SubscribeRibbonCustomizer V1.1 Beta 1
It has been a while since I posted any update on my RibbonCustomizer add-in. I have been very busy fixing bugs and improving performance and stability. That kind of work is unfortunately very time consuming, which is why I have been quiet on this front for a while.
V1.1 focuses exclusively on bug fixing, stability and performance. There are no new features in this version. The changes behind the scenes were quite exhaustive though:
- Due to performance reasons, I had to abandon my ZIP-container based RIBX file format and instead implement the RIBX-file format as plain XML. The performance improvement is quite dramatic. The downside though is that RIBX files created in V1.1 won’t open in V1.0.
- The add-in now has a COM shim. That means, the add-in can now be used with the Office security setting of requiring digitally signed add-ins.
- The setup program is completely changed as well. It is now built with the Windows Installer XML (wix) 3 toolset. This change will allow me to provide a better Vista experience, and fix the Vista-related problems my add-in has been suffering from. The improved Vista experience is not yet in Beta 1, but you will see it in Beta 2.
Download V1.1 Beta 1. (please note that once you upgraded to V1.1, you cannot go back to V1.0)
There will be for sure a Beta 2 release of V1.1. It will depend on your feedback whether there will be any more beta releases.
After V1.1 has shipped, I will start work on V1.2. V1.2 will see the much demanded support of VBA macros added. As with all RibbonCustomizer Pro updates, V1.1 and V1.2 will be free updates to all current owners of the Professional edition.
April 12th, 2007 at 20:45
I’m very interested in trying out your ribbon customizer. I d’loaded and installed v1.1 Beta. However, when I go into Excel2007 / View, I do not have the Customizer group. Also, when I look in the folder: AppData/Roaming/pschmid.net/RibbonCustomizer, the only file in there is “RibbonCustomizer.license”. Any suggestions on what I’m doing wrong? Thank you.
April 12th, 2007 at 22:18
Vista or Windows XP?
April 13th, 2007 at 3:14
Hi Patrick,
same with me. 1.1 Beta does not show in any 2007 Office program. The “Customize Ribbon” button is missing in the Add-Ins panel.
I had to uninstall it and use 1.0.2586.13962 again.
Besides: Windows XP.
Best,
Stefan
April 13th, 2007 at 10:43
Do you remember what the build number was for the 1.1 Beta version you installed? I updated it after a week or so and the current one is 1.1.2655.11740
Thanks,
Patrick
April 13th, 2007 at 14:03
Patrick - I am using Vista Ultimate. Thx for your help with this. Dale
April 13th, 2007 at 16:19
Patrick - Also, the version I initially installed was: RibbonCustomizerV1.1.2655.11740 When this version didn’t work, I then installed RibbonCustomizerV1.0.2586.13962 which also didn’t work.
April 15th, 2007 at 12:03
Interesting tool, but how do I add buttons, combo boxes, etc that run my custom code? How do I fill a custom combo or list box? How do I enable fly-out custom forms using those tiny icons at the bottom of the tab label?
AL
April 15th, 2007 at 13:17
Al,
for buttons, menus and dialog launchers (the fly out things you mentioned) that launch VBA macros, you’ll have to wait for the next version (1.2).
Could you give me a scenario where custom combo and list boxes would be useful in conjunction with my add-in?
Thanks,
Patrick
April 16th, 2007 at 6:10
Vista is a real problem to get to work correctly with a setup program. The first problem is that Office looks in two different places for an add-in depending on whether UAC is on or off. V1.0 and the current V1.1 beta only work with UAC on. I finally have something working here that works with UAC on and off. The second problem is that a standard user can’t install it right now. What happens is that the UAC prompt appears and the add-in gets installed in the context of the admin user account used in the UAC prompt. That problem I am still trying to find a fix for.
April 16th, 2007 at 7:29
Hi Patrick. Thx for the reply regarding use with Vista. I did turn off my UAC; that must be why it wouldn’t appear when I installed V1.1 beta. I’ll look forward to your eventual work around version. I’m definitely excited about installing/purchasing this tool. If there is any way you could email me directly when you have the work around, I’d greatly appreciate it. Thx again.
Dale
April 16th, 2007 at 15:45
“Could you give me a scenario where custom combo and list boxes would be useful in conjunction with my add-in?”
Since we can’t *easily* add task pane add-ins in Access, it seems like it would be much easier to present lists of reports, etc in a drop-down combo in the ribbon.
Also, I would like to select a customer/patient/client from a list of people in the ribbon, and then update all loaded forms in sync.
This is very important for Access, but probably not as important for other apps. In fact, your ribbon editor is not very useful to me without these features.
April 16th, 2007 at 23:54
Al,
the scenarios you are describing sound more like something you’d want to build into your own Access application using RibbonX.
Patrick
April 17th, 2007 at 22:00
Patrick,
Of course. I need to build custom menus into an Access 2007 app for distribution to other people. My app needs custom ribbons, which include all of the “fancy” controls like combos, toggle buttons, etc. It is certainly not adequate to just repackage the controls present in the Access UI. I need lots of custom callback code etc. Of course this requires callback attributes in the ribbon XML.
I am not particularly interested in customizing the ribbon for my own personal needs, although I suppose that would be of some use also.
I was hoping your tool might help out, but it looks like I’ll have to use Visual Studio 2005 with the ribbon snippets instead. Unless, that is, you are planning to release a “developers’” version.
–AL
April 17th, 2007 at 22:26
Al,
Which ribbon snippets in VS 2005?
You can get some basic stuff from my tool. Just use the Show RibbonX in the Customize Ribbon dialog. But most likely you’ll have to sit down and learn RibbonX…
Patrick
April 18th, 2007 at 16:20
Beta 2 has been posted: http://pschmid.net/office2007/forums/viewtopic.php?p=857
This should fix all setup issues.