cgross@surya.UWaterloo.CA (Christian Gross) (04/30/91)
Hi,
The question I have has been partially answered by MS support,
but they didn't really know what they were talking about. So maybe
I'll give this question to you netters.
Is there any way that an application that I have written can
exchange data with MS Excel / MS Word. I do not mean that the
operator uses Copy and paste. What i would like to do is set up the
latter two programs using marcos or formulas to grab data from my
program. MS said it is possible, but could not really give me a
totally clear answer.
Christian
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Canada- Only land that I know that has a cigarette smuggling
ring, with cigarettes that are bought legally in the states
and sold in the Canadian black market.
-------------------------------------------------------------------slh@gibdo.engr.washington.edu (05/01/91)
In article <cgross.673026113@surya> cgross@surya.UWaterloo.CA (Christian Gross) writes: |Hi, | The question I have has been partially answered by MS support, |but they didn't really know what they were talking about. So maybe |I'll give this question to you netters. | Is there any way that an application that I have written can |exchange data with MS Excel / MS Word. I do not mean that the |operator uses Copy and paste. What i would like to do is set up the |latter two programs using marcos or formulas to grab data from my |program. MS said it is possible, but could not really give me a |totally clear answer. | I think the answer is DDE.
press@venice.SEDD.TRW.COM (Barry Press) (05/02/91)
In article <cgross.673026113@surya> cgross@surya.UWaterloo.CA (Christian Gross) writes: > Is there any way that an application that I have written can >exchange data with MS Excel / MS Word. I do not mean that the >operator uses Copy and paste. What i would like to do is set up the >latter two programs using marcos or formulas to grab data from my What you want is DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange). This is a "standardized" protocol for Windows apps to communicate with each other, and is supported by both apps you mention as well as a lot of others. The protocol is documented (more or less) in the SDK. The bad news is that a robust implementation requires a lot of code. The good news is that, according to the trade rags, Microsoft has developed a DLL that does the job, providing an API to programmers. The bad news is that mortals can't get it. Or the docs for using windebug.dll. Or a lot of other stuff. -- Barry Press Internet: press@venice.sedd.trw.com
kensy@microsoft.UUCP (Ken SYKES) (05/04/91)
In article <1072@venice.SEDD.TRW.COM> press@venice.sedd.trw.com (Barry Press) writes: >In article <cgross.673026113@surya> cgross@surya.UWaterloo.CA (Christian Gross) writes: > >The good news is that, according to the trade rags, Microsoft has developed >a DLL that does the job, providing an API to programmers. > >The bad news is that mortals can't get it. Or the docs for using >windebug.dll. Or a lot of other stuff. > >-- >Barry Press Internet: press@venice.sedd.trw.com What are you talking about? Read in the trade rags about Microsoft's Open Tools strategy. Read about the recent Open Tools summit. Microsoft is commited to provide the information and support needed to let third-party vendors make great Windows development tools. Ken Sykes Disclaimer: The above opinions are solely my own.
press@venice.SEDD.TRW.COM (Barry Press) (05/08/91)
In article <72160@microsoft.UUCP> kensy@microsoft.UUCP (Ken SYKES) writes: >In article <1072@venice.SEDD.TRW.COM> press@venice.sedd.trw.com (Barry Press) writes: >>In article <cgross.673026113@surya> cgross@surya.UWaterloo.CA (Christian Gross) writes: >> >>The good news is that, according to the trade rags, Microsoft has developed >>a DLL that does the job, providing an API to programmers. >> >>The bad news is that mortals can't get it. Or the docs for using >>windebug.dll. Or a lot of other stuff. >What are you talking about? Read in the trade rags about Microsoft's Open >Tools strategy. Read about the recent Open Tools summit. Microsoft is >commited to provide the information and support needed to let third-party >vendors make great Windows development tools. I read all that. I've also spent the past two months trying to get 1) documentation of the windebug.dll interface codeview uses so that I can move a profiler I wrote that runs as a windows application from win2 to win3; 2) the dll and docs for the dde library so I can rip the ad hoc dde code from the same application. Having tried 4 or 5 people within Microsoft with no success, it appears that the Open Tools information is not going to be publicly available. Now, admittedly, if I were paying the $500 or $800 a year for Online (or its successor) and part of the ISV program, then maybe I'd be having an easier time of it. I'm not. I write programs like that on my own, and distribute them free of charge; it hardly makes sense to pay those kind of fees on that basis. Yet I HAVE the program running well under win2, and have yet to see anything comparable for win3. The profiler in the sdk is essentially useless, since you have to program hooks in, and you have to go in and out of windows to use it. So my point is that openness is relative. As far as my experience goes, Open Tools is at best reserved for those well funded folk in commercial development environments, not for shareware or freeware authors. Care to disagree? -- Barry Press Internet: press@venice.sedd.trw.com
keithp@nwnexus.WA.COM (Keith Pleas) (05/09/91)
In article <72160@microsoft.UUCP> kensy@microsoft.UUCP (Ken SYKES) writes: >> >>The bad news is that mortals can't get it. Or the docs for using >>windebug.dll. Or a lot of other stuff. >> >What are you talking about? Read in the trade rags about Microsoft's Open >Tools strategy. Read about the recent Open Tools summit. Microsoft is >commited to provide the information and support needed to let third-party >vendors make great Windows development tools. What are YOU talking about? I've got about 100 messages in a thread I'm following on CompuServe about "Undocumented Windows" and another 20 or so in one about "SDK Errata". The WINDOWS.H file is copyrighted, so people writing the development tools can't include this info. The WINDEBUG.DLL is worse than worthless; it totally hoses the display at anything other than plain VGA. FWIW, the WINDEBUG.DLL is more than a year old, and to my knowledge has never been fixed; heck, MS doesn't even acknowledge that it's a problem! The only OLE application I've seen is a partially upgraded CARDFILE application, but it's supposed to be very buggy. Important technical information that should be (IMHO) in the SDK is instead bundled into the DDK. The "Windows Developer's Notes" are another $25. The SDK and DDK are not supported on CompuServe. Need I go on?
