Applying a Sample Provider Template

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The sample Outlook Social Connector (OSC) provider templates give you a framework for implementing an OSC provider. The provider templates are available in C++, C#, and Visual Basic. These templates are just a starting point for your provider development; the templates do not address writing the implementation code for the provider and creating a setup package for the provider. The following procedure shows how to apply an OSC provider template when you begin to develop a provider.

To apply an OSC provider template

  1. On the Start menu, right-click Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 and click the Run as administrator command. When prompted, click Yes to run Visual Studio as an administrator.

  2. Change the project name and namespace in the template to your project name and namespace identifiers.

  3. Modify the AssemblyInfo class to specify the appropriate assembly information.

  4. Implement the interface members marked as To-Do and add more dependencies and references, as required.

  5. Build the project.

  6. Ensure that the provider assembly ProgID is listed as a key under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\SocialConnector\SocialProviders.

  7. To distribute the setup project, create a setup project in Visual Studio or a setup tool of your choice.

  8. Your setup project should complete COM registration for your assembly and also create the ProgID key as listed in step 5.

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