PHOENIX, Ariz., March 20, 2000 — Today at the Office Deployment and Developer Conference (ODDC) in Phoenix, Microsoft Corp. launched a new Web-based update service hosting both Microsoft and third-party code intended to ease development using any Microsoft® Office or Visual Basic® for Applications (VBA)-enabled application. As an extension of the Office 2000 Developer product, the Code Librarian Update will enable developers to download free code snippets that can be immediately used in their own solutions by simply dragging and dropping them into any Office or VBA-enabled application. The first monthly update, created by Microsoft’s Visio division, is available today at http://msdn.microsoft.com/officedev/downloads/codelibrarian.asp . The service is free of charge (connect-time charges may apply).
“By hosting this shared online resource, we are providing developers with instant access to a continually updated productivity service,”
said Tod Nielsen, vice president of Developer Marketing at Microsoft.
“Visio’s integration was a natural first and is a significant contribution for developers. Already, several ISVs have made a commitment to further extend this database of reusable code.”
Visio: The First Contributor
Visio is the first contributor to the Code Librarian Update, today posting over 100 functions to be used in developing solutions with Microsoft Visio® 2000, as well as enabling integration with Office 2000.
“Microsoft and Visio are essentially pooling developer knowledge to extend this shared resource,”
said Dave Edson, technical product manager for Developer Tools at Microsoft.
“This initial Code Librarian Update will be immediately beneficial to over 11,000 Visio developers. These code snippets will simplify hundreds of the most common development tasks – from automating the creation of Visio diagrams to creating applications that interact with Microsoft Office.”
As a business drawing application, 24 percent of Visio development scenarios are used with Microsoft Office to enable users to visually diagram data created by Office applications such as Access, Excel, Word, the PowerPoint® presentation graphics program, and the Outlook® messaging and collaboration client. In addition, 57 percent of Visio developers use VBA automation.
Productivity Services Projected to Immediately Increase Productivity
“The Code Librarian Update is an outstanding tool for organizing, storing and retrieving hundreds of Visio-related code samples,”
said Brett Newman, managing director of Visimation Inc., a consulting firm specializing in Visio development.
“Being able to reuse and personalize a code base within the Code Librarian for Visio enables us to produce more for our clients in less time and with higher quality.”
Extending Popular Office Development Tool
The Code Librarian Update is an expanded, online extension of one of Microsoft Office 2000 Developer’s most popular features, the Code Librarian, a searchable and centralized database of prewritten code. The Code Librarian that ships in Office 2000 Developer provides hundreds of reusable code snippets, with drag-and-drop functionality, for developing solutions using Office and VBA.
Developers can now continually expand their access to additional Microsoft and third-party code snippets by downloading additional Code Librarian databases made available online through the Code Librarian Update. New code snippets will provide shortcuts for developers to easily automate third-party VBA-enabled products, simplify Office development, and ease integration of Microsoft products. Using the Code Librarian available in Office 2000 Developer, both the original Code Librarian database and additional databases available with the update service can be shared and reused by teams of corporate developers.
Subsequent Code Librarian Updates will be available monthly, posting code contributed from WRQ, Lawson, Elsinore Technologies and other third-party companies with VBA-embedded products. Other Microsoft product groups, such as Microsoft’s new mapping and analysis product, MapPoint TM 2001, will also provide code to increase developer productivity.
About Microsoft Office 2000 Developer
Microsoft Office 2000 Developer is the edition of Office designed for professional developers building and deploying solutions with Microsoft Office 2000. Currently 2.6 million developers target the Office platform, making it the second most frequently targeted platform, behind the Microsoft Windows® operating system.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software – any time, any place and on any device.
Microsoft, Visual Basic, PowerPoint, Outlook, Windows and MapPoint are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
Visio is a registered trademark of Visio Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
Visio Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corp.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
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