Microsoft have today announced the availability of two new tools that will enable new user experiences by integrating the power and efficiency of XML Web services and the familiar computing environment of Office XP.
These new Office XP tools are important steps in realizing the Microsoft .NET vision because they enable developers to combine the best of XML Web services with the rich services of Office XP to deliver new, exciting user experiences.
"XML Web services are valuable to all types of users and will eventually pervade the computing environment in the home and the workplace. A key to enabling this is connecting XML Web services to the Office experience," said Steven Sinofsky, senior vice president of Office at Microsoft. "These Office XP tools are yet another example of Microsoft equipping software developers with the tools they need to leverage today"s technology and create new opportunities for commerce and productivity gains."
The Office XP Web Services Toolkit enables developers to discover and integrate XML Web services into Office XP solutions directly from within the Visual Basic® for Applications editor.
- Quickly discover XML Web services using the standards-based UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery and Integration) service
- Integrate XML Web services directly into Office XP solutions with a single click
- A robust sample, with complete source code, which illustrates how XML Web services can be used to structure and develop an enterprise smart tag solution
- A set of whitepapers on planning, implementing and deploying enterprise smart tags, along with a set of tools that enable developers to more efficiently develop smart tag solutions