[AccessD] Meet VBA's Replacement

Charlotte Foust cfoust at infostatsystems.com
Fri Jul 14 14:00:22 CDT 2006


>From what I see every day, VS2005 limps, even without trying to automate
anything.  The runtime build is OK, but the compiled build a developer
works with is SLOW!  VS2003 was considerably faster and didn't have all
the layers of help, on-line-thus and-such, loading every weapon in the
arsenal as soon as you open a designer, etc., etc.  There's a lot not to
like in VS2005, and it's only partially offset by the new methods and
features.


Charlotte Foust

-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Shamil
Salakhetdinov
Sent: Friday, July 14, 2006 10:39 AM
To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
Subject: Re: [AccessD] Meet VBA's Replacement

Ken --

Did you read here about this 10+ seconds start-up trouble when
automating MS Word, MS Access, ... from VB.NET (VS2005) with early
binding i.e. with Primary Interop Assemblies referenced?

I did try VSTO 2005 - the same trouble when debugging add-ins or
starting host applications (MS Word,...) with VB.NET add-ins - it could
take up to 10 second then to start host application - what MS thinks
about that anybody has an answer here or there?

How it comes they released such software?
Or I use it on a slow PC (W2003, 2GHz, 1GB) and this is my trouble only?

As far as I can remember VSTO2003 worked considerably quicker on
start-up.

Can anybody try with MS Office 2007 Beta - maybe they did something with
it and it will work OK when automated from VB.NET or with add-ins
written in VB.NET?

And I mean start-up time only - when it passed start-up initialization
(Primary Interop Assemblies Loading/Initialization?) then it works OK...

<<<
Microsoft will continue to support VBA indefinitely.
>>>
Yes, and COM (Common Object Model) will be here indefinitely until MS
Windows will be alive.
And therefore VB6 runtime will be here indefinitely....

Shamil

----- Original Message -----
From: "Kenneth Ismert" <kismert at sbcglobal.net>
To: <accessd at databaseadvisors.com>
Sent: Friday, July 14, 2006 8:39 PM
Subject: [AccessD] Meet VBA's Replacement



Well, here is Microsoft's explicit replacement for VBA -- it's called
VSTA.

Here are some links and exerpts. This will give you a much clearer idea
how VSTA/VSTO will replace VBA, and the migration paths offered.

VBA will have legacy support in Vista (as well as the VB6 runtime, and
DOS), but it looks like no new products with be shipped with it, beyond
Office 2007.

-Ken

Visual Studio Tools for Applications -- Announcement
http://blogs.msdn.com/vsta/archive/2006/02/03/524676.aspx


Visual Studio Tools for Applications -- Blog
http://blogs.msdn.com/vsta/default.aspx


Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Applications
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/extend/vsta/


VSTA Fills an Important Niche for MS
http://www.ftponline.com/weblogger/forum.aspx?id=6&Date=09/15/2005#438
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You will see a handful of important differences between VSTA and its
VBA predecessor. First, you'll be able to program against VSTA using
Visual Basic and C#; VBA, as its name suggested, could be programmed
against only with Visual Basic. Second, implementations you create with
VSTA will sit side-by-side with VBA-created solutions; they do not
interact in any way. If you have an application that integrates VBA,
you need to upgrade the application to VSTA to take advantage of VSTA
in that application. KD cautioned that the upgrade experience of moving
to VSTA from VBA will be considerably easier than moving from VB to
VB.NET, saying that Microsoft learned quite a bit from watching
customer efforts to migrate their applications to .NET previously,
knowledge that will make it easier to make a transition this time
around. Artinsoft, the company that provides the VB-to-.NET porting
tools in Visual Studio .NET, is also listed as an early adopter of
VSTA, and will play a similar role in helping companies move their
applications forward from VBA to .NET.


Microsoft Debuts Expression, Visual Studio for Apps and C# 3.0
http://www.crn.com/sections/custom/custom.jhtml?articleId=170703326
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft also plans to release in late 2006 an enhanced .NET
application customization technology extended for the 64-bit
environment called Visual Studio Tools for Application, the successor
to Visual Basic for Applications, said KD Hallman, general manager for
Visual Studio Tools for Applications and Office and VB.NET.

The VSTA IDE and run-time engine, which will ship in the second half of
2006, can be licensed and embedded in applications ISVs and systems
integrators develop. VBA solved many problems but did not allow
applications to scale up the enterprise, she said, adding that
Microsoft will continue to support VBA indefinitely.

VSTO can be used with Office but VSTA can be used by any application
developed by ISVs or systems integrators, she said. Microsoft will use
the IDE an run-time in Office 12 and the InfoPath 12 server, Microsoft
said.


Microsoft Announces VSTA and VSTO 3.0 at PDC05
http://www.hunterstrat.com/news/category/tools/vsto/


VSTO links:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------
Migrating from VBA to .NET/VSTO - Where to Start
http://blogs.officezealot.com/chris/archive/2005/08/08/7678.aspx

Nine Compelling Reasons to Move From VBA to VSTO 2005
http://www.devx.com/OfficeProDev/Article/28088

Redesigning an Excel VBA Solution for .NET Using Visual Studio 2005
Tools for Office
http://msdn.microsoft.com/office/default.aspx?pull=/library/en-us/odc_vs
to2005_ta/html/OfficeVSTOExcelVBARearchitecture.asp

Convert VBA Code to Visual Basic When Migrating to Visual Studio 2005
Tools for Office
http://msdn.microsoft.com/office/default.aspx?pull=/library/en-us/odc_vs
to2005_ta/html/OfficeVSTOLanguageMigrationFromVBA.asp


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