Project Upgrade, Options Dialog Box
Use the Project Upgrade page for the following two purposes:
To select the default format for documents in upgraded document-level solutions.
To specify whether Visual Studio automatically changes application-level add-in projects to target the version of Office that is installed on the development computer.
To access this page, on the Tools menu, click Options. Expand the Office Tools folder, and then click Project Upgrade.
Office 2007 Open XML Format
Select this option to convert the document of the document-level customization to the Office Open XML format. This is the default format for all documents in Microsoft Office 2010 and the 2007 Microsoft Office system.The Office Open XML format provides developers and end users with the following benefits:
Compact files.
Improved damaged-file recovery.
Better privacy and more control over personal information.
Better integration and interoperability of business data.
Easier detection of documents that contain macros.
For more information, see Introduction to new file name extensions and Office XML Formats.
Office 2007 binary file format
Select this option to save your files in a binary file format. You should convert the format of the document to the Office Open XML format unless you have a specific reason to use the binary format.Prompt for file format during upgrade
Select this option if you want the Microsoft Office Document Upgrade Settings dialog box to appear when you run the Visual Studio Conversion Wizard to convert a document-level customization. The Microsoft Office Document Upgrade Settings dialog box enables you to select the file format that you want to apply to the document in the document-level customization.Clear this option if you do not want the Microsoft Office Document Upgrade Settings dialog box to appear. The Visual Studio Conversion Wizard automatically applies the default document format (which is specified by the option buttons on the Project Upgrade page) to any document-level customization project that you upgrade.
Always upgrade to installed version of Office
Select this option if you want Visual Studio to modify application-level add-in projects to target the version of Microsoft Office you have installed, when you upgrade a project that targets an earlier version of Office. For example, if your development computer has Excel 2010 installed and you upgrade an add-in project from Visual Studio 2008 that targets Excel 2003, the project will target Excel 2010 after you upgrade the project in Visual Studio 2010. This option also affects projects that were created in Visual Studio 2010. For example, if your development computer has Excel 2010 installed and you open an add-in project from Visual Studio 2010 that targets Excel 2007, the project will target Excel 2010 after you open the project. This option is selected by default.Clear this option if you do not want add-in projects to be modified to target the version of Office you have installed. If you clear this option and you want to be able to run or debug an add-in project that targets an earlier version of Office, you must change the start action of the project from Start project to Start external program, and specify the .exe file of the application you have installed. For example, to debug an Excel 2007 add-in project on a computer that has Excel 2010 installed, specify %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office\Office14\EXCEL.EXE. For more information about how to set the start action of the project, see How to: Change the Start Action for Application Debugging.
Note
This option is intended to be changed only when upgrading application-level add-in projects. If you clear this option and then open a document-level project that targets an earlier version of Office than the version you have installed, the upgraded project will not open in Visual Studio. To open a document-level project in Visual Studio, the version of Office installed on the development computer must match the version of Office that is targeted by the project.
See Also
Tasks
How to: Upgrade Office Solutions