How to: Install Visual Studio Tools for Office to Develop for Microsoft Office 2003
To install Visual Studio Tools for Office for Microsoft Office 2003 solution development, you must install the Microsoft Office components before you install Visual Studio, or else repair the Visual Studio Tools for Office runtime if you install them afterward. For information about how to repair the runtime, see How to: Install the Visual Studio Tools for Office Runtime.
Prerequisites to Develop for Microsoft Office 2003
The development computer must have the following components before you can develop solutions by using Visual Studio Tools for Office:
.NET Framework 2.0 or higher.
A supported version of Microsoft Office and Service Pack 1 (or later) installed locally on the development computer. For more information about SP1, see Office 2003 Service Pack 1. Later service packs are recommended. The following table lists the versions of Microsoft Office that support each project type.
Document-level projects for Microsoft Office 2003
Application-level projects for Microsoft Office 2003
Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003.
Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 Trial.
Microsoft Office Professional Enterprise Edition 2003.
Microsoft Office System Evaluation 2003 Enterprise Edition.
The following applications when purchased as stand-alone versions, not part of a suite edition:
Excel 2003.
Word 2003.
All suite editions of Microsoft Office 2003.
The following applications when purchased as stand-alone versions, not part of a suite edition:
Excel 2003.
Outlook 2003.
PowerPoint 2003.
Project 2003.
Visio 2003.
Word 2003.
The primary interop assemblies for the edition of Microsoft Office that you have installed. The primary interop assemblies must be installed in the global assembly cache (GAC) to run and debug your Visual Studio Tools for Office solution.
If the .NET Framework 2.0 or later is installed before you install Microsoft Office, you can install the primary interop assemblies into the global assembly cache by choosing a Complete installation of Microsoft Office. Otherwise, you must install the primary interop assemblies separately. For more information, see How to: Install Office Primary Interop Assemblies and Office Primary Interop Assemblies.
Note
Visual Studio Tools for Office installs private copies of the primary interop assemblies outside of the global assembly cache. These copies of the assemblies are used for building projects. However, the primary interop assemblies must also be installed and registered in the global assembly cache to perform most development tasks, such as running or debugging projects. For more information, see Office Primary Interop Assemblies.
Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) must be installed as part of Microsoft Office.
Installation Steps to Develop for Microsoft Office 2003
To install Visual Studio Tools for Office on the development computer for Microsoft Office 2003
Install the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 or later. The Framework is available from the Microsoft Download Center.
The .NET Framework is required before the primary interop assemblies can be installed in the global assembly cache during the next step.
Install a supported version of Microsoft Office, including Office 2003 Service Pack 1 or later and the primary interop assemblies.
If you install Office SP1, you must repair the Visual Studio Tools for Office runtime. If you install a later service pack, you do not need to repair the runtime. For more information about how to install the primary interop assemblies, see How to: Install Office Primary Interop Assemblies.
Install a version of Visual Studio that includes Visual Studio Tools for Office. For more information, see Installing Visual Studio Tools for Office.
If you have an English version of Visual Studio but use non-English settings for Windows, you can install the Visual Studio Tools for Office Language Pack to see Visual Studio Tools for Office runtime messages in the same language as Windows. The Visual Studio Tools for Office Language Pack is available from the Microsoft Download Center page Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Tools for the Microsoft Office System (VSTO2005) Language Package. Non-English versions of Visual Studio Tools for Office automatically install the language pack.
See Also
Tasks
How to: Install the Visual Studio Tools for Office Runtime
How to: Install Office Primary Interop Assemblies
Concepts
How to: Install Visual Studio Tools for Office to Develop for the 2007 Microsoft Office System
How to: Install Visual Studio Tools for Office to Develop for SharePoint Workflow Project Templates