Develop Reference

MS PowerPoint Presentations.Open method fails

I am trying to find out why the object of Microsoft PowerPoint application doesn't want to open pptx file. This is what I have (C#):
using PowerPoint = Microsoft.Office.Interop.PowerPoint;
using MSBool = Microsoft.Office.Core.MsoTriState;
private void button2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
PowerPoint.Application oPowerPointApp = new PowerPoint.Application();
oPowerPointApp.Activate();
oPowerPointApp.Visible = MSBool.msoTrue;
oPowerPointApp.Presentations.Open("c:\\mypp\\pptx001.pptx");
}
I am getting this exception when Open method is been called:
**System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException: 'Error HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component.'
**
I have Microsoft 365 MSO (Version 2211 Build 16.0.15831.20220) 64-bit
Windows 10 64 bit
MSExcel application works just fine.
I am wondering if somebody had this kind of issues and have a solution. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I tried to:
Tweak values of DCOM for Microsoft PowerPoint previewer (Security and Identity tabs)
Reinstall PowerPoint (MS Office)
Call to Open method with all kinds of different combinations of arguments
Install Nuget package Microsoft.office.Interop.PowerPoint

System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException: 'Error HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component.'
This is a widely spread error when Office applications are automated on the server or form any service applications. Here is what MS states for such scenarious:
Microsoft does not currently recommend, and does not support, Automation of Microsoft Office applications from any unattended, non-interactive client application or component (including ASP, ASP.NET, DCOM, and NT Services), because Office may exhibit unstable behavior and/or deadlock when Office is run in this environment.
If you are building a solution that runs in a server-side context, you should try to use components that have been made safe for unattended execution. Or, you should try to find alternatives that allow at least part of the code to run client-side. If you use an Office application from a server-side solution, the application will lack many of the necessary capabilities to run successfully. Additionally, you will be taking risks with the stability of your overall solution.
Read more about that in the Considerations for server-side Automation of Office article.
If you deal with open XML documents only you may consider using the Open XML SDK instead. See Welcome to the Open XML SDK 2.5 for Office for more information.

80080005 Server execution failed when using Word Automation

I have a .Net C# application that manipulates Word documents.
I am using Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.dll, part of Office 2010, product version 14.0.xxx. Invoking:
using Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word;
...
Application app = new Application();
causes the following error:
Retrieving the COM class factory for component with CLSID {000209FF-0000-0000-C000-000000000046} failed due to the following error: 80080005 Server execution failed (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80080005 (CO_E_SERVER_EXEC_FAILURE)).
I also noticed that when this error is generated, an instance of WINWORD.EXE is created and hangs, but the file is associated to Office 365, product version 16.0.xxx.
I am assuming that the (at least one) source of the error is the incompatibility between the .dll I'm using and the version of Word installed on my development machine.
QUESTION
Is it possible to perform office automation without having Microsoft Office installed on the server?

You don't need to install MS on your Server to use Office Automation!.
Microsoft does not currently recommend, and does not support, Automation of Microsoft Office applications from any unattended, non-interactive client application or component (including ASP, ASP.NET, DCOM, and NT Services), because Office may exhibit unstable behavior and/or deadlock when Office is run in this environment.

Is it possible to perform office automation without having Microsoft Office installed on the server?
No, it is not possible. Instead, you may consider using the Open XML SDK if you deal with open XML documents only. Otherwise, you may consider using any third-party components designed for the server-side execution, for example, Aspose.
The Considerations for server-side Automation of Office article states the following:
All current versions of Microsoft Office were designed, tested, and configured to run as end-user products on a client workstation. They assume an interactive desktop and user profile. They do not provide the level of reentrancy or security that is necessary to meet the needs of server-side components that are designed to run unattended.
Microsoft does not currently recommend, and does not support, Automation of Microsoft Office applications from any unattended, non-interactive client application or component (including ASP, ASP.NET, DCOM, and NT Services), because Office may exhibit unstable behavior and/or deadlock when Office is run in this environment.
If you are building a solution that runs in a server-side context, you should try to use components that have been made safe for unattended execution. Or, you should try to find alternatives that allow at least part of the code to run client-side. If you use an Office application from a server-side solution, the application will lack many of the necessary capabilities to run successfully. Additionally, you will be taking risks with the stability of your overall solution.

Does Primary Interop Assemblies ( PIA ) require Microsoft Office to be installed in the machine to work

Does Primary Interop Assemblies ( PIA ) require Microsoft Office to be installed in the machine to work ?
I have gone through so many confusing post/sites and unable arrivie at a conclusion.
I have a machine where office is not installed and I am using VS2010 . As Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel assembly was not avaialble in COM section in referance . I add it through thought .Net section in referances . Still it throws the below error .
Retrieving the COM class factory for component with CLSID failed due
to the following error: 80040154 Class not registered (Exception from
HRESULT: 0x80040154 (REGDB_E_CLASSNOTREG))
This is statement from Mircosoft website , The Office PIAs are not required on end-user computers to run Office solutions . What does this mean exactly ?
Does it mean without Office installation we can work with interop assemblies ?
If not why we require PIA when office needs to be installed to get things work ?

