cat=en_US_37c6dc8c-9d0a-4494-9247-88eb6757629c&lang=en&cr=US

ASP.NET - http://forums.asp.net

VB.NET Forums - http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/category/visualbasic

“Classic VB” (VB6)

• OLE Automation
  http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.vb.ole.automation&cat=en_US_6fc9ec69-d0b7-4773-b1e8-0ee081415059&lang=en&cr=US

VBA

• Forums
  • Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) forum
    http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/isvvba/threads/
  • Mr. Excel forum
    http://www.mrexcel.com/forum/index.php
• Newsgroups
  • office.developer.vba newsgroup
    http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.aspx?dg=microsoft.public.office.developer.vba&lang=en&cr=US
  • outlook.vba newsgroup
    http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.office.developer.outlook.vba&lang=en&cr=US
  • visio.developer.vba newsgroup
    http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.visio.developer.vba&lang=en&cr=US
  • word.vba.general newsgroup
    http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.word.vba.general&lang=en&cr=US

Visual C# Forums - http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/category/visualcsharp

 

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