How to: Customize the Ribbon UI by using a Managed COM Add-in

The Ribbon user interface (UI) in the release of Microsoft Office suites offers users a flexible way to work with Office applications. Ribbon Extensibility (RibbonX) uses text-based, declarative XML markup that simplifies creating and customizing the Ribbon UI. This sample demonstrates how to add create a custom Ribbon UI that appears in the Office application regardless of the document that is open. In the following steps, you create application-level customizations using a managed COM add-in which we create in Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 using Microsoft Visual C#®. The project adds a custom tab, a custom group, and button to the Ribbon UI that when clicked, inserts a company name into a Word document. You will:

1. Create the XML customization file.
2. Create a managed COM add-in project in Visual Studio 2005 with C#.
3. Add the XML customization file to the project as an embedded resource.
4. Implement the IRibbonExtensibility interface.
5. Create a callback method that is triggered when the button is clicked.
6. Build, install, and test the project.

Create the XML customization file

1. In a text editor, add the following XML markup:

   <customUI xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2006/01/customui"> <ribbon> <tabs> <tab id="customtab" label="my tab"> <group id="samplegroup" label="sample group"> <button id="button" label="insert company name" size="large" onaction="insertcompanyname" /> </group > </tab> </tabs> </ribbon> </customUI>

2. Close and save the file as customUI.xml.

Create the managed COM add-in project

1. Start Visual Studio .NET 2005.
2. On the File menu, click New Project.
3. In the New Project dialog box under Project Types, expand Other Projects, click Extensibility Projects, and then double-click Shared Addin.
4. Add a name for the project. In this sample, type RibbonXSampleCS.
5. In the first screen of the Shared Add-in Wizard, click Next.
6. In the next screen, select Create an Add-in using Visual C#, and then click Next.
7. In the next screen, clear all of the selections except Microsoft Word and then click Next.
8. Type a name and description for the add-in, and then click Next.
9. In the Choose Add-in Options screen, select I would like my Add-in to load when the host application loads and then click Next.
10. Click Finish to complete the wizard.

Add external references to the project

1. In the Solution Explorer, right-click References, and then click Add Reference.

   Note
   If you do not see the References folder, click the Project menu and then click Show All Files.

2. Scroll downward on the .NET tab, press the CTRL key, and then select Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.
3. On the COM tab, scroll downward, select Microsoft Office 12.0 Object Library, and then click OK.
4. Next add the following namespace references to the project, if they do not already exist, just below the namespace line:

   using System.Reflection; using Microsoft.Office.Core; using System.IO; using System.Xml; using Extensibility; using System.Runtime.InteropServices; using MSword = Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word;

Add the customization file as an embedded resource

1. In the Solution Explorer, right-click RibbonXSampleCS, point to Add, and click Existing Item.
2. Navigate to the customUI.xml file you created, select the file, and then click Add.
3. In the Solution Explorer, right-click customUI.xml, and then select Properties.
4. In the Property window select Build Action, and then scroll down to Embedded Resource.

Implement the IRibbonExtensibility interface

1. In the Solution Explorer, right-click Connect.cs, and click View Code.
2. After the Connect method, add the following declaration, which creates a reference to the Word Application object:

   private MSword.Application applicationObject;

3. Add the following line to the OnConnection method. This statement creates an instance of the Word Application object:

   applicationObject =(MSword.Application)application;

4. At the end of the public class Connect statement, add a comma, and then type IRibbonExtensibility.

   Note
   You can use Microsoft IntelliSense to insert interface methods for you. For example, at the end of the public class Connect: statement, type IRibbonExtensibility, right-click and point to Implement Interface, and then click Implement Interface Explicitly. This adds a stub for the GetCustomUI method. The implementation looks like this: string IRibbonExtensibility.GetCustomUI(string RibbonID) { }

5. Insert the following statement into the GetCustomUI method, overwriting the existing code:

   return GetResource("customUI.xml");

6. Insert the following method below the GetCustommUI method:

   private string GetResource(string resourceName) { Assembly asm = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly(); foreach (string name in asm.GetManifestResourceNames()) { if (name.EndsWith(resourceName)) { System.IO.TextReader tr = new System.IO.StreamReader(asm.GetManifestResourceStream(name)); //Debug.Assert(tr != null); string resource = tr.ReadToEnd(); tr.Close(); return resource; } } return null; }

   The GetCustomUI method calls the GetResource method. The GetResource method sets a reference to this assembly during runtime and then loops through the embedded resource until it finds the one named customUI.xml. It then creates an instance of the StreamReader object that reads the embedded file containing the XML markup. The procedure passes the XML back to the GetCustomUI method which returns the XML to the Ribbon UI. Alternately, you can also construct a string that contains the XML markup and read it directly into the GetCustomUI method.
7. Following the GetResource method, add this method. This method inserts the company name into the document at the beginning of the page:

   public void InsertCompanyName(IRibbonControl control) { // Inserts the specified text at the beginning of a range or selection. string MyText; MyText = "Microsoft Corporation"; MSword.Document doc = applicationObject.ActiveDocument; //Inserts text at the beginning of the active document. object startPosition = 0; object endPosition = 0; MSword.Range r = (MSword.Range)doc.Range( ref startPosition, ref endPosition); r.InsertAfter(MyText); }

Build and install the project

Caution
Before continuing, make sure that Word is closed.

1. In the Project menu, click Build Solution. You see a message when the build is complete in the notification area in the lower left corner of the window.
2. In the Solution Explorer, right-click RibbonXSampleCSSetup and click Build.
3. Again right-click RibbonXSampleCSSetup and click Install. This launches the RibbonXSampleCSSetup Setup Wizard screen.
4. Click Next on all of the screens and then Close on the final screen.
5. Start Word. You should see the My Tab tab to the right of the other tabs.

Test the project

Caution
The next few steps contain information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, be sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, search for the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

1. In the Solution Explorer, right-click the setup project, RibbonXSampleCSSetup, point to View, and then click Registry.
2. From the Registry tab, navigate to the following registry key for the add-in: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Word\AddIns\RibbonXSampleCS.Connect

   Note
   If the RibbonXSampleCS.Connect key does not exist, you can create it. To do so, right-click the Addins folder, point to New, and then click Key. Name the key RibbonXSampleCS.Connect. Add a LoadBehavior DWord and set its value to 3.