I have been looking at the ribbon customisation via XML, but the File tab does not appear in this. Is it possible to hide the File tab?
The File tab doesn't show up in the list of ribbon tabs that you can turn on and off in the backstage's ribbon customization area. I think this probably makes sense, because if you turn off the File tab, then you might have a hard time getting back to the area that allows you to turn it back on.
Perhaps you can via automation, or ribbon xml, but I haven't tried.
I know you can do other "dumb" things to Visio through automation, such as setting App.Visible = false (thereby making Visio vanish) or setting visApp.AlertResponse = Cancel, so that you can never exit Visio if you've changed a drawing (Visio asks "save drawing", but AlertResponse says Cancel every time, causing a loop). Not dumb if done under control with careful programming and error-trapping, but amusing nonetheless.
"File" is not actually a tab, but a part of the backstage (used as "grip" to switch to the backstage), as far as I understand.
Means - you can't do that (http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en/vsto/thread/fe93a0d5-0b92-45a7-b39d-f4a5437de1db).
But you can remove everything from the backstage itself. Example attached.
What a pain :(
My application (Visio 2003) has 2 modes, run mode, where it has locked everything down and previously hid all the command bars except my applications own. In my other, edit mode allowing certain users to modify the diagram, some of the Visio tabs are made available. When my application exists I restore the Visio command bars. My application hangs or crashes with Visio 2010 around the custom menus and the add-in tab does not seem to catch it all.
Sadly this no longer works in Visio 2010. It's a shame that no one at Microsoft seems to care that changing the user interface can completely mess up other peoples applications such that they no longer work. I have customers with Visio 2003 and 2007 and now it seems like I will have to produce a different version for Visio 2010
Absolutely maddening. I change a shape, add a stroke, click out. BOOM. Back to the File menu.
It makes you wonder of they even have a UX department at MS.
I may just go back to 2007.