Programming MS Word Add-In for document creation

Development of a corporate design tool for generating sophisticated Office documents

On behalf of SBIT AG (Frankfurt am Main), eWorks has developed the office solution "O&R Housestyle" for the auditing and tax consulting firm O&R Oppenhoff & Rädler AG (Munich):

a software solution that offers O&R employees a wide range of functions tailored to their daily needs.

The linchpin of the developed software is the "Template Wizard" extension for Microsoft Word ("add-in" or "plug-in"), which simplifies access to functionalities for completing recurring tasks in the Office environment via a menu command ("ribbon"). For example, after selecting a sender from the Active Directory, a recipient from the address book (Microsoft Outlook / Exchange or Microsoft SQL Server) and after specifying the language and document type, complete Word documents can be generated - this process simplification enables users to save a considerable amount of time when generating documents.

The programming was carried out using Microsoft .NET and C#, the connection to Microsoft Word and other Office applications with "Add-in Express" (Microsoft VSTO and COM or DCOM). The approx. 50 document templates to ensure a uniform appearance of all documents were created in close consultation with the client using Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint. To manage all generated documents, eWorks also has a connection to the document management system (DMS) "ELOprofessional" from the company "HOLME & Co. Computersystem und Lösungen GmbH" for document versioning.

The software was developed in 2010-2011 and in close consultation with the client. Following the handover and acceptance of the application, "O&R Housestyle" was installed on the computers at various O&R Oppenhoff & Rädler AG locations. Since then, eWorks has supported O&R employees in using the system, corrected program errors in the add-in (warranty), programmed occasional "change requests" and carried out the further functional development of the software solution according to customer requirements. O&R employees use the software to create complex, appealing Office documents in compliance with the company-wide corporate design (CD) specifications - while at the same time reducing processing time.