Building custom Smart Tags for Microsoft Office XP

Updated: February 21, 2007

Productivity tutorial

In this tutorial, you will learn how to increase your productivity by using Smart Tags. With Smart Tags, you can access rich information and actions in the Microsoft Office XP environment. You can also insert information from a Microsoft Access database directly into a Microsoft Office Word document, access an online resource directly from a Microsoft Office Excel spreadsheet, and develop other simple data links.

Step-by-step instructions in the tutorial show you how to get valuable data and use it across applications by creating recognizers that integrate with dynamic link libraries (DLL).

The accompanying instructor presentation offers a guide to the tutorial, suitable for instructors leading a class or for self-paced learning.

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Tutorial informationTutorial information
ObjectivesObjectives
Tutorial outlineTutorial outline
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Tutorial information

Productivity tutorial
ItemRequirements

Instructional level

Intermediate user

Advanced user

Curriculum areas

Teacher productivity

Classroom management

Technology

Software required

Microsoft Office XP

Objectives

Save valuable time by building custom Smart Tags in Microsoft Office XP to access information across programs.

Deploy Smart Tag dynamic-link libraries (DLLs) and customize Smart Tags for increased productivity.

Get the most out of Smart Tag built-in recognizers that include: person name, date, time, place, address, phone number, and recent e-mail recipients. Create additional recognizers, such as student ID numbers.

Use the key concepts of the tutorial and developer resources to expand your knowledge of Smart Tags.

Manage Smart Tags in Microsoft Office Outlook, and build custom Smart Tags using Microsoft Visual Basic. (Note: Basic knowledge of Visual Basic or COM components is required.)

Tutorial outline

Overview
Learn about the benefits of using Smart Tags and how you can integrate them into your workday.

Before you begin
Learn about the minimum system requirements for using Smart Tags, review an e-mail message sample, and familiarize yourself with some of the program features.

Building a custom Smart Tag
Build a custom Smart Tag by setting up a DLL project. Learn how to implement a recognizer interface and code, and an action interface and code. Then, compile and test the source code in a DLL.

Additional Smart Tag information
Discover more information about the architecture, deployment methods, and issues of Smart Tags.

Conclusion
Review the key concepts of the tutorial, and find additional developer resources about Smart Tags.

Web links to tutorial, instructor presentation, and other resources

Microsoft Word fileBuilding custom Smart Tags for Office XP (208 KB Microsoft Word file)

Microsoft Powerpoint fileInstructor presentation (2 MB Microsoft PowerPoint file)

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