fm20.dll

[Lars Roland]

Hi:

I have a COM addin that uses functionality from the fm20.dll - this dll is
not redistributable and my problem is that if do not put this dll within
my installer then the addin will not function (even though there is a
fm20.dll installed on the target machine). Is there some guidelines I can
follow in order to escape this problem ?? (am I compiling my addin in a
wrong way, since the resulting addin does not use the fm20.dll that
already is on the system ??).

Can someone also explain to me how the people that distributes outlook
addins as one single dll, do this - I mean how do these people get around
the problem with distributing the other dll's that the addin is using (vb6
dll's and other) - do they write the addin using c++ and compiles it
staticaly or what do they do ??.



Regards.

 

[Tom Winter]

Hi:

I have a COM addin that uses functionality from the fm20.dll - this dll is
not redistributable and my problem is that if do not put this dll within
my installer then the addin will not function (even though there is a
fm20.dll installed on the target machine). Is there some guidelines I can
follow in order to escape this problem ?? (am I compiling my addin in a
wrong way, since the resulting addin does not use the fm20.dll that
already is on the system ??).

Can someone also explain to me how the people that distributes outlook
addins as one single dll, do this - I mean how do these people get around
the problem with distributing the other dll's that the addin is using (vb6
dll's and other) - do they write the addin using c++ and compiles it
staticaly or what do they do ??.



Regards.

What do you mean by "not function"? That could be a lot of things. How do
you know your addin "does not use" the fm20.ll on the system? Are you
getting error messages of some sort?

My guess is you are deploying your add-in on a computer with a version of
Office that is OLDER than the one you developed it on.

INFO: Writing Automation Clients for Multiple Office Versions
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;244167

If people are deploying a COM Add-in solution that is just one DLL, most
likely it is written in C++ or another language that doesn't require outside
dependencies (perhaps Delphi can do this, I'm not sure.) If it was written
in VB6 then they are SUPPOSSED to distribute the VB6 runtimes, but a lot of
people don't since many/most computers all ready have them.

 

[Ken Slovak - [MVP - Outlook]]

I never distribute the VB runtime since every computer that is running
Windows 98 or later already has it installed.

 

[Tom Winter]

The Microsoft DLL Help Database
(http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=/servicedesks/fileversion/dl
linfo.asp) does NOT show MSVBVM60.DLL coming with Windows 98 (or 95 as you
said). It does show it coming with Windows ME, 2000, XP, 2003, as well as NT
4.0 SP4 and later.

 

[Ken Slovak - [MVP - Outlook]]

I said Windows 98, not 95. And I was misled in my recollection because
Outlook is involved and Outlook 2000 includes the VB 6 runtime.

If you look at the applications that install MSVBVM60.DLL they include
Outlook 2000 for MSVBVM60 version 6.0.82.68.

Since Outlook COM addins only are supported in Outlook 2000 or later, and
Outlook 2000 comes with MSVBVM60, you don't really have to package that DLL
in any COM addins.

 

[Lars Roland]

What do you mean by "not function"? That could be a lot of things. How do
you know your addin "does not use" the fm20.ll on the system? Are you
getting error messages of some sort?

Well not directly - some of the normal working functionality just stops
working - eg. If i click on a button then nothing happens. This is not the
case if i ships my addin with the fm20.dll i compiled it with (but then
other parts of the office installation, will stop functioning - eg. the
visual basic editor in word will not display forms) - and I am also not
allowed to ship fm20.dll

My guess is you are deploying your add-in on a computer with a version of
Office that is OLDER than the one you developed it on.

No I am compiling on a windows XP with office 2000 installed on - and the
office version that fails is version 2002 (xp).

I am wondering about fm20.dll because it is placed in c:\windows\system32, so
is this a part of Windows - MSDN says it ships with office so I am gussing
that i only have to compile the addin on the oldest version of office I
want to support, not the oldest version of windows I need to support - or
am I wrong here.




Thanks for the answar

 

[Eric Legault [MVP - Outlook]]

Full information on fm20.dll and redistribution is available here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=224305

It looks like there is an option for distributing the control by having the
user install the Microsoft ActiveX Control Pad.