Grouping related ribbon tabs

[Josh Sale]

First let me plead guilty to minor cross-posting ... I've posted this
message to both ms.public.excel.programming and
ms.public.office.developer.com.add_ins because I wasn't sure where it best
fit. So I apologize in advance if I've offended anybody.

With that out of the way, let me explain what I'm trying to do with my Excel
2007 add-in.

I want my add-in to have two ribbon tabs. Each tab represents a
substantially different group of functionality. (A larger differentiation
than can be nicely handled using ribbon groups.) However both tabs are
related to the one application.

I've seen how some applications use contextual tabs to create the kind of
grouping I want in the ribbon. For example, when you select a pivot table
in Excel the ribbon displays a (I hope this is the right term) contextual
tab group of "PivotTable Tools" with "Options" and "Design" tabs below it.

I want that kind of grouping for my application's two tabs but I want it to
always be visible, no matter what is currently selected in the worksheet.

Is this possible? Any suggestions will be very appreciated.

TIA,

josh

 

[Jim Rech]

I want that kind of grouping for my application's two tabs

I don't believe users can create their own contextual tabs, or anything that
looks like them. I think you just have to add your two ordinary tabs. And,
although that "PivotTable Tools" supergroup (my term) is eye-catching, I
don't see that it adds a lot of functionality anyway.

--
Jim
| First let me plead guilty to minor cross-posting ... I've posted this
| message to both ms.public.excel.programming and
| ms.public.office.developer.com.add_ins because I wasn't sure where it best
| fit. So I apologize in advance if I've offended anybody.
|
| With that out of the way, let me explain what I'm trying to do with my
Excel
| 2007 add-in.
|
| I want my add-in to have two ribbon tabs. Each tab represents a
| substantially different group of functionality. (A larger differentiation
| than can be nicely handled using ribbon groups.) However both tabs are
| related to the one application.
|
| I've seen how some applications use contextual tabs to create the kind of
| grouping I want in the ribbon. For example, when you select a pivot table
| in Excel the ribbon displays a (I hope this is the right term) contextual
| tab group of "PivotTable Tools" with "Options" and "Design" tabs below it.
|
| I want that kind of grouping for my application's two tabs but I want it
to
| always be visible, no matter what is currently selected in the worksheet.
|
| Is this possible? Any suggestions will be very appreciated.
|
| TIA,
|
| josh
|
|

 

[Josh Sale]

I agree its eye-catching, but beyond that it does allow you to abbreviate
the tab names. For example from "PivotTable Options" to just "Options" and
"PivotTable Design" to just "Design". In my case, I would use my
application's name to identify the "supergroup" and the tab names to
identify the major functional areas.

How sure are you that it can't be done by mere mortal add-ins? Do you think
its worth burning an incident with MS on it?

Thanks.

josh

 

[Jim Rech]

Do you think its worth burning an incident with MS on it?

Personally I wouldn't. That's because I've spend a lot of time developing
ribbons and I'm pretty familiar with the XSD and what is possible. I've
also looked at all the examples and postings by MS during the beta test and
afterward and I've seen nothing that supports developer supergroups. But
absence of evident is not 100% evidence of absence I suppose.


