Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Michael Shneerson

David Andrew Whitechapel

Thomas E Quinn

William A Robertson

Pallavi Vajranabhaiah

Raja Krishnaswamy

Samuel Ng

Timothy Ng

Igor A Zinkovsky

Avner Y Aharoni

Aleksey V Tsingauz

Daniel A Molina

Shrikrishna Vijaykumar Borde

Eric Hyde Carter

Stephen James Styrchak

Kevin Wagner Halverson

Michael W Morton

John Durant

Richard A Cook

Geoffrey Charles Darst

Edward T Maurer

Dimitar Birov

A system and method for facilitating execution of multiple assemblies in a framework, in which the assemblies use a component external to the framework, is provided. A runtime manager may retrieve metadata from each of the assemblies, and selectively insert the metadata into a unified types object, so that metadata corresponding to equivalent type definitions is shared. When each assembly is executed, the combined metadata may be used to invoke or otherwise interact with the external component.

Unified metadata for external components

A method and system for dynamically identifying and loading a version of a runtime for custom code of a host application without modifying the host application is provided. A loading system dynamically identifies the version of the runtime during execution of the host application. The loading system is also dynamically linked into the host application so that its algorithm for identifying the version of the runtime can be modified without modifying the host application. When requested by the host application to load custom code, the loading system identifies a version of the runtime to load, loads the identified version of the runtime, and then requests a load component of the loaded version of the runtime to load the custom code.

Version-resilient loader for custom code runtimes

The invention enables document level controls to be added to applications which display documents by using an application level add-in. The application level add-in tracks document opening and closing and dynamically constructs the document level control accordingly to ensure that the document level control is active only while the document is open.

Document-level features in add-ins

User assemblies can be created by a compiler that can handle more than one type definition during execution. Local copies are created for respective authoritative types in a code library, and the local copies are marked with a local type identifier. An authoritative type identifier (e.g., a globally unique identifier (GUID)) is copied from the authoritative type to the local type, and functions and properties associated with the local type are also copied from the authoritative type. Authoritative types are resolved for requested types when a local assembly references a local type from a compiled user assembly. The local type can be identified by a local type identifier, and an authoritative type can be retrieved from the code library that has a same authoritative type identifier as the requested type. A local copy of the retrieved authoritative type can be copied to the local assembly under compilation. The compiler can then emit user assemblies that comprise merely local types.

Handling multiple definition of types

A method and architecture for increasing version resiliency between a host application that is unmanaged code and managed code is provided. A version resiliency technique specifies that the host application and the managed code communicate via an adapter that implements a protocol to access an object exposed by the host application. The version resiliency technique specifies that when a new version of the host application that impacts an interface exposed by the object of the host application is released, a new version of the adapter that executes within the application domain of the custom code is released. A version of managed code that adheres to the protocol will correctly interact with new versions of the host application that include a new version of the object because a new implementation of the adapter is also provided.

Version resiliency for a host application and managed code

A method and architecture for increasing version resiliency between a host application that is unmanaged code and custom code that is managed code is provided. A host application exposes an application-level object and a document-level object. A custom code runtime provides a wrapper for the document-level object within the application domain of the custom code runtime. The custom code runtime also provides a mechanism within the application domain of the custom code runtime for providing to custom code a reference to the application-level object directly, rather than through a wrapper. Custom code can then access functionality of the application-level object directly using the reference without having to use a wrapper provided by the custom code runtime.

Version resiliency for a host application and custom code

The forms hosting system allows a developer to design custom Outlook form regions containing standard and custom managed controls using popular development tools. The forms hosting system provides a runtime wrapper that appears to Outlook as a normal ActiveX control. When Outlook invokes the runtime wrapper control, the runtime wrapper control loads the managed controls defined by the developer. The runtime wrapper control translates messages received from Outlook into messages understood by the managed controls.

Developing controls for outlook add-ins

Systems and methods for hosting managed code controls within unmanged hosts, such as MICROSOFT Word and Excel. There are two components to the hosting architecture, a wrapper control that implements various interfaces and a container control that hosts the managed code control. A design-time implementation allows for a designer to drag and drop managed code controls onto documents that run in a design component process. A runtime component allows managed code controls to run within hosts under security permissions specified by a policy.

Growing community of inventors

Redmond, WA, United States of America

Michael Shneerson