Visual Studio Tools for Office Runtime Overview
To run solutions that are created by using Visual Studio Tools for Office, end user computers must have the Visual Studio Tools for Office runtime. The runtime includes managed assemblies that provide the communication layer between your solution and the Microsoft Office application, and unmanaged components that the application uses to load your solution.
For information about installing the runtime on end user computers, see How to: Install the Visual Studio Tools for Office Runtime.
This topic provides the following information:
Understanding the different runtime versions
Understanding the runtime assemblies
Understanding the runtime loader components
Understanding the Different Runtime Versions
Visual Studio Tools for Office solutions for different versions of Microsoft Office require different versions of the runtime. The runtime version is determined by the project template that was used to create the solution, not by the version of Office that is running the solution.
The following table shows which versions of the runtime and Microsoft Office are required to run solutions on the end user computer.
Project template version |
Required Visual Studio Tools for Office runtime version on the end user computer |
Microsoft Office versions that can run the solution on the end user computer |
|---|---|---|
Projects for the 2007 Microsoft Office system |
Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office system (version 3.0 Runtime) |
2007 Microsoft Office system |
Projects for Microsoft Office 2003 |
Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office Second Edition runtime |
2007 Microsoft Office system Microsoft Office 2003 |
Both versions of the runtime are installed automatically on the development computer when you install Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office system (version 3.0).
For information about creating solutions that can run with both versions of Microsoft Office, see Creating Solutions for Multiple Versions of Microsoft Office.
There are some differences between the assemblies that are included in each version of the runtime. For more information, see Assembly Differences.
Note
The Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office Second Edition runtime was initially released with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Tools for the 2007 Microsoft Office System (VSTO 2005 SE). This version of the runtime is also used by solutions for Microsoft Office 2003 that are created by using Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office system (version 3.0).
Locating Reference Documentation for Both Runtimes
When you click a link or an index entry in Help to get reference information for a namespace, type, or member, you might get two almost identical results. The two topics document the same members in the two versions of the runtime. Select the topic that is identified by the appropriate version indicator:
2007 System. This refers to the Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office system (version 3.0 Runtime).
2003 System. This refers to the Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office Second Edition runtime.
Understanding the Runtime Assemblies
The assemblies that are included in the Visual Studio Tools for Office runtime provide the following categories of classes:
Classes that your solution uses to automate and extend the host application.
Infrastructure classes that enable your solution to communicate with the host application.
Note
When you create a project, Visual Studio Tools for Office automatically adds references to the assemblies that are used for the project type. Some of the assemblies are used only in document-level projects, and others are used only in application-level projects.
Assemblies in the Visual Studio Tools for Office 3.0 Runtime
The following table lists the assemblies that are included in the Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office system (version 3.0 Runtime). This version of the runtime is used by solutions created for the 2007 Microsoft Office system.
For documentation about the namespaces and classes in these assemblies, see 2007 System Managed Reference.
Assembly name |
Description |
|---|---|
Microsoft.Office.Tools.Common.v9.0.dll |
Provides the following classes:
|
Microsoft.Office.Tools.Excel.v9.0.dll |
Provides host items and host controls for Excel document-level customizations. For more information, see Host Items and Host Controls Overview. |
Microsoft.Office.Tools.Outlook.v9.0.dll |
Provides classes that you can use to create custom form regions in Outlook add-ins. |
Microsoft.Office.Tools.Word.v9.0.dll |
Provides host items and host controls for Word document-level customizations. For more information, see Host Items and Host Controls Overview. |
Microsoft.Office.Tools.v9.0.dll |
Provides the following classes:
|
Microsoft.VisualStudio.Tools.Applications.Runtime.v9.0.dll |
Provides the following classes:
|
Microsoft.VisualStudio.Tools.Applications.ServerDocument.v9.0.dll |
Provides the following classes:
|
Microsoft.VisualStudio.Tools.Office.Runtime.v9.0.dll |
Provides the following classes:
|
Microsoft.VisualStudio.Tools.Office.AppInfoDocument.v9.0.dll Microsoft.VisualStudio.Tools.Office.Contract.v9.0.dll |
Provide classes that are part of the Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office system (version 3.0 Runtime) infrastructure. These classes are not intended to be used directly from your code. |
Assemblies in the Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office Second Edition Runtime
The following table lists the assemblies that are included in the Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office Second Edition runtime. This version of the runtime is used by solutions created for Microsoft Office 2003.
