Word 2013 has a flatter look than previous versions of Word. The Ribbon is now flat instead of three-dimensional, as are all dialog boxes and screens. Even though Word is a traditional desktop app, Word 2013's style follows the basic guidelines that Microsoft has set for its so-called Windows apps (formerly called Metro or Modern apps) that debuted with Windows 8. The most obvious change in Word 2013 is its overall look.
If you're looking for help getting up to speed on the basics, such as how to work with the Ribbon interface, check out our Word 2010 cheat sheet. Note that this cheat sheet focuses on what's new in Word 2013, rather than what has stayed the same from previous versions. For the purposes of this story, that doesn't matter all tips herein apply to whatever version of Word 2013 you're using.
Your copy of Word 2013 may have been purchased as standalone software or as part of an Office 365 subscription. Use this Word 2013 cheat sheet to help take advantage of all it has to offer. Simply remove the word " Class" from the new statement.The buzz today may be all about Office 2016 for Windows, which is due to be released this fall, but many business users are still getting acquainted with Office 2013 and will continue to use it for some time. The synthetic " XxxxClass" classes are not embedded, just the " Xxxx" interfaces. A worst-case scenario is targeting a newer version than you have installed on your machine, that's liable to make your program crash with very hard to diagnose exceptions like AccessViolationException.ĭo note that you have to make small modifications to your code to allow it to work. They've kept it up for 15 years now but it has been running out of steam. Actually doing this is questionable, Microsoft has a hard time keeping new Office versions completely compatible with old versions. If that's a requirement then you still need the PIAs for that version, force the Embed Interop Types to True in the Properties window. If you load an old project that previously used PIAs then just remove those reference assemblies and add them back from the COM tab.ĭo note that a feature is lost, intentionally targeting an old version of Office that you don't actually have installed on your dev machine is more difficult. And pick, say, " Microsoft Excel 15.0 Object Library" to generate the interop types for a program that uses Excel. NET Framework tab, you now use the COM tab. Instead of adding a reference to the assemblies as available in the Add Reference dialog. Many megabytes reduced to a few kilobytes. In addition, the PIAs for Office are very large, the great advantage of embedding the interop types is that your assembly only contain the types that you actually use.
Solving the issue when neither takes care of it, an entirely too common mishap.
The feature is very desirable, it avoids your customer having to install the PIAs on his machine and for you to include them with your installer. Which is the reason that Microsoft doesn't publish the PIAs for Office 2013, they expect you to embed the interop types instead. A good video that covers the underlying technology is available here. Supported since Visual Studio 2010, you'll find it back in the Properties window when you select a reference assembly.
They have been thoroughly and elegantly replaced by the "Embed Interop Types" feature, also known as the "No PIA" feature. PIAs are a historical artifact, required only by old.