Clever Geek Handbook

Should we rely on Microsoft Office components

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using Microsoft Office components and using Microsoft Office documents in our software?

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Should office components be avoided?

Yes. You almost certainly use them to read or write office documents discreetly. While interop allows this, it is not well designed for this and can lead to all sorts of errors as well as an obvious dependency on the installed copy of the office. In a server environment, this is completely self-destructive.



Should you use office documents?

Yes. You are probably working in the real world of business, so the ability to communicate with file formats like Excel is expected and effective. However, instead of using Interop (which is quite slow for generating entire documents by the way, even if you optimize the limit on the number of calls made), use a standalone library to read / write files. For example, SpreadSheetGear.NET will be used to manage Excel files from a .NET application quickly and natively.

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For desktop software ... (server side usage outside of my experience)

If you are an ISV , avoid alias, you know that all clients will have Microsoft Office and you can afford to test on all versions of Office that you use by clients.

Usually, spending a little more on in order to avoid additional support costs depending on Microsoft Office is a good deal from.



However, many customers love excel reports so they can add graphs etc. So using Office as the output format is fine. Any other use of Microsoft Office should provide great benefits to cover support / testing costs.

If you are writing your own software where you have a standard desktop system , use Microsoft Office components if it saves you time.

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<strong> Benefits

Common base of functionality
All-local; learn once, use elsewhere

disadvantages

Reliance on one source for common functions
Expectation that the recipient has the same software
Completely broken if not there as expected

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IMHO there are only drawbacks because it is a proprietary format.

37signals says the bulk is shrinking by using open formats .

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If it's a website then avoid as it is quite easy to overload the server with hooks.

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  • Benefits
    • Lots of built-in functions.
    • The user will recognize the interface.
    • Format that users often require (Excel, Access)
  • disadvantages
    • Licensing costs
    • Testing, testing, testing
    • Update
    • External dependency, which is known to be unstable.

Note: I agree with David, this is server suicide. I've seen it used even in interop format (one program was transferring Excel sheets for data exchange). It is very painful and should be avoided at all costs.

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