Office Business Applications

Posted By: Rory | Jun 20th, 2007 @ 12:18 PM | 10,886 Views | 4 Comments
Something end users probably don't realize is that Office isn't just a suite of applications, but also a platform for development.

The idea behind building apps on top of Office is that you can provide users with apps in an environment with which they're already familiar and comfortable. Some of the plumbing is also already taken care of for devs, so you can rely on the strength of the platform rather than start entirely from scratch to build your apps.

To help devs get started, there are some reference apps that have been released.

Today, they're pushing out a reference app to show how OBAs can be used in the medical industry.

If you have users who prefer to work inside Office apps rather than leaving the familiar environment for an app built from the ground up, then you'll find this interview interesting...

(Thanks to Tim Sneath for lending us his office without his permission. Asking to use it would have resulted in all kinds of wasted time, so bypassing that step was a great convenience for us.)
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#Jun 20th, 2007 @ 3:48 PM
DoomBringer
DoomBringer
Doom!

Nice timing, since I'm writing a plugin for outlook... (btw, which can really, really suck at points!)

#Jun 21st, 2007 @ 1:15 PM
JoshRoss
JoshRoss
A righteous infliction of retribution manifested by an appropriate agent.
DoomBringer wrote:


Nice timing, since I'm writing a plugin for outlook... (btw, which can really, really suck at points!)



It is far more difficult in Outlook to learn the object model, by tinkering, than it is in Excel.  With Excel, you can record a macro, change some of the code, and run it. That process of interaction is very powerful.  There is simply no comparable approach in Outlook.
#Jun 21st, 2007 @ 5:03 PM
DoomBringer
DoomBringer
Doom!
JoshRoss wrote:

DoomBringer wrote: 

Nice timing, since I'm writing a plugin for outlook... (btw, which can really, really suck at points!)



It is far more difficult in Outlook to learn the object model, by tinkering, than it is in Excel.  With Excel, you can record a macro, change some of the code, and run it. That process of interaction is very powerful.  There is simply no comparable approach in Outlook.

There are many ugly parts.  I've pulled many hairs out.  But I have learned much.
#Jun 23rd, 2007 @ 5:21 PM
kettch
kettch
Hey Rory, what's with the weird bite mark looking thing on your arm?

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