easyEws v1.0.16 Published

I have made a few minor updates to easyEws. First, was a fix for distribution lists with an “&” in the name. The second is a few minor JSDoc updates for better linting. And finally, I changed a couple forEach loops to traditional for loops for performance reasons.

I have published the update to NPM and to my GitHub.

Please let me know if you have any issues or questions.

Same Add-in Running Everywhere

If you have followed my blog or the Microsoft Office Developer Blogs enough, you have heard over an over again how Office Web Add-Ins are truly cross-platform.

In working on a proof-of-concept I created a simplified Word Redactions add-in that is truly cross-platform. I have shared the entire project on my GitHub repository, so you can see how it works.

Here are the screenshots to prove it runs on every platform supported:

  • Windows
  • Mac
  • Web Browser
  • iPad

Migrating a VS2019 Office Web Add-in to VS Code

I find myself frequently converting Office Web Add-in projects I originally created in VS2019/2017/2015 over to VS Code. This is because VS Code has become my preferred development platform for everything Web based.

There is a trick to this and a few things you need to know:

  1. Your project in VS2019 (et. al.) has a completely different structure, so once you move things around, you need to change some references.
  2. If you use the Yeoman generator to create the shell of your new project, you need to know a little about webpack.

So, in the following sections we will cover what you need to do:

  • Copy over all the files
  • Update the references
  • Add web pack commands

Copy Files

  1. Run “yo office” and create a default taskpane add-in, with JavaScript and for Outlook. This will create your baseline project. You will open this project and delete these files:
    1. .\src\taskpanes\taskpane.html
    2. .\src\taskpanes\taskpane.js
    3. .\src\commands\commands.html
    4. .\src\commands\commands.js
    5. .\assets\*.* (delete everything in there)
  2. In your VS2019 project and then open your Manifest (highlighted in the image below). Select All and Copy everything from the manifest.
  1. Open your shell project in Visual Studio Code, open the manifest.xml and paste. Later we will update the references.
  2. Next, copy the VS2019 FunctionFile.html and FunctionFile.js files to the .\src\commands folder in VS Code, then rename both: commands.html, commands.js
  3. Next, copy your VS2019 taskpane.html and taskpane.js to the taskpanes folder in VS Code.
  4. If you are like me and also have dialogs, you can create a .\src\dialogs folder in VS Code and then copy the dialog.html and dialog.js from VS2019 to VS Code.
  5. Be sure to copy over any other supporting scripts you have. I created a folder called .\src\common in VS Code and copied those JS files from VS2019.
  6. Next, anything you have in the Content folder in VS2019 you need to copy to VS Code .\assets folder.

That is it for the copy part. Now for the manifest part.

Update the Manifest

At this point you need to update the manifest.

  1. Open the manifest.xml in VS Code and Press CTRL+H to open the Find/Replace dialog. Type in ~remoteAppUrl and replace it with https://localhost:3000. Then replace all instances.
  2. Next and this part is a bit more tricky, but you need to look at every single html pointer URL and verify that it points to the ROOT. Meaning if it was [~remoteAppUrl/Functions/FunctionFile.html] and then you did the Find/Replace, it became [https://localhost:3000/Functions/FunctionFile.html]. You need to update this to be just: https://localhost:3000/FunctionFile.html. This is because when you compile your project with Web Pack, it places everything in the root.
  3. Again, this is tricky, but every one of your base URL’s for images will need to be updated to point to the correct image in the ./assets folder.
  4. Once you have completed, you can press CTRL+~ to open the command console and type: npm run validate. This will tell you if there is anything wrong with your manifest.

Update the HTML files

Next you need to open up each of your HTML files: dialogs.html, commands.html (was called FunctionFile.html), and taskpane.html. etc. In each of these you will find a script that points to a respective JavaScript file and possibly other source files you copied over to the .\src\common folder. Remove all those script tags. Leave only the tags that point to online CDN’s. We will get to this in one of the following sections, but essentially Web Pack will put all the references in for you automatically at compile time.

Also, any images that you are referencing in your HTML with the <img> tag will need to be updated to point to the proper file in the ./assets folder.

