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In this article
When you create an Office project, Visual Studio automatically generates a class named
Globals
in the project. You can use the
Globals
class to access several different project items at run time from any code in the project.
Applies to:
The information in this topic applies to document-level projects and VSTO Add-in projects. See
Features available by Office application and project type
.
How to use the Globals class
Globals
is a static class that keeps references to certain items in your project. By using the
Globals
class, you can access the following items from any code in the project at run time:
The
ThisWorkbook
and
Sheet
n
classes in an Excel workbook or template project. You can access these objects by using the
Globals.ThisWorkbook
and
Sheet
n
properties.
The
ThisDocument
class in a Word document or template project. You can access this object by using the
Globals.ThisDocument
property.
The
ThisAddIn
class in a VSTO Add-in project. You can access this object by using the
Globals.ThisAddIn
property.
All Ribbons in your project that you customized by using the Ribbon Designer. You can access the Ribbons by using the
Globals.Ribbons
property. For more information, see
Access the Ribbon at run time
.
All Outlook form regions in an Outlook VSTO Add-in project. You can access the form regions by using the
Globals.FormRegions
property. For more information, see
Access a form region at run time
.
A factory object that enables you to create Ribbon controls, and host items at run time in projects that target the .NET Framework 4 or the .NET Framework 4.5. You can access this object by using the
Globals.Factory
property. This object is an instance of a class that implements one the following interfaces:
Microsoft.Office.Tools.Factory
Microsoft.Office.Tools.Excel.Factory
Microsoft.Office.Tools.Outlook.Factory
Microsoft.Office.Tools.Word.Factory
For example, you can use the
Globals.Sheet1
property to insert text into a
NamedRange
control on
Sheet1
when a user clicks a button on the actions pane in a document-level project for Excel.
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
Globals.Sheet1.namedRange1.Value2 = this.textBox1.Text;
Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
Handles Button1.Click
Globals.Sheet1.NamedRange1.Value2 = Me.TextBox1.Text
End Sub
Code that attempts to use the Globals class before the document or VSTO Add-in is initialized might throw a run time exception. For example, using Globals when declaring a class-level variable might fail because the Globals class might not be initialized with references to all of the host items before the declared object is instantiated.
The Globals class is never initialized at design time, but control instances are created by the designer. This means that if you create a user control that uses a property of the Globals class from inside a user control class, you must check whether the property returns null before you try to use the returned object.
Related content
Access the Ribbon at run time
Access a form region at run time
Host items and host controls overview
Document host item
Workbook host item
Worksheet host item
Write code in Office solutions
