5.4. Handling Events in Add-Ins

Events are a mechanism you can use to respond to something that happens in your add-in or in the host application (Word, Excel, Outlook, and other Office applications where add-ins are supported). Think about events in this way: If it's raining outside, you take an umbrella before you leave your house. As you take your umbrella, you're responding to the rain event. In this example, the rain is the event, and your response to the rain (the event) is to take the umbrella. You could also say that you're handling the event (rain) by executing an action (taking an umbrella) that is specific to this type of the event.

Events in both application and document-level customizations work in a similar way. An event happens, and you respond to it. You can choose which events you respond to or handle. If you're not planning to go outside, you probably won't handle the rain event by taking the umbrella.