Update the Commands.js (formally FunctionFile.js)

Now we need to get everything ready for Web Pack and that is where we start getting into some code. I will cover Web Pack in another post soon, but what it uses is a global namespace for the functions you call. So you MUST add this code to the bottom of the JS file:

/*************************************************/
/* REQUIRED BY WEB PACK – DO NOT DELETE */
/*************************************************/
function getGlobal() {
return typeof self !== "undefined"
? self
: typeof window !== "undefined"
? window
: typeof global !== "undefined"
? global
: undefined;
}
const g = getGlobal();
g.onSendEvent = onSendEvent;
g.onRibbonButtonClick = onRibbonButtonClick
/*************************************************/
/* REQUIRED BY WEB PACK – DO NOT DELETE */
/*************************************************/
Web Pack Required code

In your manifest you have specified the functions that will be called when the user clicks on a Ribbon button or Events that will fire such as OnSend in Outlook. Find those function and made sure they are added to the global namespace as shown.

Also, at the top of EVERY single JS file in your project you will need to add the following line:

/* global global, self, window, Office, console, myClass*/

When you start to edit these files in VS Code, there will be a whole lot of “red squigglies” for undefined items in the global space. For each of those that the syntax highlighter defines as such, you will add it to the global tag at the top of the file. Like this:

Undefined object

Update the Common JS Files

For the .\src\common files any function you want to be available in the global namespace, meaning you call it from one JS file to the next, you will want to add the same section above and make sure the function is specified.

NOTE: You will also want to do this for any global constants or vars that you want visible as well.

Update the Web Pack Config

Finally, we have to update the webpack.config.js. This is probably the most tricky part. What you need to do is locate the values for {entry} and make sure that every JS file in your project is represented:

entry: {
polyfill: "@babel/polyfill",
dialog: "./src/dialogs/dialog.js",
commands: "./src/commands/commands.js",
shared: "./src/common/shared.js",
common: "./src/common/common.js",
taskpane: "./src/taskpane/taspane.js"
},
view raw entry.js hosted with ❤ by GitHub
Web Pack {entry}

NOTE: This is critical to get correct and to include all JS file because if you do not do this, it will not work.

Now that you have all the entries in place you need to update the {plugins} section. You might need to create an extra module or two as well. By default you have one for taskpane and commands, but my example will show dialogs as well:

plugins: [
new CleanWebpackPlugin(),
new HtmlWebpackPlugin({
filename: "taskpane.html",
template: "./src/dialogs/taskpane.html",
chunks: ["polyfill", "common", "shared", "taskpane"]
}),
new HtmlWebpackPlugin({
filename: "dialog.html",
template: "./src/dialogs/dialog.html",
chunks: ["polyfill", "common", "dialog"]
}),
new HtmlWebpackPlugin({
filename: "commands.html",
template: "./src/commands/commands.html",
chunks: ["polyfill", "shared", "commands"]
})
],
view raw plugins.js hosted with ❤ by GitHub
Web Pack {plugins}

Note how in each plug-in (the HTML file), there are “chunks.” These chunks are the references to each script tag that will be added at compile time. It is VERY important to make sure that you reference each file as expected.

Ready to Test

At this point you should be ready to test. If you manifest validated, you can now just press CTRL+~ to open the command console and type npm start.

If your solution successfully sideloads in Office, you should verify that your commands, events and taskpanes all function. If they do not here are some common issues:

  1. You did not properly reference your JS file in the webpack.config.js. Either defined as an {entry}, or as a chunk on a {plugin}.
  2. You did not add the required code at the bottom of the JS file for your functions to be defined in the global namespace, or you forgot to add one or more.
  3. Your manifest is not pointing to the right file. Remember, once Web Pack compiles your code, everything is in the root, except for the assets.

That is a lot, I am sure I missed a few things even though this post took me a while to write. If you have any issues with porting over your project and find there are some missing steps or something I can clarify more, please let me know.

Getting Started with OfficeJS

If you are just getting started with OfficeJS, then this post is for you. I will assume you have some understanding of what Office Web Add-ins are. However, there is one very basic point I will demonstrate in this tutorial:

  • An Office Web Add-In is simply a web site and an XML “description” file. I detailed this in this blog post. And we are going to build on that.

So, you are brand new to OfficeJS, and want to get started. The first thing you need to do is get your development environment up and running. There is a script for that:

Microsoft Office Development Environment Script

NOTE: For more information on this script, please read my blog post.

Next, you will need to pull down the Web Add-in Side Loader tool. Keep this ZIP on your desktop. This will be used later in the steps below to make it really easy for you to install the Add-in to Excel. However, if you prefer to do the steps manually, see the link below. For more information on this tool, please see my blog post and/or the GitHub repository.