This is statement from Mircosoft website , The Office PIAs are not required on end-user computers to run Office solutions . What does this mean exactly ?
That's not the current quote I find. The one I find is:
The PIAs must also be installed on end-user computers to run Office solutions that target the .NET Framework 3.5. However, the Office PIAs are not required on end-user computers to run Office solutions that target the .NET Framework 4. For more information, see Designing and Creating Office Solutions. (https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/vstudio/hy7c6z9k(v=vs.100).aspx)
It means (for net 4+) that when you create an Office Solution in VS usint PIAs, you do not need to install those PIAs on the target computer to be able to run the solution. (the reason is because, if you've targeted Net4, if the Embed Interop Types property of each Office PIA reference in the project is set to True (this is the default value), the type information for the PIA types that are used by your solution is embedded into the solution assembly when you build the project. At run time, the embedded type information is used instead of the PIAs to call into the Office application's COM-based object model. For more information about how types from PIAs are embedded into your solution (https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/vstudio/3295w01c(v=vs.100).aspx)
For example: I want to write a program in VB to doSomething on an XLSX sheet.
I have to install Excel, PIA, and VS on my development machine or I will not be able to write it.
Once this program is finished, I want Bob in accounting to run it. So I publish the program and it gets installed on Bob's machine. Bob will not need to have installed PIAs on his local machine to run the program. He will need office.
Does it mean without Office installation we can work with interop assemblies ?
The other way around. It means, with Net 4+ applications using PIA (EIT), your application can work without PIAs installed on the client machine (the needed pieces will be part of your deployment).

Does Primary Interop Assemblies ( PIA ) require Microsoft Office to be installed in the machine to work ?
Yes.
The PIA are simply assemblies that allow you to call the Office COM object model from .NET. The COM objects which are hosted by the Office applications still need to be present for this to work. The Class not registered error you get is because the COM object is missing on the computer. To fix that you need to install the version of Office your application is designed to work with.

Your question really has two parts:
What does a developer need to develop an application that makes use of Office components?
What does an end user need to run that application?
On MSDN, the article Office Solutions Development Overview (Visual Studio 2013) provides concise guidance for these questions. From the section "Automating Office Applications by Using Primary Interop Assemblies":
You must have the Office PIAs installed and registered in the global
assembly cache on your development computer to perform most
development tasks. For more information, see Configuring a Computer
to Develop Office Solutions. The Office PIAs are not required on
end-user computers to run Office solutions. For more information, see
Designing and Creating Office Solutions.
The first article makes it clear that the developer must install Microsoft Office:
To create add-ins and customizations for Microsoft Office, install a
supported version of Visual Studio, the .NET Framework, and Microsoft
Office.
And from the latter article in the section "Understanding When the Office PIAs Are Required on End User Computers":
By default, Office primary interop assemblies (PIAs) do not need to be
installed on end user computers if the Embed Interop Types
property of each Office PIA reference in the project is set to
True, which is the default value. In this scenario, the type information for the PIA types that are used by your solution is
embedded into the solution assembly when you build the project. At run
time, the embedded type information is used instead of the PIAs to
call into the Office application's COM-based object model. For more
information about how types from PIAs are embedded into your solution,
see Type Equivalence and Embedded Interop Types.

How to create an Excel application using PIA (2010, version 14.0) and target machine doesn't have MS Office client installed on it

I'm facing one issue, actually I need to create one application in C# using VS2012, .Net framework 4.5 which reads excel and do some operation, but the issue is target machine doesn't have MS Office client installed on it.
And one restriction is I can't use the other open assemblies like Open XML etc. I have to only use the 2010 PIA.
It'll be great if someone can explain me how can implement this?

This can not be possible without installing MS Office on server. To use PIA you have to install the MS Office on server. Otherwise, if you doesn't want to install MS Office on server, it's better to use Open XML.

Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel supports with dealing for xlsx

I am using Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel to read an excel file and change some cells. It works perfectly with xls files.
I would like to know that, if I deploy the application to the client. They have to install the whole Microsoft Office application? as I think the only dll will not work, right?
Thanks in advance.

Yes, the clients must have Office installed.
I must add a warning, Interop is awkward you better use other (open source) libraries like NPOI or EPPlus for .xlsx- 2007 excel sheets for automation.
Update:
Additional to the awkward of interop, It's unsafe when using in servers!!! see here:
"Microsoft does not currently recommend, and does not support,
Automation of Microsoft Office applications from any unattended,
non-interactive client application or component (including ASP,
ASP.NET, DCOM, and NT Services), because Office may exhibit unstable
behavior and/or deadlock when Office is run in this environment."

If you know there are only .xslx files, you don't need Excel if you use the Open XML Api from Microsoft. It can read Excel files perfectly.

In case were Open XML and Excel interop is not an option, I would recommend Aspose. They have a nice suit of Office compatible components, including for Excel. And they are built for the server. We are using them since 5 years and it works pretty well.