Need help in customizing PowerPoint 2007 ribbon

  • Thread starter Thread starter david.f.jenkins
  • Start date Start date
D

david.f.jenkins

Thanks to the great help in the PODA blog (http://proofficedev.com/
blog/2007/03/20/programmingcustomizing-the-excel-2007-ribbon-using-
vba/) I was able to create a trivial add-in and a custom ribbon tab
and group. Now I'm faced with beefing that up to apply to our own
application, and I'm stumped by a couple of issues:


1. I have downloaded the 2007 Office XML Schema Reference, which
contains documentation on Ribbon Extensibility. This is of great
technical assitance, but I need some more practical help: Picture of
the various controls; when they should be used and when not; sample
code, perhaps, of thier use; etc. Does such guidance exist
someplace?


2. This is a more procedural question, and I'm sure hoping there's a
simple way
around this that I'm just not seeing: As I understand it, once I've
created my add-in .ppt
file, I save it as a .ppam. I open the .ppam in the Custom UI
Editor,
and create the xml (is "RibbonX" what you call that flavor of xml?
I'm confused as to what "RibbonX" really is ...) As noted in the
blog, the slate is clean when I start, so I copy in some XML, save
it,
and load the add-in - voila! the new tab, etc. are there! But
here's
where I get wrapped around the axle: If I modify the .ppt file and
then re-save it as a .ppam with the same name as before, all the xml
I
had in there is now gone. Is that the way it's supposed to work? If
so, then I would have to maintain the xml file in some tother editor
and copy it into the Custom UI Editor each time I modify the .ppt
file
- that doesn't seem right, does it? I think what I need is a step-by-
step cookbook for creating an add-in that modifies the ribbon:
suggestions for where the RibbonX should be stored, best way to edit
it when it's being maintained, how to preserve previous RibbonX when
the add-in .PPT is being maintained, etc. Does such a cookbook exist
someplace?

Thanks ...
 
2. This is a more procedural question, and I'm sure hoping there's a
simple way
around this that I'm just not seeing: As I understand it, once I've
created my add-in .ppt
file, I save it as a .ppam. I open the .ppam in the Custom UI
Editor,
and create the xml (is "RibbonX" what you call that flavor of xml?
I'm confused as to what "RibbonX" really is ...) As noted in the
blog, the slate is clean when I start, so I copy in some XML, save
it,
and load the add-in - voila! the new tab, etc. are there! But
here's
where I get wrapped around the axle: If I modify the .ppt file and
then re-save it as a .ppam with the same name as before, all the xml
I
had in there is now gone. Is that the way it's supposed to work?
Click to expand...

As far as I can see, yes. (What you might call "broken by design"?)
so, then I would have to maintain the xml file in some tother editor
and copy it into the Custom UI Editor each time I modify the .ppt
file
- that doesn't seem right, does it?
Click to expand...

From our POV, no. Not sure what they had in mind when they thought it up.
"Die, VBA, Die!" is one candidate.

According to my (probably limited) understanding of the situation, you can't
mod the ribbon on the fly from VBA. It seems to require a .NET solution.
I think what I need is a step-by-
step cookbook for creating an add-in that modifies the ribbon:
suggestions for where the RibbonX should be stored, best way to edit
it when it's being maintained, how to preserve previous RibbonX when
the add-in .PPT is being maintained, etc. Does such a cookbook exist
someplace?
Click to expand...

I'd start here:
http://pschmid.net/office2007/index.php
 
As far as I can see, yes. (What you might call "broken by design"?)


From our POV, no. Not sure what they had in mind when they thought it up.
"Die, VBA, Die!" is one candidate.

According to my (probably limited) understanding of the situation, you can't
mod the ribbon on the fly from VBA. It seems to require a .NET solution.


I'd start here:
http://pschmid.net/office2007/index.php
Click to expand...

Thanks once again, Steve.

I've found this part of a tutorial by following some other links found
by thrashing aorund - it has not only words but pictures! A big help:
http://www.oaltd.co.uk/Spreads/Excel2007VBAProgRef_ch14.pdf

Also, I'm at a loss as to how to use some of the faceid's I used in
2003 as button images on the 2007 ribbon. I've got my hands on a
gallery of Offcie icons, which all seem to be addressed by a name
identifier. This set is somehwat limited, and I'd like to be able to
use all those other Widnows icons that were available in 2003. Any
idea how to do that?
 
