On the Windows platform, the Microsoft Office suite can be extended using a series of technologies such as ActiveX/COM, application specific components such as the XLL – even accessing DLL functions directly following registration of these using the Excel REGISTER function, are all viable approaches. In this article, I will demonstrate how it is possible to develop dynamic libraries ( dylib files) in C to provide custom functionality for Office 2011 through VBA from simple input and output operations using basic types such as booleans, numbers, strings, arrays and VBA User Defined Types, to the implementation of simple RegEx and HTTP POST and GET functionality. Add to that, a total absence of anything resembling an SDK, and developer reference documentation that can at best be described as rudimentary – and the prospect of developing custom Office 2011 solutions quickly appear daunting. With the release of Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac, VBA made a welcome return to the Apple platform.Īlas, though the VBA implementation in Microsoft Office 2011 closely mirrors the implementation found on the Windows platform, none of the many features that are provided through COM and ActiveX on the Windows platform made the journey across.
