Happy Birthday Microsoft Office

In a few days Microsoft Office will turn 21. It’s used in 80% of all businesses with only 8% using alternatives like Oracle StarOffice, Google Apps, and Lotus Symphony. To celebrate this momentous occasion, we thought it would be appropriate to develop some new code samples that integrate DOTS Web services with Microsoft Office 2007 and 2010.

MS Office offers a great development environment as well as a great set of applications (Excel, Word, Access, PowerPoint). The new examples we created use the latest in .NET technologies to validate email addresses, correct postal addresses and look up sales tax rate information, all within Excel. We’ve provided the source code too, so developers can easily integrate and customize DOTS Web services into their Office applications.

Our new Excel examples enable developers to transparently leverage the power of DOTS Web services directly from within their Microsoft Office applications: after programming in the desired functionality, they can easily distribute the enhanced Office documents to their team, using 100% native Microsoft Office functionality.

So, Happy birthday, Microsoft Office, and thank you for making it possible for companies like us to design products that enhance your core functionality. DOTS Web services are now compatible with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, versions 2000, 2003, 2007 and 2010.