Now that you have the development environment setup, lets build your very first, super basic Excel add-in:

  • Create a folder on your desktop called “MyFirstAddIn”
  • Open Notepad and copy/paste the code from HERE, then click File, Save, name it “manifest.xml”, change the type to “All Files *.*”, browse to folder on your desktop, and click Save.

NOTE: In this step you created the manifest file. This file will be used to “install” the add-in into Excel. Essentially, it will tell Excel where the web page is for the task pane.

  • Close Notepad, then open it again. Copy paste this code HERE, then click File, Save, name it “home.html”, change the type to “All Files *.*”, browse to the folder on your desktop, and click Save.

NOTE: In this step you created the primary file for website. This one file contains both the HTML and JavaScript needed to make the taskpane load in Excel.

  • Now you need to side load the manifest and you do that by first opening the ZIP file on your desktop: Set-WebAddin (v1.0.0.0).zip and extracting the Set-WebAddin.exe to the “MyFirstAddIn” folder.
  • Press Window+R to open the run dialog, and type CMD and press enter.

NOTE: This will open the Windows Command Prompt which you will use to sideload the add-in and run it.

NOTE: The word “sideload” is a fancy way to say install it for only your instance of Excel. It is also known as Developer Sideloading.

  • Change the directory to the folder on your desktop with this command:
cd "%userprofile%\desktop\MyFirstAddIn"
  • Next, type this command:
Set-WebAddin -test -manifestPath "%userprofile%\desktop\myfirstaddin\manifest.xml"

NOTE: In this step you have sideloaded the add-in to Office. This essentially tells Office you have an added an Excel add-in via the information in the manifest file which, when loaded tells Excel everything it needs to know about it, including where to find it. If you prefer to do the sideloading steps manually, you can follow them here.

  • Now you are almost ready. Type this last command (that is a dot/period at the end, very important):
http-server .

NOTE: The above steps start a local the http-server on your computer so that it will serve the webpage in the browser from the folder (.) you are current inside. You can now test this by clicking this link.

  • You are now ready to go. Simply open Excel and a new Blank Workbook. Then on the Insert tab, click the down arrow next to My add-ins and click BasicAddin. It should look like this:
The BasicAddIn in the Developer Add-ins menu
  • Your add-in Task Pane should load.
  • Click in cell A1, type “Hello World!”, and then in your Task Pane, click the “Click here” button and you should see “Hello World!” in the bottom of the page.
  • Once you are done, you can press CTRL+C in the command prompt window to shutdown the server and then to uninstall the add-in you can use this command:
Set-WebAddin -cleanup -manifestPath "%userprofile%\desktop\myfirstaddin\manifest.xml"

And that is it. There are three things to note here:

  • You created your first web add-in.
  • You did not use VSCode or any Integrated Development Environment. You did this only with Notepad.
  • But as an added bonus – you have also installed VSCode and the tools you need to start doing more complex things with Office Web Add-ins.

JavaScript, HTML, Web, CSS, front-end, back-end, web server, ports, local hosts… some, if not all of these are new terms if you are just getting into this new world of the Web and Web add-ins. But it does not have to be that complicated. As I referred to earlier, the following posts should be your next two stops on your journey:

Getting started as an OfficeJS Developer

Start Developing in OfficeJS Today with ScriptLab

If you have any questions, please reach out to me.

easyEws v1.0.15 Released

In this latest release I have incorporated my first community pull. A big thank you to Vijay Samtani for adding the sendMailItem. This new addition allows you to create a message to multiple recipients and with zero to many attachments.

Here is a link to the repository: https://github.com/davecra/easyEWS

You can references it in your code:


<script type="text/javascript" src="node_modules/easyews/easyews.min.js"></script>

And you can allow pull it down from NPM:

npm install easyEws

Microsoft Office Development Environment Setup Script

If you are new to Office Web Add-in Development, then this post is for you. Even if you are not new and you need to setup a new development environment, this post is for you too.

Now, as far as manually setting up a new Office web add-in development environment, there are a few sources for helping you get started. There is the official guide here:

Set up your development environment

And I have also written one here:

How to-Configure VSCode for Office Development

NOTE: Mine is a tad more complicated, but essentially walks you through setting up for full fledged development, including source control with Git. That article was actually more for me when I wrote it.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE…

However, after a co-worker and fellow Office Developer (Marty Andren) and I got to talking about this topic, I had an idea to create a script essentially automating the entire process. That was how the Microsoft Office Development Setup script, or MODES was born. The script is posted in the following repository:

https://github.com/davecra/modes

The MODES script is provided as-is for folks who need to setup an Office development environment. It is a simple run it and done. Once you have completed this script you will have:

NOTE: This also installs http-server, a simple local web server that I hope to use in a forthcoming blog post that expands on a previous post demonstrating how easy it is to build a Web Add-ins from scratch.

