Ribbon Commander Framework Features
- Full object model for the Ribbon (Office 2007 or later) and Backstage (Office 2010 or later).
- Full support for VBA (with advanced features like static function simulation).
- Full support for .NET (customized interop assemblies and native .NET libraries).
- Support for COM-savvy languages like VC++ and VB6. VB6 actually enjoys the same first-class support as VBA and C++-only headers (wrappers around COM interfaces with automatic translation of HRESULTs to std::exception-derived exceptions) may be provided based on customer feedback.
- Not dependent on specific document types when programming in VBA. For example, it works just as well with .xls and .xlsb documents.
- Not dependent on specific project types when programming in .NET/C++/VB6. Non-COM projects (like xll projects) can use the libraries.
- A suite of VBA add-ins, which can be managed and launched from an add-in manager.
- Dynamic manipulation of the ribbon. Up to 1000 contexts are supported per session, which can be created/destroyed at runtime. Moreover dynamic manipulation of each context is fully supported, so the ribbon UI can be tightly integrated with your applications. The customization capabilities of the Office Ribbon are extended to include all controls/properties and are simplified since there is little need to manage callbacks. At the same time callbacks are fully supported and extended to include events (for all languages) and delegates for .NET.
- 100% compatibility with existing Office UI XML code. All Ribbon Commander control objects can be serialized to XML or instanciated from XML. In practice that means that existing code can be used out-of-the-box while still taking advantage of all framework features.
- The Ribbon Commander object model follows closely the object model defined in the Custom UI XML Markup Specification. Existing experience programming the Office UI using XML can be leveraged when using the framework.
- Ribbon Commander offers a dedicated wiki with a growing collection of how-to and samples to help you hit the ground running.