Outlook, .NET, and WordML- the FIFTH of a short series

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In this entry, I explain my manifest file (I'm getting a fair amount of email asking me to show this part!). Remember, a manifest is a file that Word will look at as it loads the target document to see if it needs to load any additional resources. The manifest needs to have the same namespace URI as the target namespace in the document. This is actually what lets Word know that it should care about associating the document with the manifest at all.

Now, the manifest I use is actually a little longer than this one listed here, but the only difference is that I have several XSL files listed, so there is just repeated sections for each XSL file.

<manifest xmlns="https://schemas.microsoft.com/office/xmlexpansionpacks/2003">
<version>1.0</version>
<updateFrequency>20160</updateFrequency>
<uri>OutlookTaskExporter</uri>
<solution>
<solutionID>OutlookTaskExporterXSLT-1</solutionID>
<type>transform</type>
<alias>ODC Tasks (75 percent complete)</alias>
<context>https://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2003/wordml</context>
<file>
<type>primaryTransform</type>
<version>1.0</version>
<filePath>TaskReport_ODC_Percent.xsl</filePath>
</file>
</solution>
<solution>
<solutionID>Outlook Task ExporterXSD</solutionID>
<type>schema</type>
<alias>OutlookTaskExporter Schema</alias>
<file>
<type>schema</type>
<version>1.0</version>
<filePath>Tasks.xsd</filePath>
</file>
</solution>
</manifest>

The main thing is that <uri>OutlookTaskExporter</uri> URI match what is in the Word document. This is what we have in the Word document that links them together:<?mso-solutionextension URI="OutlookTaskExporter" manifestPath="OutlookTaskExporterSolution.xml"?>. Then, I have two main sections in the manifest. They are sections to tell Word what resource it needs to load/apply/run for the document. The first is an XSL. The second is the schema file. These get loaded, and the XSL will appear in the task pane so the user can apply the transform as desired (see earlier blog entry in the series). To see all of the elements in the manifest schema and how it all hangs together, check out the Smart Document SDK: https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=24a557f7-eb06-4a2c-8f6c-2767b174126f&displaylang=en. Also, get the schema description for WordML by downloading the Office 2003 XML Schema Reference: https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=fe118952-3547-420a-a412-00a2662442d9&DisplayLang=en.

In my last entry of the series, I will show some of the XSL for transforming the XML document into WordML.

 Rock thought for the day: I watched some of “Jimi Plays Berkeley” a DVD that has some rare footage of Jimi doing his thing. If you care about rock and roll AT ALL, then this is a must-see. If I make it to heaven, I think the angel choir will be great....part of the time. I would also like to hear a lot of Jimi playing.

Rock on.