We are happy to announce that today we are releasing the Open XML Package Editor Power Tool for Visual Studio 2010 on Visual Studio Gallery. This Power Tool is a Visual Studio add-in that provides an easy way to parse and edit Open Packaging Conventions files, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents. This Power Tool enables you to do the following tasks:
- Open any Open XML Package file or XPS Package file directly in Visual Studio 2010.
- Browse the contents of Package files in a tree view.
- Open any XML part directly in Visual Studio's rich XML editor.
- Add or remove parts and relationships directly in the user interface.
- Import and export part contents to and from files.
- Detect when a Package file that is opened in Visual Studio is modified externally. The Power Tool prompts user to reload the file without having to close any open XML part editors.
- Create new Office Packages from a set of templates using Visual Studio's File > New dialog.
This Power Tool was originally shipped for Visual Studio 2008 as part of VSTO Power Tools v1.0.0.0. This new version for Visual Studio 2010 contains all the original features from the previous version and it works the same.
Figure 1 shows the tree view that is provided when you open an Open XML Package file in Visual Studio.
Figure 1 – Open XML Package treeview in Visual Studio
When you double-click on any XML part in the file that is open in the tree view, that part is opened in the standard Visual Studio XML editor, as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2 - XML part open in the Visual Studio XML editor
The Open XML Package Editor Power Tool for Visual Studio 2010 is available for download at Visual Studio Gallery