--
Jim
|I agree its eye-catching, but beyond that it does allow you to abbreviate
| the tab names. For example from "PivotTable Options" to just "Options"
and
| "PivotTable Design" to just "Design". In my case, I would use my
| application's name to identify the "supergroup" and the tab names to
| identify the major functional areas.
|
| How sure are you that it can't be done by mere mortal add-ins? Do you
think
| its worth burning an incident with MS on it?
|
| Thanks.
|
| josh
|
|
|
| | >>>I want that kind of grouping for my application's two tabs
| >
| > I don't believe users can create their own contextual tabs, or anything
| > that
| > looks like them. I think you just have to add your two ordinary tabs.
| > And,
| > although that "PivotTable Tools" supergroup (my term) is eye-catching, I
| > don't see that it adds a lot of functionality anyway.
| >
| > --
| > Jim
| > | > | First let me plead guilty to minor cross-posting ... I've posted this
| > | message to both ms.public.excel.programming and
| > | ms.public.office.developer.com.add_ins because I wasn't sure where it
| > best
| > | fit. So I apologize in advance if I've offended anybody.
| > |
| > | With that out of the way, let me explain what I'm trying to do with my
| > Excel
| > | 2007 add-in.
| > |
| > | I want my add-in to have two ribbon tabs. Each tab represents a
| > | substantially different group of functionality. (A larger
| > differentiation
| > | than can be nicely handled using ribbon groups.) However both tabs
are
| > | related to the one application.
| > |
| > | I've seen how some applications use contextual tabs to create the kind
| > of
| > | grouping I want in the ribbon. For example, when you select a pivot
| > table
| > | in Excel the ribbon displays a (I hope this is the right term)
| > contextual
| > | tab group of "PivotTable Tools" with "Options" and "Design" tabs below
| > it.
| > |
| > | I want that kind of grouping for my application's two tabs but I want
it
| > to
| > | always be visible, no matter what is currently selected in the
| > worksheet.
| > |
| > | Is this possible? Any suggestions will be very appreciated.
| > |
| > | TIA,
| > |
| > | josh
| > |
| > |
| >
| >
|
|

 

[Josh Sale]

You should have been a lawyer!

Thanks.

Personally I wouldn't. That's because I've spend a lot of time developing
ribbons and I'm pretty familiar with the XSD and what is possible. I've
also looked at all the examples and postings by MS during the beta test
and
afterward and I've seen nothing that supports developer supergroups. But
absence of evident is not 100% evidence of absence I suppose.


--
Jim
|I agree its eye-catching, but beyond that it does allow you to abbreviate
| the tab names. For example from "PivotTable Options" to just "Options"
and
| "PivotTable Design" to just "Design". In my case, I would use my
| application's name to identify the "supergroup" and the tab names to
| identify the major functional areas.
|
| How sure are you that it can't be done by mere mortal add-ins? Do you
think
| its worth burning an incident with MS on it?
|
| Thanks.
|
| josh
|
|
|
| | >>>I want that kind of grouping for my application's two tabs
| >
| > I don't believe users can create their own contextual tabs, or
anything
| > that
| > looks like them. I think you just have to add your two ordinary tabs.
| > And,
| > although that "PivotTable Tools" supergroup (my term) is eye-catching,
I
| > don't see that it adds a lot of functionality anyway.
| >
| > --
| > Jim
| > | > | First let me plead guilty to minor cross-posting ... I've posted
this
| > | message to both ms.public.excel.programming and
| > | ms.public.office.developer.com.add_ins because I wasn't sure where
it
| > best
| > | fit. So I apologize in advance if I've offended anybody.
| > |
| > | With that out of the way, let me explain what I'm trying to do with
my
| > Excel
| > | 2007 add-in.
| > |
| > | I want my add-in to have two ribbon tabs. Each tab represents a
| > | substantially different group of functionality. (A larger
| > differentiation
| > | than can be nicely handled using ribbon groups.) However both tabs
are
| > | related to the one application.
| > |
| > | I've seen how some applications use contextual tabs to create the
kind
| > of
| > | grouping I want in the ribbon. For example, when you select a pivot
| > table
| > | in Excel the ribbon displays a (I hope this is the right term)
| > contextual
| > | tab group of "PivotTable Tools" with "Options" and "Design" tabs
below
| > it.
| > |
| > | I want that kind of grouping for my application's two tabs but I
want
it
| > to
| > | always be visible, no matter what is currently selected in the
| > worksheet.
| > |
| > | Is this possible? Any suggestions will be very appreciated.
| > |
| > | TIA,
| > |
| > | josh
| > |
| > |
| >
| >
|
|