test for existence of MS Office

[Xancholy]

How can I test for existence of MS Office 2003 and up on end users machine on my app startup ?

Thanks !

 

[delstar]

WMI will give you a list of installed apps. I guess you could just parse that and compare.

 

[Xancholy]

Before adding references, I need to check MS Office version numbers. Some of these references were added post Office 2000

Imports Microsoft.Office.Core
Imports Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word

How can WMI help me find the Office version numbers?

 

[JohnH]

You have to install the correct version PIA (Primary Interop Assemblies) along with your app, the app interacts through these assemblies. Then you have put a label on the box saying that your app requires this version Office to operate.

 

[Xancholy]

Thanks. I learned this new today.

What happens if I reference say, Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word and it is not available (Office 2000 does not have it). Major code failure.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=3C9A983A-AC14-4125-8BA0-D36D67E0F4AD&displaylang=en

Will installing the Office PIA as prerequisite allow Office 2000 users to 'access' the Microsoft.Office.Core
and Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word references ? NO. Interesting reading here

Office 2003/7 must be already installed on end users system in order for the relevant PIA to be installed. Argh

So my question remains : how can I test for MS Office >2003 and if not available, messagebox.show "not available" ?

 

[JohnH]

Do some automation code in a Try-Catch and see if it throws, example this thread.