Developer Extensions for Access 2003...

[JaedenRuiner]

Alright,

This is one massive run-around. I have Office 2003 Complete. SO I have
Access 2003. I have Visual Studio 2008 Professional. I downloaded the VSTO
for 2005 which is supposedly the package for these Access Developer
Extensions. When I went to install it, it only gave me the option to repair
or uninstall. I looked through and found the folder where it updated during
the repair process, (under Program Files\Common Files) but the only
executable is install.exe! Where is the darn thing? I'm trying to set up my
system so I can finalize the development of an Acces mdb application, that
I'm being PAID to develop, but the tool everyone claims i should just
use...don't effing exist.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa662934(v=office.11).aspx

That link points to an article that describes in detail how to do what I
want to do. The only problem is that I don't have any of the tools to do
what it claims. There is no "Access Developer Extension" link ANYWHERE in my
start menu. The VSTO repair didn't install anything in the start menu. And
Office 2003 didn't install anything in the start menu, nor did VS 2008 Pro.
So where is the Package Wizard Application? Where are all these tools that
my computer seems to claim is installed but there is no where to find them or
run them or use them and I can't install them because all the install
applications claim they are already installed.

I have searched for these questions, and it seems that I am not alone in
this frustration. And i don't mean 1 or 2 people, but COUNTLESS people have
had the same issue, but there is no direct quick simple, easy to find
explanation of where these tools are. It is a Run-around of EPIC
proportions. So, I am not only going to post this here, but also on the msdn
forums, and several other locations, since apparently every place I can Post
this question is going to point me someplace else to ask ANYWAY.

Thank You
Jaeden "Sifo Dyas" al'Raec Ruiner

 

[Albert D. Kallal]

Alright,

This is one massive run-around. I have Office 2003 Complete. SO I have
Access 2003. I have Visual Studio 2008 Professional. I downloaded the
VSTO
for 2005 which is supposedly the package for these Access Developer
Extensions.

It not available for download in VSTO 2005. By download, I assume you mean
MSDN?

The problem here is that the developer extensions for access 2003 are NOT
part
of the MSDN version of VSTO. If you paying for the commercial version of
VSTO,
then the 2003 extensions are available.

So:
You do not need to have or even install visual studio
You do not need to have or even install visual studio .net
And, if on MSDN, installing VSTO will also not help.

So, you need none of the above, and any of the above will NOT help you.

You need to install the 2003 developer extensions for Access, and if you
talking about a MSDN subscription then it is a separate disk.

There is a link here:
Obtain and deploy the Access 2003 runtime
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/access/HA011208861033.aspx

The above notes that Access developer tools comes with VSTO, but to my
knowledge, this only applies to commercial purchased versions, not
downloaded MSDN. However, if you have MSDN and are downloading this
stuff, then you find a separate disk called access 2003 developer
extensions.

You can install the developer tools from that disk, and as mentioned, none
of the VSTO or any software from visual studio is needed. In fact installing
any of those developer suites will NOT HELP you get Access developer
extensions when considering the above issues.

Note that the a2003 developer extensions are not available for sale anymore
to my knowledge. However, the developer extensions and runtime system for
2007 is a simple free and easy download - solves this whole mess once and
for all. So, I guess not only did the folks in Redmond listen to our
complaints, but what used to cost developers a good $500-$800 to get is now
100% free.


Introduction to the Access 2007 Developer Extensions and Runtime
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/access/HA102188681033.aspx

In the above article on the right side, you find the links for both the free
2007 runtime and free 2007 developer tools.

For 2003 developer extensions, if you don't have a paid commercial version
of VSTO, or the Access 2003 developer extensions disk, then you can still
get this if you have a full MSDN subscription. (it still a separate
disk/download).

Considering that a upgrade from access 2003 to 2007 is $109, and 2007
developer extensions are free, that also a road to consider here.

Last but not least, a number of people in this newsgroup also have
downloaded the 2007 runtime, and tell me it runs their 2003 applications
quite nice. You likely not be able to use the packaging wizard that comes
with the 2007 developer tools, but one can use one of the many free
installers to make up for this shortcoming.