NOTE: The script installs everything as local user, so there is no need for administrative permissions.

On the MODES GitHub post, you can follow the README directions to download and run the PowerShell script. If you are unfamiliar with PowerShell, you can just follow the steps and should walk you through what you need to do fairly quickly and easily.

If the above script cannot be run on your system (as a script), you can try to perform the steps manually by Copy/Pasting the following GIST into a PowerShell window and pressing enter:


Add-Type assembly "system.io.compression.filesystem";$vscode_url = "https://aka.ms/win32-x64-user-stable";$vscode_output = $env:USERPROFILE + "\downloads\vscode.exe";$node_url = "https://nodejs.org/dist/latest/win-x64/node.exe";$node_output = $env:USERPROFILE + "\downloads\node.exe";$node_install_path = $env:USERPROFILE + "\node";$npm_url = "https://nodejs.org/dist/npm/npm-1.4.9.zip";$npm_output = $env:USERPROFILE + "\downloads\npm.zip"
Invoke-WebRequest Uri $vscode_url OutFile $vscode_output
Invoke-WebRequest Uri $node_url OutFile $node_output
Invoke-WebRequest Uri $npm_url OutFile $npm_output
Start-Process FilePath $vscode_output ArgumentList ('/VERYSILENT', '/MERGETASKS=!runcode') Wait
md $node_install_path
copy $node_output $node_install_path
[io.compression.zipfile]::ExtractToDirectory($npm_output, $node_install_path)
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("Path", [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path", [EnvironmentVariableTarget]::User) + ";" + $node_install_path, [EnvironmentVariableTarget]::User)
$env:Path += ";" + $node_install_path
cd $node_install_path
Start-Process FilePath npm ArgumentList ('install', '-g', 'npm') WindowStyle Hidden Wait
Start-Process FilePath npm ArgumentList('install', '-g', 'yo', 'generator-office') WindowStyle Hidden Wait
Start-Process FilePath npm ArgumentList('install', '-g', 'http-server') WindowStyle Hidden Wait
$yo_file = $node_install_path + "\yo.ps1"
ren $yo_file "yo.ps1.old"

view raw

modes_gist.ps1

hosted with ❤ by GitHub

This GIST is a “minified” version of the script on GitHib (no comments, no output and some lines are combined). So if you run this GIST, you will need to do give it time to complete as there is no feedback.

 

 

easyEws v1.0.14 released

First off, there is no version 1.0.13. wlEmoticon-winkingsmile.png

For this latest release, I have added one handy new function getParentId(). This function uses the child message “InReplyTo” field to locate the parent message with the same corresponding “InternetMessageId” field. If found, you will get the Id of that parent message. If not found, you will get NULL.

As per usual, to get the latest you can link to the CDN: https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/davecra/easyEws/easyEws.js

Or you can access it from NPM via this command:

npm -install easyews

NOTE: I was informed that I had forgot to update NPM to v1.0.12 per the last release. So I have fixed that and have updated this build on NPM.

easyEws v1.0.12 released

I have updated the easyEws library.

The changes I made in v1.0.11 for ResolveNames were only ES6 compliant and did not work in IE11. Specifically, I defined an ES6 class object versus a more compliant ES3+ function/class. The update was recoded and now functions in IE11.

Additionally, there was a reported issue with recipient aggregation in the getallRecipientsAsync() function. I was using a .forEach() on the recipient array which seemed to be causing problems with larger result sets. So I updated it to use a standard for loop.

Other than that there were no major changes to this version.

Office Scripts: The future is here

Microsoft has been working hard to make Office available on every platform. One of the biggest changes has been the ability to run Office the a browser or Office online. However, one drawback has been that automation in Office online has been limited to Web Add-ins which are aimed solidly at professional developers. However, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) macros are only supported in Windows and Mac clients. They are not supported on the web platform, the iOS or Android platforms. And, well, they still are not.  wlEmoticon-disappointedsmile.png  However, something new has arrived which will allow you to create “macros” anywhere, on any platform (eventually).

