Introduction to the Smart Document Architecture [Office 2003 SDK Documentation]
This section describes various aspects of the smart document architecture, including how smart documents work, how the smart document components are linked to Microsoft® Office 2003 documents, and how to develop code that implements the Smart Document API.
How a document becomes a smart document
A document becomes a smart document when you attach an XML expansion pack to it. The XML expansion pack is used to load the smart document components. For more information about this process, see Turning a Document into a Smart Document.
How a document finds an XML expansion pack if it is not attached
If you have deployed a document that has an XML schema attached to it, Office 2003 will perform several checks to determine if an associated XML expansion pack is available to load the smart document components. For information about the nature and order of these checks, see Locating an XML Expansion Pack.
How Office determines whether to load an XML expansion pack
If the host application locates an XML expansion pack by using any of the methods noted in Locating an XML Expansion Pack, a series of security checks are undertaken before the smart document components are loaded to the user's machine. For more information about the nature and order of these checks, see Security Checks for XML Expansion Packs.
How the Smart Document API works
A general understanding of the Smart Document API, as well as information about when the properties and methods of the API are invoked, is useful when you are planning your smart documents and determining the behavior of controls in them. For more information about the API, see Understanding the Smart Document API.
How Office loads managed smart document components
In addition to the COM-wrapper implementation introduced in Microsoft Office XP, Office 2003 includes a new method for using managed code called the Microsoft Visual Studio® Tools for the Microsoft Office System. For more information, see Using the Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office System Loader.