XLL+ Class Library (6.3)

ClrDemo Sample

Calls .NET methods from add-in functions

Run-time requirements

Please note that if you are using Visual Studio 2005, you must have Service Pack 1 installed in order to build a valid XLL.

If the sample fails to load into Excel at run-time, please see the technical note .NET requirements.

Remarks

This project contains two add-in functions that use the Common Language Runtime and the .NET class libraries.

For more information on calling .NET code from add-in functions, see Using .NET and the Common Language Runtime in the User Guide.

The worksheet function ClrDate converts an Excel date to an instance of System::DateTime, and then uses the method System::DateTime::ToString(format) to return a CLR formatted date string.

CopyC++
CXlOper* ClrDate_Impl(CXlOper& xloResult, double date,
    const CXlStringArg& format)
{
    // End of generated code 
    //}}XLP_SRC 
    // Call a CLR method, using toClr() to translate the arguments 
    // & toXl() to translate the result.
    xloResult = toXl(toClrDate(date).ToString(toClr(format)));
    return xloResult.Ret();
}

Inputs are converted to CLR types using the global functions toClr() and toClrDate(). The output of the CLR method (a System::String) is converted back to an Excel string using toXl().

The macro command ShowDialog calls the WinForms library method System::Windows::Forms::MessageBox::Show. An instance of ExcelForm is created, to pass the Excel application window's handle to the WinForms library, so that the message box has the correct owner window.

CopyC++
CXlOper* ShowDialog_Impl(CXlOper& xloResult)
{
    // End of generated code 
    //}}XLP_SRC 
 
    // Call a WinForms method, using a new instance of 
    // the ExcelForm to create an IWin32Window interface 
    // for the main Excel application window.
    MessageBox::Show(
        gcnew XllPlus::Forms::ExcelForm(),
        "Hello from .NET", ".NET message box",
        MessageBoxButtons::OK,
        MessageBoxIcon::Hand);
    return xloResult.Ret();
}

Requirements

In order to make this project build and run, the following step was required:

The following steps were required in order to use WinForms:

Classes and functions used

ExcelForm | ple::clr::toClr | ple::clr::toClrDate | ple::clr::toXl

Sample project

Each sample project is located in a sub-directory of the Samples directory of the XLL+ installation. To use the sample project, open the solution file ClrDemo.sln or the project file ClrDemo.vcproj.

You can enable debugging under Excel by using the Setup Debugging command in the XLL+ ToolWindow.

When delivered, the help files are excluded from the build. You can enable the help build by selecting the files ClrDemo.help.xml and ClrDemo.chm in the Solution Explorer, and using the right-click menu to view Properties. Select the page "Configuration Properties/General" and set the "Excluded from build" property to "No". See Generating help in the User Guide for more information.

See Also

List of Sample Projects