We've added some major enhancements to version 5.0 of XLL+. The main points are listed below. You can also find a detailed list in the change history. We've also included all bug fixes that have been issued in service packs.
XLL+ version 5 supports Microsoft Visual Studio 2005. The run-time libraries and samples use the new 'safe' functions of the C standard library. The help and user guide integrate fully with the new Visual Studio 2005 help formats and style, and the XLL+ tools work within the VS 2005 environment.
Our new XLL Host module can be used to emulate Excel in environments were Excel cannot be run, e.g. business-critical servers where EXcel's instability is unacceptable. XLL Host lets you run your Excel add-ins exactly without any changes or even rebuilding.
We've added a new Real-time Data module, along with sample code and a User Guide, to let you write asynchronous functions that calculate in a background, and only return to Excel when a calculation is complete. The module uses Excel's native RTD mechanism to provide an asynchronous calculation implementation that is efficient, stable and unintrusive.
You can use the new COM wrapper generator to create a COM library which exposes all the methods of your XLL as COM methods. The COM library can be used by stand-alone applications written in languages that support COM, including MS Visual Basic 6, C++, C# and VB.NET. You can now use the wrapper libraries with XLL Host to run applications on machines that do not have Excel installed. This makes it possible to deliver your Excel add-ins to production environments on business-critical servers without any change to your code.
Click here for the COM Wrapper Generator User Guide.
We've added some new example code, including: