VSTO or Office Visual Studio Tools is a feature in Visual Studio that is used to construct Office “add-ins.” These add-ins help perform tasks such as filling fields in Word or Excel and emailing or uploading them to SharePoint. VSTO is built on Microsoft’s .NET environment and now includes support for improving Outlook since VSTO 2005.
WHAT is VSTO?
VSTO or Visual Studio Tools for Office is a set of tools and technologies used by developers to create solutions for Microsoft Office applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. It is an extension of the .NET framework that provides a simplified way of building add-ins for Office applications. VSTO allows developers to automate tasks, add new functionality and integrate Office applications with other technology platforms.
What are the features of VSTO?
The following are the key features of VSTO:
– Simplified development: VSTO provides a simplified way of building Office add-ins using Visual Studio IDE. It reduces the amount of code required to create and deploy add-ins.
– Integration with other technologies: VSTO allows developers to integrate Office applications with other technologies like SharePoint, Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), and Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF).
– Security and deployment: VSTO provides built-in security features that enable developers to create secure add-ins. It also offers a straightforward deployment process that simplifies the installation of add-ins on client machines.
– Support for customization: With VSTO, developers can customize Office applications to meet the specific needs of their users. They can add new menus and toolbars, customize ribbons, and create new task panes.
– Improved performance: VSTO provides better performance than traditional Office automation. It uses managed code to interact with Office applications, which reduces the overhead associated with Interop.
What can you do with VSTO?
Using VSTO, you can do the following:
– Build add-ins that automate tasks in Office applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
– Customize Office applications to meet the specific needs of your users.
– Integrate Office applications with other technology platforms like SharePoint, WCF, and WPF.
– Create new menus, toolbars, ribbons, and task panes in Office applications.
– Add new functionality to Office applications.
How does VSTO work?
VSTO works by providing a set of tools and templates in Visual Studio IDE that allow developers to create add-ins for Office applications. These tools and templates simplify the development process by generating the necessary code and providing a familiar development environment. VSTO uses managed code to interact with Office applications, which reduces the complexity and overhead associated with traditional Office automation. The add-ins created using VSTO are packaged as Microsoft Office solutions (.vsto files) that can be easily deployed on client machines.
Finally
VSTO is a powerful set of tools and technologies that enables developers to create solutions for Microsoft Office applications. It provides a simplified way of building add-ins, integrating Office applications with other technologies, and customizing Office applications to meet the specific needs of users. With VSTO, developers can automate tasks, add new functionality, and improve the performance of Office applications. It is a must-have tool for any developer building solutions for Office applications.
