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The PowerPoint Add-in FAQ
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Add-ins are supplemental
programs that extend the capabilities of Microsoft PowerPoint by adding custom
commands and specialized features.
The PowerPoint add-in has an extension PPA.
PowerPoint 2000/2002 support additional add-in types which have extension DLL
or EXE. A special type of an add-in are the Wizard add-ins which have PWZ extension.
Structurally they are exactly identical to the PPA file except for the fact that the extensions
are different.
There are two types; the standard add-in
which can be compiled within PowerPoint having the extension PPA/PWZ and COM Add-ins
which are supported PowerPoint 2000 onwards and require either the Microsoft Office
Developer or development products from the Visual Studio Suite of applications
to create them.
Select the Tools | Add-ins menu option to
bring up the list of installed add-ins.
The COM Add-ins menu option is not
available by default. You need to add it to the menu bar by using the Customize
feature.
1. Select Tools | Customize..., switch to
Commands tab in the window.
2. From the Categories list select Tools.
3. In the adjacent Commands list scroll down to locate COM
add-ins.
4. Click & Drag this Command button on to the Tools menu.
The Microsoft knowledge base article below
explains the steps involved in creating a PowerPoint add-in (PPA).
Q222737
- PPT2000 How to Create a PowerPoint Add-In
To create a COM Add-in
you need Office Developer or a Visual Studio Development environment.
There are several excellent articles that can be found in the
Microsoft Solution
Developer Network, search on the key word COM Add-in.
Creating a Microsoft Office COM add-in
Yes, every developer should make certain
that his/her intellectual capital is not easily pilfered and reused without
permission. Though the security offered is not of the highest degree, it does
make the task that much more difficult.
Though you cannot convert a *.PPA file
into the original presentation, the source code of the VBA project within the
compiled file can be obtained provided you have no password set or you know the
password of the project.
To extract the source code within the PPA proceed as
follows:
1. Ensure that PowerPoint isn't active. Start | Run |
Regedit.exe, click on OK
2. Navigate to the following key in the registry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\8.0\PowerPoint\Options
(Note replace 8.0 with the version of PowerPoint you are
using.
3. Locate the key name 'DebugAddins', double click
on it. In the window for DWORD value data enter 1 and click on OK. If the key is
not present, you will need to add one and then set it's value to 1.
4. Launch PowerPoint.
5. Press Alt+F11 to launch the Visual Basic Editor. In the
project explorer window you will now see that the add-in are also listed.
You can double click on any of them to view the code. If they are password
protected, you will be prompted for the password.
This error implies that your VBA project
contains certain coding errors. To ascertain the cause of error, do the
following. Open the project in the Visual Basic Editor and Select Debug |Compile
VBA Project. The compilation will halt at the point of error. It could be
syntax error like a
missing bracket or a undeclared variable or an extra 'End Sub' etc. Proceed and
resolve all compilation errors then Save as add-in.
For PPA
1. Launch PowerPoint.
2. Select Tools|Add-in. In the add-in window, click 'Add
new' and browse to PPA file in the installed folder and click on OK
3. If prompted to enable macros, click on Enable. Close
the add-ins window. If however you do not find the add-in listed in the add-ins
window then please refer to the next question.
For COM Add-ins (Read this first)
1. Launch PowerPoint.
2. Select Tools |COM Add-ins. In the add-in window, click 'Add
new' and browse to DLL/EXE file in the installed folder and click on OK
If you cannot load an add-in in
PPT2000 or later then check the macro settings (Tools | Macros |
Security), if this is not set to at least Medium - the add-in won't load.
To resolve this...
1. Select Tools | Macros | Security on the security level
tab, check MEDIUM.
2. Click on OK
3. Now load the Add-in as per the instructions.
4. Once the add-in has been loaded you can set the Security level back to HIGH
An add-in is simply a compiled
collection of sequential commands. These may be malicious in nature.
Hence based on the security settings on your machine, you are prompted for
permission to enable the macros. If the source is an unknown one, it is best
advised to disable the macro. Signed VBA projects are supported by PowerPoint
2000 and above. This enables the developer to 'sign' his product with a
digital signature which assures the user that the source of the add-in is a
trusted one.
This happens because the add-in you are
attempting to unload is being referenced by another add-in and hence is locked
from being unloaded. First unload the add-in which is referencing this file.
If the PPA file name consists of
more that one decimal it will not unload and give an error every time you
attempt to unload it. This is a bug. To remove the add-in, the registry needs to
be edited to remove the reference. For example an add-in named "CustomShow
Ver1.0.PPA" (note the additional decimals in the name) will throw an error
whenever you attempt to unload it.
Steps to clear it from registry:
1. Quit PowerPoint.
2. Start | Run | Regedit.exe
3. Navigate to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
\Software
\Microsoft
\Office
\9.0
\PowerPoint
\AddIns
\CustomShow Ver1.0
4. Delete this key.
5. Start PowerPoint check in the add-ins list, the old add-in (CustomShow
Ver1.0) will not be listed.
Two macros are fired automatically within
an add-in. Auto_Open and Auto_Close. Auto_Open is fired when the add-in is
loaded and Auto_Close fired when the add-in is being unloaded. You can use them
to do preprocessing, creating menu items, setting up event handlers etc or
performing cleanup upon exiting.
If you register your add-in under the
HKLM hive of the registry, the add-in will not be listed in the add-ins window.
PowerPoint only lists add-ins registered in HKCU hive.
The Microsoft knowledge base article
below explains the steps involved in registering an add-in.
Q222685
- PPT2000 How to Auto Load a PowerPoint Add-In
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Does the add-in support
multiple users?
There is no documentation available on
the behavior of PowerPoint add-in in a multiple user scenario. Based on
experience I would say that it may work without any glitches or you may
encounter 'Invalid file type' error after the first user has loaded the add-in
and the remaining users attempt to load the same add-in.
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What are
Digital Certificates?
A complete overview is provided in the following article
Q206637
- OFF2000 Overview of Digital Certificates
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What are Self
Signed Certificates?
A complete overview is provided in the following article
Q217221
- OFF2000 Using SelfCert to Create a Digital Certificate for VBA Projects
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I get an error message "PowerPoint can't
save this file as an add-in because it contains Activex controls", when I try to
save my presentation as an add-in.
Check if you have added an Activex control
accidentally on a slide of the presentation that you are trying to save and
delete the controls. Slides are stripped when compiled into an add-in however
the presence of Activex controls on the slides will prevent PowerPoint from
saving the file as an add-in.
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