ExcelDna quick start

[kuankuan27]

Hi,

I'm really new to C# and ExcelDna, and I'm excited to come across this tool. I'm trying to follow the start-up guide: https://excel-dna.net/docs/getting-started I have some very basic questions.

I guess since the start-up guide didn't mention which Nuget package to get, I got the ExcelDna.Integration 1.7.0. I was met with the warnings that it was restored using .NetFramework, Version=v.4.8.1 etc. I guess I can ignore this warning?

I'm using the Visual Studio 2022, and I couldn't find debug with excel. Instead I debugged by attaching to an existing running Excel process, but nothing happens to my excel.

Should I use an earlier version of Visual Studio?

[govert]

The main package to reference is called ExcelDna.AddIn, and version 1.7.0 is the current release. Visual Studio 2022 is best. It's better these days to make an SDK-style project file, which you get by picking the "Class Library" project template instead of the "Class Library (.NET Framework)" template. After the project is create, just change the TargetFramework to "net472" or "net48" to target .NET Framework, which is simplest. Then your NuGet package references go into the project files as <PackageReference> items and you don't have a packages.config file. Having done all of this, you can press F5 to build and debug (sometimes need to build twice to get rid of a VS bug after you change the TargetFramework). You can also attach to a running Excel (make sure you pick the right debugging engine) and the File -> Open the right .xll file in the output directory (for 32-bit or 64-bit).

[kuankuan27]

Thank you for the quick response! and I had it working. However, I see that after opening a new library file, there is no selection for net48 for target framework (even if I click the small link under the selections for manual installation). I had to open a new project that says library (.net framework 4.8) to have ExcelDna.addin working. I hope this still fine.

[govert]

The "Class Library" template (without the extra "(.NET Framework)" part in the name, gives you an SDK-style project file. You can't select .NET Framework 4.8 when creating it, but you can edit the project file afterwards. A simple project file would then look like this:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">

  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFramework>net48</TargetFramework>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="ExcelDna.AddIn" Version="1.7.0" />
  </ItemGroup>

</Project>