Microsoft recently announced Office Scripts. It is an end-user approachable, web and collaborative supported scripting language. It is still in preview and only supported in Excel online, for now.

First, to access this you must have your administrator enable it in the Office 365 Portal:

turn_on_scripts

For citizen programmers this line from the above page says it all:

Scripts allow you to record and replay your Excel actions on different workbooks and worksheets. If you find yourself doing the same things over and over again, an Office Script can help you by reducing your whole workflow to a single button press.

So, I enabled it in my test tenant and created the quintessential “Hello Wold” Action Recording. When your administrator enables this on your tenant, you will get this new Automation tab:

AutomationTab

From there, I clicked on Record Actions, typed “Hello World!” in cell A1, and then stopped the macro. It then asked me to name it and give a description (optional), and then Save. From there it opened the Code Editor and here is what I see:


async function main(context: Excel.RequestContext) {
// Set range A1 on selectedSheet
let workbook = context.workbook;
let worksheets = workbook.worksheets;
let selectedSheet = worksheets.getActiveWorksheet();
selectedSheet.getRange("A1").values = [
["Hello World"]
];
}

view raw

HelloWorld.js

hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Once you open a new workbook, you can then click on the Code Editor button and you will see all your recorded scripts:

recordings

The future is here. Check it out now. You can learn more about Office Scripts from here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office/dev/scripts/tutorials/excel-tutorial.

 

What is Office 365, really?

In my day-to-day dealings with people and organizations, there is a common confusion on the term “Office 365.” And that confusion is fed by a few common myths that I have heard repeated by some very smart people in those organizations. So, first, let me dismiss the myths…

  • The first one is that Office 365 is online, in the browser applications only… NO! Office 365 is NOT just Excel Online, Word Online, PowerPoint Online, Outlook Online, and OneNote Online.
  • And the second myth is that the desktop applications are getting deprecated… NO! Microsoft is NOT doing away with the installed desktop applications on Windows and Mac in favor of web based versions.

So let’s get to the question:

If Microsoft is not replacing Office with web versions, then what the heck is all this Office 365 and cloud stuff then?

Primarily, Office 365 is the name of the subscription. You no longer buy the Office applications on disks and install them, then buy the next version, etc. With the subscription you always get the newest version (and much more). As you will read from the link above, there are lots of FAQ’s and other information that explain how this works.

So Excel Online, ET AL. is PART of the Office 365 subscription based platform. Office 365 still includes the traditional Microsoft Office desktop applications on the PC/Windows or the Mac. And they are not going anywhere. When you hear that your organization is moving to Office 365 it does not mean you will ONLY be accessing Office from a web browser.

Office 365 is really Office anywhere, on any device. For example, Office 365 also includes applications on iPhone, iPad, and Android. And it is not just the traditional applications. There are incredible tools such as Forms, Sway, Teams, and for developers the Graph API. It also shifts workloads like Exchange Server for mail and SharePoint server for document management from local IT servers to servers run by Microsoft in the cloud.

So when you hear Office 365, DO NOT THINK GOOGLE DOCS. wlEmoticon-smile.png The online versions of Office are only there to provide an additional avenues to access Office from anywhere, on any device. Per the Office 365 website:

Works across multiple devices

Get the fully installed Office apps on multiple PCs, Macs, tablets, and mobile devices (including Windows, iOS, and Android).

They are not as fully featured and as such you really need to consider when you might use them over using the traditional Microsoft Office desktop applications. Per this site (my emphasis added):

Office for the web (formerly Office Web Apps) opens Word, Excel, OneNote, and PowerPoint documents in your web browser. Office for the web makes it easier to work and share Office files from anywhere with an internet connection, from almost any device. Microsoft Office 365 customers with Word, Excel, OneNote, or PowerPoint can view, create, and edit files on the go. …

The following tables compare Office for the web feature capabilities to feature-rich Microsoft Office desktop apps.

So, if you like your Excel just the way it is, installed on your scientific workstation with a bazillion gigabytes of RAM, you can still run it there if you move to Office 365. What you get with the traditional Office applications is more frequent, seamless and automatic updates from the web. Per the Office 365 website:

Monthly Updates

Get the latest features and capabilities with fully installed and always up-to-date versions of Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint for Windows or Mac, OneNote (features vary), Teams, and Access and Publisher (PC only).

Hopefully, this has helped clear up and dispel the myths. And when you go back to the smart person that has told you otherwise, and continues to insist and tell you otherwise, please send them here. wlEmoticon-hotsmile.png