Visual Studio Tools for Office Runtime Installation Scenarios
You can install the Visual Studio 2010 Tools for Office Runtime in three different ways:
When you install the Microsoft Office developer tools in Visual Studio 2010.
When you install Microsoft Office 2010.
When you install the Visual Studio 2010 Tools for Office Runtime redistributable.
The runtime components that are installed depend on the configuration of the computer and the installation scenario.
Runtime Components That Are Installed in Each Installation Scenario
The Visual Studio 2010 Tools for Office Runtime has three components: the Office solution loader, the Office extensions for the .NET Framework 3.5, and the Office extensions for the .NET Framework 4. When you install the runtime, the Office solution loader is always installed. The installation of the Office extensions for the .NET Framework depends on the configuration of the computer and the installation scenario. If one of the Office extensions cannot be installed when the runtime is first installed, the runtime will automatically install the missing Office extensions later when certain requirements are met. This feature of the runtime is called install on demand.
The following table shows which runtime components are installed by default in each runtime installation scenario. More information about each scenario appears later.
Runtime installation scenario |
Office solution loader |
Office extensions for the .NET Framework 3.5 |
Office extensions for the .NET Framework 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
With Visual Studio 2010 |
Yes |
Yes, if the .NET Framework 3.5 is already installed |
Yes |
With Microsoft Office 2010 |
Yes |
Yes, if the .NET Framework 3.5 is already installed |
No |
With the runtime redistributable |
Yes |
Yes, if the .NET Framework 3.5 is already installed |
Yes, if the .NET Framework 4 is already installed |
Installing the Runtime With Visual Studio
When you install the Office developer tools in Visual Studio 2010, the Office extensions for the .NET Framework 4 are always installed on the development computer. The Office extensions for the .NET Framework 3.5 are installed only if the .NET Framework 3.5 is already present on the development computer. If you install the .NET Framework 3.5 after you install Visual Studio 2010, the runtime automatically installs the Office extensions for the .NET Framework 3.5 the first time that you create an Office project that targets the .NET Framework 3.5.
For more information about how to install the Office developer tools, see How to: Configure a Computer to Develop Office Solutions.
Installing the Runtime With Microsoft Office 2010
When you install Microsoft Office 2010, the Office extensions for the .NET Framework 3.5 are installed if the .NET Framework 3.5 is already present on the computer. If you install the .NET Framework 3.5 after Microsoft Office 2010, the runtime automatically installs the Office extensions for the .NET Framework 3.5 the first time an Microsoft Office 2010 application tries to load a solution that targets the .NET Framework 3.5.
Currently, the Office extensions for the .NET Framework 4 are not installed with Microsoft Office 2010, even if the .NET Framework 4 is already present when you install Microsoft Office 2010. To install the Office extensions for the .NET Framework 4 on end-user computers, you must include the Visual Studio 2010 Tools for Office Runtime redistributable as a prerequisite for your solution. For more information about prerequisites, see Office Solution Prerequisites for Deployment.
Installing the Runtime by Using the Runtime Redistributable
You can install the runtime by running the Visual Studio 2010 Tools for Office Runtime redistributable manually or by including the redistributable as a prerequisite when you deploy an Office solution.
When you install the runtime by using the Visual Studio 2010 Tools for Office Runtime redistributable, the Office extensions for the .NET Framework 3.5 and the Office extensions for the .NET Framework 4 are installed if the corresponding versions of the .NET Framework are already present on the computer. If the computer is missing one of these versions of the .NET Framework when the runtime is installed, the Office extensions for the missing version of the .NET Framework are not installed at that time. If you install the missing version of the .NET Framework later, the runtime automatically installs the corresponding Office extensions the next time a solution that requires the extensions is installed (if the runtime was installed with a solution that was deployed by using ClickOnce) or loaded (if the runtime was installed with a solution that was deployed by using Windows Installer).
For more information about including prerequisites in a ClickOnce solution, see How to: Install Prerequisites on End User Computers to Run Office Solutions. For more information about how to install the runtime from the redistributable package manually, see How to: Install the Visual Studio Tools for Office Runtime Redistributable.