You can create add-ins two different ways: with the aid of a wizard or manually.
The best and easiest way to create an add-in (if you're using a common shell language such as Visual J++) is using a tool called the Add-In Wizard.
To run the Add-In Wizard
The Add-In Wizard creates a basic add-in framework that you can run immediately after you finish. The wizard lets you supply a display name for the add-in (which appears in the Add-In Manager dialog box) and a description of the add-in. You can optionally choose to have the wizard generate the code to add a command to the Tools menu for invoking the add-in once it is loaded into the IDE. When the wizard is done, you will have a new project with a single item.
Note If you are using Visual J++, and you don't install it in the default location, you must modify the add-ins project settings to correct the pathname for the alternate launch program, devenv.exe. If you launch devenv.exe as the alternate launch program for your add-in project, then the second instance runs in debug mode. This allows you to step through your add-in code in the first IDE instance and watch the effects of the add-in in the second IDE instance.
Although it's highly recommended that you use the Add-In Wizard to create your add-ins, you can also create an add-in from scratch.
To manually create an add-in in Visual J++
import com.ms.vstudio6.dte.*;
import com.ms.vstudio6.msaddndr.*;
import com.ms.office97.*;
IDTExtensiblity2 interface:Public Class MyAddin implements IDTExtensibility2
When you implement the IDTExtensibility2 interface in your code and register the resulting DLL after building the code, the IDE can create an add-in server and call its exposed methods:
| Method Name | Description |
| OnConnection | Called when an add-in is connected |
| OnDisconnection | Called when an add-in is disconnected. |
| OnAddInsUpdate | Called when the Addins collection is updated. |
| OnStartupComplete | Called when the system has completed starting. |
| OnBeginShutdown | Called when the system is being shut down. |
With the Object Browser, you can view the following type libraries to examine objects in the Extensibility object model:
| Type Library Name | File Name | Description |
| Visual Studio 6.0 Extensibility | dte.olb | The DTE add-in object model |
| Microsoft Add-In Designer | msaddndr.olb | The IDTExtensibility interface |
| Microsoft Office 8.0 Object Library | office97.olb | Command bars |
| VJExt | vjext.olb | Visual J++ project and code models |
void procedures for the previously mentioned interface methods. For example, create this procedure:public void OnConnection(Object VSInst, int ConnectMode, Object
AddInInst, SafeArray custom){
}
When you select the add-in, code is added to your add-in to identify its class ID, GUID, and type library ID. The compiler's pre-processor uses this information in conjunction with a method called @com.register to register your add-in. The registration string looks like this:
/**
* @com.register (clsid=710B1AE4-9E3A-1101-883A-B07C0CC10000,
typelib=710B1AE3-9E3A-1101-883A-B07C0CC10000)
*/
Note These numbers are unique to each add-in.
MyAddin.Connect. Use this name to add a program ID to the newly-generated registration string. Using the example in step 4, your code would look like this:/**
* @com.register (clsid=710B1AE4-9E3A-1101-883A-B07C0CC10000,
typelib=710B1AE3-9E3A-1101-883A-B07C0CC10000, progid="MyAddin.Connect")
*/
Here's how it looks when it's all put together:
import com.ms.vstudio6.dte.*;
import com.ms.vstudio6.msaddndr.*;
import com.ms.office97.*;
/**
* @com.register (clsid=710B1AE4-9E3A-1101-883A-B07C0CC10000,
typelib=710B1AE3-9E3A-1101-883A-B07C0CC10000, progid="MyAddin.Connect")
*/
public class MyAddin implements _IDTExtensibility2 {
public void OnConnection(Object VSInst, int ConnectMode, Object AddInInst, SafeArray custom) {
}
public void OnDisconnection(int RemoveMode, SafeArray custom) {
}
public void OnAddInsUpdate(SafeArray custom) {
}
public void OnStartupComplete(SafeArray custom) {
}
public void OnBeginShutdown(SafeArray custom) {
}
}
Note that this code serves as only a basic framework for common shell add-ins. From this point, you would add code to place the add-in as a command in a menu or command bar, create unique functionality for the add-in, and so forth.
Add-ins, whether created manually or with the Add-In Wizard, must be registered with Microsoft Windows, just as any other ActiveX server. Once registered, the IDE recognizes your add-in and lists it in the Add-In Manager. If you are using Microsoft Visual Basic, the Add-In Designer prompts you for this information and automatically performs all required add-in registration tasks. If you manually create the add-in in Visual J++, however, you must add a public method named OnCOMRegister to reveal the add-in to the Add-In Manager. (This is done for you if you use the Add-In Wizard.) For example, this code is required:
public static void onCOMRegister (boolean reg) {
if (reg == true) { //Register
try {
RegKey regKey
= new RegKey(RegKey.getRootKey(RegKey.USER_ROOT),
"Software\\Microsoft\\VisualStudio\\6.0\\Addins\\
MyAddin.Connect ", RegKey.KEYOPEN_CREATE);
regKey.setValue("Description", "Addin description goes
here.");
regKey.setValue("FriendlyName", "Friendly Add-In Name");
regKey.setValue("LoadBehavior", 0);
regKey.close();
}
catch (RegKeyException rke) {
}
}
else { //Unregister
try {
RegKey regKey
= new RegKey(RegKey.USER_ROOT,
"Software\\Microsoft\\VisualStudio\\6.0\\Addins",
RegKey.KEYOPEN_WRITE);
regKey.deleteSubKey("MyAddin.Connect");
regKey.close();
}
catch (RegKeyException rke) {
}
}
}
Alternatively, you can manually create your own .reg file. A typical .reg file for an add-in might look like this:
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\6.0\Addins\
ProjectName.Classname
"Description"="A description of the add-in."
"FriendlyName"="My new addin"
"LoadBehavior"=dword:00000000
For information about initializing new add-ins in Visual Basic, see Using Add-In Designer in the Visual Basic documentation. Also see the sample add-in written in Java in the Visual J++ Samples directory.