Load Ribbon UI XML files

For some years I have used one approach to load Ribbon XML files in VB.NET’s solutions. Recently I discovered that it exist a better approach. Perhaps not better but definitely a better looking “one line” solution. I find it interesting that we can always solve code related issues in one of three ways; bad, OK and excellent. In the most cases I solve them OK.

Anyway, the key to the better solution is to add the Ribbon XML file to the project’s Resource list. Next, in the GetCustomUI function the file is loaded in one go as we also can see in the picture below (line 28).

I guess I need to explore My.Resources more!

Kind regards,
Dennis

SharePoint – The Start

Last year I decided to learn more about Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) and in particular Excel Services. Instead of setting up a VMWare configuration I decided to buy a physical server to which my developing machine will be connected to as the only client.  Because of my security approach none of these two machines have access to Internet. Yes, I’m the first to admit that I’m paranoid but that is the way it is.

Hardware
I got a nice price for the server Fujitsu Siemens FSC PRIMERGY ECONEL 100 S2 and bought more memory so it now has 2 GB. The server has two hard drives and therefore I decided to use a RAID 0  solution so one drive mirror the other drive. Previously I only had a 2 port KVM Switch but now I needed a 4 port Switch so I can switch between my laptop, my development machine and the server. The model I selected was Athen CS1734B which is one of a very few KVM Switches that can work with Windows Server 2008.

Softwares
I decided to use Windows Server 2008 x64 standard edition which also gives access to the Hyper V technology. Unless we have all the knowledge required to configure and running a server and installing all the softwares we need some helps. In my case I prefer printed books and the help I got is from the book “Windows Server 2008 A Beginner’s Guide“. It covers the most basic to install and configure a Windows 2008 server and is written in a understandable way.

Next, a SQL Server 2008 Express Edition was installed and it did not cause any problems at all.

Installing a MOSS 2007 server requires one important preparation, to set up 11 accounts with names and passwords. They are required for both the Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) and for the MOSS server. Andreas Glaser has published a nice installation guide; Installing MOSS 2007 on Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 . However, to understand more a book is required and I was recommended to use “Beginning SharePoint 2007 Administration” written by my fellow countryman Göras Husman. At present I have only started to read the book.

Finally, the only thing that remains to do is to learn more about MOSS and what we can do with its Excel Services!

Kind regards,
Dennis

VSTO Office FAQ Entry List

The VSTO support team has released the first FAQ for VSTO and Office. It is a start and it single out the most frequent questions together with the answers:

VSTO Office FAQ Entry List

This is good for all developers new to VSTO. What are annoying, at least to me, is that all the answers points to solution where C# is used. We know that this is the preferable language inside Microsoft but why do they continue to ignore all the VB developers? How many average VBA-developers will jump on the C# bandwagon when starting out with .NET? OK, most VBA-developers will probably never touch .NET but those that really do it are forced to either:

a) learn C# or
b) convert all C# code with tools like ConvertCSharp2VB.

I don’t understand why VB does not have the same status as C# at Microsoft, especially when many corporate developers use it on a daily basis.

Kind regards,
Dennis