How to: Deploy for Offline Use of Documents (2003 System)

Applies to
The information in this topic applies only to the specified Visual Studio Tools for Office projects and versions of Microsoft Office. Project type Document-level projects Application-level projects Microsoft Office version Microsoft Office 2003 For more information, see Features Available by Application and Project Type.

If your Visual Studio Tools for Office solution must be usable offline, you have two main options:

• Deploy the assembly to each end user's computer.

• Deploy the assembly to a Web server so that it is cached on the end user's computer after the first use.

Deploying to Each User's Computer

To deploy a document-level customization to each end user's computer

1. Update the embedded application manifest so that it uses an environment variable to point to the assembly. Instead of using a specific drive letter and path, use %ProgramFiles% or %UserProfile% to begin the path. For example, the path might look like this:

   %ProgramFiles%/MyApplication/MyApplication.dll

   For more information about how to update the assembly path in an embedded application manifest, see How to: Update Application Manifest Assembly Paths Programmatically (2003 System).

2. Copy the document and the assembly to each end user's computer. You can create a Setup program to install the files by using an application such as Windows Installer. For more information, see Deploying Applications and Components.

   For articles that describe how to create and use a Setup project to deploy a document-level customization, see Deploying Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office Solutions Using Windows Installer (Part 1 of 2) and Deploying Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office Solutions Using Windows Installer: Walkthroughs (Part 2 of 2).

   Note

   To set an environment variable on the user's computer during installation, add a value to the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment. The user must restart the computer after installation before the new value is recognized.

3. Update the security policy on the computer to grant full trust to the assembly, and to any dependent assemblies. For more information, see How to: Grant Permissions to Folders and Assemblies (2003 System).

To deploy an application-level add-in to each end user's computer

1. Update the application manifest that is created when you build the solution so that it uses an environment variable to point to the assembly. Instead of using a specific drive letter and path, use %ProgramFiles% or %UserProfile% to begin the path. For example, the path might look like this: %ProgramFiles%/MyAddIn/MyAddIn.dll

   The assembly path is specified by the codebase attribute of the installFrom element, which is a child of the dependency element. For more information, see <installFrom> Element (Visual Studio Tools for Office Reference).

2. Copy the assembly and the application manifest to each end user's computer. You can use the default Setup project that is included with your add-in project. For more information, see Setup Projects for Application-Level Add-ins (2003 System).

   Note

   To set an environment variable on the user's computer during installation, add a value to the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment. The user must restart the computer after installation before the new value is recognized.

3. Update the security policy on the computer to grant full trust to the assembly, and to any dependent assemblies. For more information, see How to: Grant Permissions to Folders and Assemblies (2003 System).

Deploying to a Web Server

You can deploy an assembly to a network location and still make it available to the user's local computer for offline use. The assembly must be located on a Web server and accessed through an HTTP or HTTPS path. You cannot use a UNC path or mapped network drives for offline solutions, unless you use IntelliMirror to synchronize folders instead of relying on the Internet Explorer cache. For more information, see Offline Model for Office Solutions (2003 System).

The application manifest and deployment manifest must use the correct HTTP or HTTPS path to the assembly. If you use the Publish Wizard, the manifests are created for you. For more information, see Deploying Document-Level Customizations (2003 System) and Deploying Application-Level Add-Ins (2003 System).

To set the assembly path

• Set the path to the assembly in the application and deployment manifests to the correct HTTP or HTTPS path, for example https://servername/foldername. For more information, see How to: Update Application Manifest Assembly Paths Programmatically (2003 System) and How to: Change the Location of Application-Level Add-ins (2003 System).

  Note

  The server name in the assembly path in the application manifest must be all lowercase. Otherwise, the assembly will not load.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Deploy Office Solutions (2003 System)

How to: Update Deployed Assembly Files (2003 System)

How to: Update Deployed Office Documents That Use Managed Code Extensions (2003 System)

Concepts

Offline Model for Office Solutions (2003 System)

Secure Deployment (2003 System)

Deployment Models (2003 System)

Deploying Office Solutions (2003 System)

Other Resources

Troubleshooting Office Solutions