I've found this part of a tutorial by following some other links found
by thrashing aorund - it has not only words but pictures! A big help:
http://www.oaltd.co.uk/Spreads/Excel2007VBAProgRef_ch14.pdf
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. If you don't know of them, the authors are the deities of the
Excel programming world. Solid gold.
Also, I'm at a loss as to how to use some of the faceid's I used in
2003 as button images on the 2007 ribbon. I've got my hands on a
gallery of Offcie icons, which all seem to be addressed by a name
identifier. This set is somehwat limited, and I'd like to be able to
use all those other Widnows icons that were available in 2003. Any
idea how to do that?
Click to expand...

I was going to suggest that the old icons are no longer available but that's
obviously not the case ... they're available to old toolbar code. OTOH, ISTR
reading somewhere that they don't work properly on the ribbon so are off-limits.
 
1. I have downloaded the 2007 Office XML Schema Reference, which
contains documentation on Ribbon Extensibility. This is of great
technical assitance, but I need some more practical help: Picture of
the various controls; when they should be used and when not; sample
code, perhaps, of thier use; etc. Does such guidance exist
someplace?
Click to expand...
Start with http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribbonx. The UI Guideline
section in References is probably a good thing to read. You'll also find
the official MS RibbonX documentation in the RibbonX section complete
with sample codes, etc.
2. This is a more procedural question, and I'm sure hoping there's a
simple way
around this that I'm just not seeing: As I understand it, once I've
created my add-in .ppt
file, I save it as a .ppam. I open the .ppam in the Custom UI
Editor,
and create the xml (is "RibbonX" what you call that flavor of xml?
I'm confused as to what "RibbonX" really is ...) As noted in the
Click to expand...
RibbonX is the name for the XML implementing the RibbonX XML Schema. So
yes, it's that particular XML flavor.
blog, the slate is clean when I start, so I copy in some XML, save
it,
and load the add-in - voila! the new tab, etc. are there! But
here's
where I get wrapped around the axle: If I modify the .ppt file and
then re-save it as a .ppam with the same name as before, all the xml
I
had in there is now gone. Is that the way it's supposed to work? If
so, then I would have to maintain the xml file in some tother editor
and copy it into the Custom UI Editor each time I modify the .ppt
file
- that doesn't seem right, does it? I think what I need is a step-by-
step cookbook for creating an add-in that modifies the ribbon:
suggestions for where the RibbonX should be stored, best way to edit
it when it's being maintained, how to preserve previous RibbonX when
the add-in .PPT is being maintained, etc. Does such a cookbook exist
someplace?
Click to expand...
You can't store your RibbonX in a .PPT file. Only in a file in the new
Office XML file formats. If you create a PPT file in the file format
that you want it to be in in the end (so if you want macros, make sure
to save it in one that permits macros), then add the RibbonX via the
CustomUI Editor, you shouldn't lose the XML when you edit the file in
PPT.

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
***
Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
***
Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
RibbonCustomizer Add-In: http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
***
Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed
 
You can use all the icons that you actually see in Office 2007. The
faceid's from Office 2003 however don't apply. You should get the Excel
spreadsheets that list all the idMso's or find the particular idMso you
need in the () of the tooltips of the QAT customization dialog.
Simply supply the idMso of the command that has the particular icon you
want.
If you want to create your own icons and supply them, you can do that
too.
See http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribbonx as starting point for a lot of
your questions.

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
***
Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
***
Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
RibbonCustomizer Add-In: http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
***
Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed
 
On Apr 6, 11:24 pm, "Patrick Schmid [MVP]" <[email protected]>
wrote:

[snip]

You can't store your RibbonX in a .PPT file. Only in a file in the new
Office XML file formats. If you create a PPT file in the file format
that you want it to be in in the end (so if you want macros, make sure
to save it in one that permits macros), then add the RibbonX via the
CustomUI Editor, you shouldn't lose the XML when you edit the file in
PPT.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Patrick.

I'm still lacking some understanding here, I think. I see how to save
my .pptm file as .ppam. I also see how to include some
customizing .xml in the .ppam using the CustomUI Editor. Here's what
I *don't* see/understand, however: If I change the .pptm file, do I
have to resave it as a .ppam? When I do, the .xml that was in
the .ppam seems to have vanished, and I have to copy it back in from
some other source where I've cleverly saved it. Or, once I've created
the .ppam, does it just contain a pointer back to the original .pptm
file so that I can maintain the .pptm and xml portions of the add-in
separately? Does this question make any sense? The crux of it is:
once I've created a .ppam for a given .pptm file, must I continue to
re-save the .ppam every time I change the .pptm?
 
