How to obtain Excel (or Office) FULL Version?

[Bathan]

Hi!

Im having some trouble trying to get Excel full version. Im working
with Excel 2003 and I need to know if its professional or "Basic" and
if it has any Service Packs.

My code is written in C#, I can get the "global" version (11.0) but not
the real/full one (11.8033.8028 for example).

Is there any way to find out the Excel/Office version using Automation
? Any code in any language will be appreciated.

Thanks!!

 

[Jake Marx]

Hi Bathan,

Im having some trouble trying to get Excel full version. Im working
with Excel 2003 and I need to know if its professional or "Basic" and
if it has any Service Packs.

My code is written in C#, I can get the "global" version (11.0) but
not the real/full one (11.8033.8028 for example).

Is there any way to find out the Excel/Office version using Automation
? Any code in any language will be appreciated.

You can get the major version # and the build # by using the Version and
Build properties of the Application object:

Debug.Print Application.Version
Debug.Print Application.Build

This will help you determine what version and SP level the user is on:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/821549

I'm not sure how you would go about determining the "type" of Excel install
(ie, basic, pro, dev). Maybe the registry would have what you need?

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Common\ProductVersion\ProInfo

Or you could enumerate the subkeys of:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Registration

And look for one with "ProductNameNonQualified" = "Microsoft Office 2003".
Then look for a value in that key named "ProductName", which for me is
"Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003".

--
Regards,

Jake Marx
www.longhead.com


[please keep replies in the newsgroup - email address unmonitored]

 

[Mark Lincoln]

"Professional" or "Basic" (or "Small Business Edition," for that
matter) refer to Office editions and not Excel editions. Excel in all
Office 2003 installations are fundamentally the same, the differences
being whether any Service Packs or Add-ins are installed. We use all
three Office editions, and Excel is exactly the same version in every
installation.

 

[NickHK]

Bathan,
What difference would this information make for you ?

NickHK

 

[Bathan]

The thing is that we use XML Maps on excel to generate some reports.

Excel Basic (sp1 and/or 2) doesnt seem to have this option.

I get an error message when i try to do this:

ListObject oList = oSheet.ListObjects[ 1 ];

oList.XmlMap.ImportXml( xml, true );

The error message is (!exactly byt close) : "This feature is only
available on Office 2003 Professional".

Additionally, if I open my Excel template with Excel Basic(we have
templates with lists mapped to XML DataSources) i cannot find the XML
SubMenu on "Data" menu , it simply does not exist.

So basically, it seems that to work with XML I need Office 2003 Pro

Thanks a lot for all the tips!!!

 

[NickHK]

Bathan,
There is no "Excel Basic" v. "Excel Pro". That applies to Office.
I imagine most people buy the whole Office suite, but (in the past anyway)
you can buy Excel, Word, etc separately. So I suppose it possible for to
have mix of of Office app installed. What this would mean for the version of
Office, I have no idea.
As for the SP installed for a particular version/app, see:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/255275
Whilst this applies to Office 2000, I imagine a similar mix applies to later
versions.

You could start a WB that only uses features supported on all versions and
check the version of Excel installed and/or the version of MSOx.dll.
If 2003, open the WB that uses these XML features. If not, inform the user
their system is not compatible and exit.

NickHK

The thing is that we use XML Maps on excel to generate some reports.

Excel Basic (sp1 and/or 2) doesnt seem to have this option.

I get an error message when i try to do this:

ListObject oList = oSheet.ListObjects[ 1 ];

oList.XmlMap.ImportXml( xml, true );

The error message is (!exactly byt close) : "This feature is only
available on Office 2003 Professional".

Additionally, if I open my Excel template with Excel Basic(we have
templates with lists mapped to XML DataSources) i cannot find the XML
SubMenu on "Data" menu , it simply does not exist.

So basically, it seems that to work with XML I need Office 2003 Pro

Thanks a lot for all the tips!!!

Bathan,
What difference would this information make for you ?

NickHK

 

[Mark Lincoln]

I got this from Microsoft's Office 2003 information doc (emphasis
mine):

"Although XML is implemented in *ALL* the Microsoft® Office 2003
Editions, this chapter focuses on XML implementation in Office
Professional 2003."

I can find no mention anywhere of differences between versions of Excel
in the various editions of Office 2003. Could it be an add-in issue?

The thing is that we use XML Maps on excel to generate some reports.

Excel Basic (sp1 and/or 2) doesnt seem to have this option.

I get an error message when i try to do this:

ListObject oList = oSheet.ListObjects[ 1 ];

oList.XmlMap.ImportXml( xml, true );

The error message is (!exactly byt close) : "This feature is only
available on Office 2003 Professional".

Additionally, if I open my Excel template with Excel Basic(we have
templates with lists mapped to XML DataSources) i cannot find the XML
SubMenu on "Data" menu , it simply does not exist.

So basically, it seems that to work with XML I need Office 2003 Pro

Thanks a lot for all the tips!!!

Bathan,
What difference would this information make for you ?

NickHK

 

[Mark Lincoln]

I took a closer look at our installations and it seems that there are
indeed differences in XML capability in Excel in the various versions
of Office 2003. To wit: It's available in Office 2003 Professional
and not in the Basic or Small Business editions.

From Excel Help: "XML features, except for saving files in the XML

Spreadsheet format, are available only in Microsoft Office Professional
Edition 2003 and Microsoft Office Excel 2003."

Based on what I see now, I'd guess that means you can get XML features
only in Office 2003 Pro or in the *standalone* version of Excel.

I hope I don't have to start using XML features soon....

Sorry to mislead you in my earlier post.

The thing is that we use XML Maps on excel to generate some reports.

Excel Basic (sp1 and/or 2) doesnt seem to have this option.

I get an error message when i try to do this:

ListObject oList = oSheet.ListObjects[ 1 ];

oList.XmlMap.ImportXml( xml, true );

The error message is (!exactly byt close) : "This feature is only
available on Office 2003 Professional".

Additionally, if I open my Excel template with Excel Basic(we have
templates with lists mapped to XML DataSources) i cannot find the XML
SubMenu on "Data" menu , it simply does not exist.

So basically, it seems that to work with XML I need Office 2003 Pro

Thanks a lot for all the tips!!!

Bathan,
What difference would this information make for you ?

NickHK