Add-in Express allows Delphi developers to create add-ins for Microsoft Office products (I am particularly interested in Outlook).
While this is an excellent product, I find the $349 price just a tad too expensive.
I am looking for and alternative for Delphi or Lazarus.
Preferably gratis, I could maybe go as high as $100, but would prefer not to.
I am thinking of:
- adding buttons to the ribbon bar
- generating dialogs / user input forms
- accessing Outlook data, such as address book & calendar
- accessing the Windows file system, for attachments
- possibly generating & displaying reports directly in Office apps, like Outlook, with user interaction to tweak the reports
I am aware that I can generate VSTO and web-helper code from MS Visual Studio, but my C# is rusty. I suppose that I could fall back on Visual Basic (once learned, never forgotten :-)
But, I don't see the ease of development in VS that is available in Add-in Express.
If there is no answer for Delphi or Lazarus, I would be open to alternatives offering similar functionality.