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Debugging a COM Add-in

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This content is no longer actively maintained. It is provided as is, for anyone who may still be using these technologies, with no warranties or claims of accuracy with regard to the most recent product version or service release.

When you are developing a COM add-in in Microsoft® Visual Basic® for Applications (VBA), you can debug the add-in by putting the project into run mode. With the project in run mode, you can load and use the COM add-in from within a Microsoft® Office XP application to test and debug it by using any of the Visual Basic debugging tools.

To debug a COM add-in in the Visual Basic Editor

  1. Open the Add-in project in Visual Basic Editor.
  2. Place any desired breakpoints, Stop statements, or watches in the code.
  3. On the Run menu, click Run Project. This compiles your project, alerting you to any compilation errors, and then puts the project into run mode.
  4. Open the intended host application for the COM add-in. If you have set the add-in's load behavior to Startup or Load at Next Startup Only, the add-in loads as soon as you start the application. If the add-in's load behavior is set to None or Load on Demand, open the COM Add-ins dialog box, and select the check box next to your add-in to load it.

When the add-in loads, the OnConnection event occurs. You can now enter break mode in the Add-in project in the Visual Basic Editor and debug the code.

See Also

Building COM Add-ins for Office Applications | Working with Add-in Designers | Specifying Load Behavior | Writing Code in the Add-in Designer | Hooking a COM Add-in Up to a Command Bar Control | Making the DLL | Distributing COM Add-ins | COM Add-ins and Security