Excel add-in on startup

Question

I am creating an add in for Microsoft Excel using Visual C#. When I first created the solution, it included a function called ThisAddIn_Startup. I added the following code to this function:

private void ThisAddIn_Startup(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
    MessageBox.Show("Startup");
}

The message box does not show upon installing the add in and starting Microsoft Excel. Indeed, NOTHING in this function works when the add in loads. This is literally the only change I've made to this new project after first creating it. Why won't it work?

Answer 1

Nothing is magic and ThisAddIn_Startup is called by something before executing your MessageBox.Show instruction.

You can use "Find All References" in Visual Studio, it will bring you to ThisAddin.InternalStartup() , a private method in ThisAddin.cs .

This method is called by the framework's runtime.

Did this explanation help?

Answer 2

When developing AddIn's for Excel you will sometimes create bugs that will trigger Excel to disable the AddIn. If so you need to Go into Excel, go to File / Options and select Add-Ins. At the lower left of the screen there is a drop down list with the label "Manage:". Select "Disabled Items" and click Go button. If your tool is disabled you will see it there and you can re-enable it. This was an example from Office 2010. The new version might have rearranged this, I don't know.