drift@qut.edu.au (Glenn Wallace) (05/11/91)
In article <504@nwnexus.WA.COM>, keithp@nwnexus.WA.COM (Keith Pleas) writes: >>What are you talking about? Read in the trade rags about Microsoft's Open >>Tools strategy. Read about the recent Open Tools summit. Microsoft is >>commited to provide the information and support needed to let third-party >>vendors make great Windows development tools. > > What are YOU talking about? I've got about 100 messages in a thread I'm > following on CompuServe about "Undocumented Windows" and another 20 or so > in one about "SDK Errata". The WINDOWS.H file is copyrighted, so people > writing the development tools can't include this info. The WINDEBUG.DLL As part of MS's Open Tools strategy (which was preached to me today) they will license WINDOWS.H (as they did to Borland) .... it just costs lotsa $MONEY$. > is worse than worthless; it totally hoses the display at anything other > than plain VGA. FWIW, the WINDEBUG.DLL is more than a year old, and to > my knowledge has never been fixed; heck, MS doesn't even acknowledge that I think they'd _like_ to fix it, but have more important things on their plate. Doesn't help the Tool developer, eh? > it's a problem! The only OLE application I've seen is a partially > upgraded CARDFILE application, but it's supposed to be very buggy. Important There are a whole slew of OLE versions of the accessories avail on OnLine. Got em but ain't tried em. Too busy coding. > technical information that should be (IMHO) in the SDK is instead bundled > into the DDK. The "Windows Developer's Notes" are another $25. The SDK Too true (DDK info). SDK Notes: they didn't have that stuff ready in time for the 3.0 SDK release. MS also seem very reticent to update the SDK with ANYTHING, prefering to wait for 3.1 SDK. Grr. +-------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | Glenn Wallace | Net: drift@qut.edu.au | | Drift Project | Fone: +61 7 837-7126 Fax: +61 7 221-0173| | Telecom Australia | Snail: 11th Flr 144 Edward St., | +-------------------+ Brisbane, Q4000 Australia | | | | Disclaimer - The opinions expressed must be my own, because | | Telecom is a statuatory authority and as such, | | is not capable of having opinions. | +-------------------------------------------------------------+
kensy@microsoft.UUCP (Ken SYKES) (05/12/91)
In article <1081@venice.SEDD.TRW.COM> press@venice.sedd.trw.com (Barry Press) writes: > >So my point is that openness is relative. As far as my experience goes, >Open Tools is at best reserved for those well funded folk in commercial >development environments, not for shareware or freeware authors. > >Care to disagree? > >-- >Barry Press Internet: press@venice.sedd.trw.com Obviously you are frustrated by the way Microsoft has handled the dissemenation of this information and rightly so. There are alot of other people, big and small, that are upset as well which is why the Open Tools philosophy was introduced. Now you (nor anyone else) can't make judgements of Microsoft's Open Tools strategy because it is in its very early infancy. It was just in the last month or two that we had an Open Tools Summit with alot of the big manufacturers of development tools. This was done to introduce what we have come up with so far and to get input on what needs to be done to make our offerings better. Believe me, supporting our ISVs and Windows programming population is a high priority for us - the health of Windows is depending on this. Sit tight and give us a chance to deliver on what we've announced - it's not something that will happen overnight. Now, if you're still upset that's fine. But I'm not going to argue this point any further. If you have useful suggestions about what you need to write good windows tools please post them. Ken Sykes Disclaimer: The above opinions are solely my own.