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c#excelvstoadd-in

How to convert excel VSTO add in in to a .xll to add directly through the excel

I need a help to understand VSTO addin vs the .xll excel addin . what is the difference between both addins? Is there any possibility to convert VSTO excel addin into a .xll file to directly attach in an excel worksheet?

Solution

  • XLL Add-ins

    XLL add-ins are the older native-code add-ins created via the Excel Software Development Kit. These add-ins are written in c/c++ and make use of COM interop.

    VSTO Add-ins

    Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO) add-ins are the contemporary method to create Excel add-ins via managed code such as C#. Microsoft provides a managed API instead of raw COM to access Office products including Excel.

    OP:

    Is there any possibility to convert VSTO excel addin into a .xll file to directly attach in an excel worksheet?

    Yes and no. You would need to re-write the add-in not just to use c/c++ instead of .NET but also to use the COM API instead of the VSTO managed libraries. Sadly there is no easy way to do this.