Implementing my .NET control in MS Project 2003

Question

I need to extend the functionality of MS Project for my company, so I would like to embed some elements of the .NET GUI in Project. The plan is that my controls retain user input in my user database tables, but I have to bind them to tasks, current user, resources, etc. Could you give me advice on how to get started? I'm interested in:

• Examples of applications / passes on how to embed a control in an MS project.
• How to associate user input of my control to the current context (for example, the currently selected task)
• Since the control works on the client side, how can I deploy it throughout the enterprise.

Answer 1

Add-In Express is a great library for writing .Net plugins for MS Office, including Project.

I can’t say that I used it myself Project (only Visio really), but I know that there is support for it, so maybe it's worth a look!

This greatly simplifies writing plugins / add-ons, so it would be easier to see if it can do what you need.

Answer 2

AFAIK you cannot embed a control in Project, all you can do is make a plugin.

Answer 3

I think you want to use Project Server. You can define corporate codes that move along with your resources, tasks, etc. You can also report them, sort, filter and all these useful materials along with the usual project information (Dates, Resources, Expenses ...).

If you do not have the infrastructure / funding to do all this, an alternative approach would be to standardize all the project plans used by your firm and set up a template on which the plans are based. (Tools | Customize allows you to add custom fields and change the default forms.) You can change the tables used for reporting in (View | More Tables). You can make a lot of adjustments this way and still have all of your information in the Project Plan instead of distributing through the mpp file and database.

Answer 4

AFAIK, this version of Office only supports COM plugins, so you have to use COM Callable Wrapper. Of course it is possible.