Working with Smart Tags

This content is no longer actively maintained. It is provided as is, for anyone who may still be using these technologies, with no warranties or claims of accuracy with regard to the most recent product version or service release.

Using Smart Tags, you can automate user interaction with text in a document based on the value of the text string. For example, the name of an employee can be automated to provide a menu list that makes it possible for a user to compose an e-mail message to that person, display an organization chart showing that person, or link to the employee's Web page. The user can perform these actions by clicking within the document. The tags automate all of the tasks the reader previously would have to complete to get the same result, that is, opening the e-mail application and specifying a recipient.

You can implement Smart Tags by creating a Smart Tag plug-in in Microsoft® Visual Basic® and associating it with a document. The plug-in determines the text strings to evaluate and the actions that are offered to a user. A plug-in is made up of a recognizer component and an action provider component. The recognizer component specifies the list of text strings that the document will recognize and annotate as smart. The action provider component specifies the menu of commands that are associated with strings.

For information about using Microsoft Office Smart Tags, see the Smart Tags SDK, available on the Microsoft Office XP Developer installation CD.

See Also

Developing Applications with Microsoft Office Developer | Creating Projects | Developing Office Applications Using VBA | Developing Workflow Applications for Exchange Server | Developing Workflow Applications for SQL Server | Creating Projects for Digital Dashboard Applications