For documentation about the namespaces and classes in these assemblies, see 2003 System Managed Reference.
Assembly name |
Description |
|---|---|
Microsoft.Office.Tools.Common.dll |
Provides the following classes:
|
Microsoft.Office.Tools.Excel.dll |
Provides host items and host controls for Excel document-level customizations. For more information, see Host Items and Host Controls Overview. |
Microsoft.Office.Tools.Word.dll |
Provides host items and host controls for Word document-level customizations. For more information, see Host Items and Host Controls Overview. |
Microsoft.VisualStudio.Tools.Applications.Runtime.dll |
Provides the following classes:
|
Assembly Differences
Several assemblies that are included in the Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office Second Edition runtime have different names in the Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office system (version 3.0 Runtime). In addition, one assembly that is part of the Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office Second Edition runtime has been split into several new assemblies in the Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office system (version 3.0 Runtime).
The following table lists the differences.
Assembly name in the Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office Second Edition runtime |
Assembly name in the Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office system (version 3.0 Runtime) |
|---|---|
Microsoft.Office.Tools.Common.dll |
Microsoft.Office.Tools.Common.v9.0.dll |
Microsoft.Office.Tools.Excel.dll |
Microsoft.Office.Tools.Excel.v9.0.dll |
Microsoft.Office.Tools.Word.dll |
Microsoft.Office.Tools.Word.v9.0.dll |
Microsoft.VisualStudio.Tools.Applications.Runtime.dll |
Microsoft.VisualStudio.Tools.Applications.Runtime.v9.0.dll Some classes have also been moved to the following new assemblies:
|
Understanding the Runtime Loader Components
The Visual Studio Tools for Office runtime includes several unmanaged DLLs that Microsoft Office applications use to load Visual Studio Tools for Office solutions. Although you should never have to work with these DLLs directly, knowing the purposes of these DLLs can help you better understand the architecture of Visual Studio Tools for Office solutions.
For information about how these components are used during the load process, see Architecture of Document-Level Customizations and Architecture of Application-Level Add-Ins.
Runtime Loader
When a user opens a document-level customization or starts an add-in, the Microsoft Office application calls into the runtime loader. This component is named VSTOEE.dll.
The runtime loader ensures that the correct version of the Visual Studio Tools for Office runtime is loaded for the version of Microsoft Office that is loading the add-in. Although multiple versions of the Visual Studio Tools for Office runtime can be installed on the same computer, only one instance of VSTOEE.dll is installed at a time. This is the VSTOEE.dll that was included with the latest version of the runtime installed on the computer.
Solution Loader
The solution loader performs most of the work required to load the solution assembly. The solution loader has different file names depending on the version of the Visual Studio Tools for Office runtime. The solution loader in the Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office system (version 3.0 Runtime) is named VSTOLoader.dll. In the Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office Second Edition runtime, it is named AddinLoader.dll.
The solution loader does several things:
It creates a new application domain for each Visual Studio Tools for Office solution assembly.
It performs a set of security checks to verify that the add-in assembly has permission to run.
The solution loader also does several things that are specific to add-ins:
It implements the IDTExtensibility2 interface. IDTExtensibility2 is a COM interface that all add-ins for Microsoft Office applications must implement. This interface defines methods that the application calls to communicate with the add-in.
It implements the IManagedAddin interface. This interface is used by Office applications, starting in the 2007 release, to help load Visual Studio Tools for Office add-ins. For more information, see IManagedAddin Interface.
See Also
Tasks
How to: Install the Visual Studio Tools for Office Runtime
How to: Create Visual Studio Tools for Office Projects
Concepts
Architecture of Document-Level Customizations
Architecture of Application-Level Add-Ins
Upgrading and Migrating Office Solutions