You can use all the icons that you actually see in Office 2007. Thefaceid'sfrom Office 2003 however don't apply. You should get the Excel
spreadsheets that list all the idMso's or find the particular idMso you
need in the () of the tooltips of the QAT customization dialog.
Simply supply the idMso of the command that has the particular icon you
want.
If you want to create your own icons and supply them, you can do that
too.
Seehttp://pschmid.net/office2007/ribbonxas starting point for a lot of
your questions.

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
Click to expand...

[snip]

Thanks - I kinda thought that might be the case. I've downloaded a
spreadhseet that has a custom "OfficeIcons" group that contains
galleries of the Office icons. Although my eyes get slightly frazzled
form looking at those, I think I'll be able to find what I need in
there someplace.

Those galleries contain large and small icons - does the size as shown
in the galleries relate to the size (normal, large) attribute
specified in the RibbonX?
 
On Apr 7, 2:12 pm, (e-mail address removed) wrote:

[snip]
I'm still lacking some understanding here, I think. I see how to save
my .pptm file as .ppam. I also see how to include some
customizing .xml in the .ppam using the CustomUI Editor. Here's what
I *don't* see/understand, however: If I change the .pptm file, do I
have to resave it as a .ppam? When I do, the .xml that was in
the .ppam seems to have vanished, and I have to copy it back in from
some other source where I've cleverly saved it. Or, once I've created
the .ppam, does it just contain a pointer back to the original .pptm
file so that I can maintain the .pptm and xml portions of the add-in
separately? Does this question make any sense? The crux of it is:
once I've created a .ppam for a given .pptm file, must I continue to
re-save the .ppam every time I change the .pptm?
Click to expand...

I think I was overstrategizing this and unnecessarily complicating the
process. It appears that once I've saved the .pptm file as a .ppam,
that I can henceforth maintain the .ppam and .pptm files
independently. That is, as long as I haven't resaved the .ppam, the
ribbonx xml is maintained in the .ppam file, and I can experiment at
will without having to resave the .ppam file and re-inserting the xml
from some other location. I just leave the .ppam file open in the
CustomUI Editor, and make the xml changes there. Very slick.
 
Normal/large for which attribute?

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
***
Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
***
Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
RibbonCustomizer Add-In: http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
***
Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed

You can use all the icons that you actually see in Office 2007. Thefaceid'sfrom Office 2003 however don't apply. You should get the Excel
spreadsheets that list all the idMso's or find the particular idMso you
need in the () of the tooltips of the QAT customization dialog.
Simply supply the idMso of the command that has the particular icon you
want.
If you want to create your own icons and supply them, you can do that
too.
Seehttp://pschmid.net/office2007/ribbonxas starting point for a lot of
your questions.

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
Click to expand...

[snip]

Thanks - I kinda thought that might be the case. I've downloaded a
spreadhseet that has a custom "OfficeIcons" group that contains
galleries of the Office icons. Although my eyes get slightly frazzled
form looking at those, I think I'll be able to find what I need in
there someplace.

Those galleries contain large and small icons - does the size as shown
in the galleries relate to the size (normal, large) attribute
specified in the RibbonX?
Click to expand...
 
On Apr 8, 11:00 pm, "Patrick Schmid [MVP]" <[email protected]>
wrote:

That would be for the button control.

Normal/large for which attribute?

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------http://pschmid.net
***Office2007 RTM Issues:http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
***
CustomizeOffice2007:http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
RibbonCustomizer Add-In:http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
OneNote 2007:http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
***
Subscribe to myOffice2007 blog:http://pschmid.net/blog/feed




You can use all the icons that you actually see inOffice2007. Thefaceid'sfromOffice2003 however don't apply. You should get the Excel
spreadsheets that list all the idMso's or find the particular idMso you
need in the () of the tooltips of the QAT customization dialog.
Simply supply the idMso of the command that has the particular icon you
want.
If you want to create your own icons and supply them, you can do that
too.
Seehttp://pschmid.net/office2007/ribbonxasstarting point for a lot of
your questions.
Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
Click to expand...
[snip]
Click to expand...

Thanks - I kinda thought that might be the case. I've downloaded a
spreadhseet that has a custom "OfficeIcons" group that contains
galleries of theOfficeicons. Although my eyes get slightly frazzled
form looking at those, I think I'll be able to find what I need in
there someplace.
Click to expand...
Those galleries contain large and small icons - does the size as shown
in the galleries relate to the size (normal, large) attribute
specified in the RibbonX?- Hide quoted text -
Click to expand...

- Show quoted text -
Click to expand...
 
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