Excel Addin Creation for only one file

Question

I have created a VS Addin Project where I have written code to add a custom menu with some menu items in C#. By this I got a VSTO deployment file. Now I open a random excel file and add this addin or vsto manually by Excel Options-> Addins->Manage (Com Addins) -> Go and Added the addin. My isuue is that the addin gets added in all files alongwith the file in which I added. I want that the user view this addin menu for the file for which s/he added manually. Our approach is free to ask user to go thru some special steps to follow or I can write C# code also for achieving this. Also we cannot do this by identifying the file name as the name and location of file may change. Please suggest any workaround as I am totally stuck on this issue.

Add-ins are always installed at the application-level, not per file. You'll either have to do something clever with the VSTO, such as Arshad suggested, or you should ditch VSTO and either use macros or embed an ActiveX object in the workbook. — Keith

Arshad Arshad · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-19T08:14:23

why don't you create a toggle button to show/add and hide/remove your custom task pane. follow the instruction at:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa942846.aspx
msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/office/hh128771

create a excel addin using visual studio.
add a user control, a ribbon (visual) using right click -> add new
user control will be your takspane. add a toggle button in the ribbon.

then, in the ThisAddIn.cs add following lines:

 private UserControl1 myUserControl1;
        private Microsoft.Office.Tools.CustomTaskPane myCustomTaskPane;

        private void ThisAddIn_Startup(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
        {
            myUserControl1 = new UserControl1();
            myCustomTaskPane = this.CustomTaskPanes.Add(myUserControl1, "My Task Pane");

        }
        public void toggle(bool b)
        {
            myCustomTaskPane.Visible = b;
        }

after that, in the Ribbon1.cs add the following code :

 private void toggleButton1_Click(object sender, RibbonControlEventArgs e)
        {
            Globals.ThisAddIn.toggle(toggleButton1.Checked);
        }

Hope this will work for you.

Excel Addin Creation for only one file

1 Answers