PowerPoint Tag Inspector

A Windows desktop application for viewing and editing PowerPoint Tags on the active slide or selected shape in a running PowerPoint presentation. Also allows renaming slides directly from the inspector.

Requirements

• Windows 10 or later
• .NET 8.0 SDK or Runtime
• Microsoft PowerPoint (2016 or later) installed and running

Building

dotnet build

Running

dotnet run --project "PowerPoint Tag Inspector"

Or open the solution in Visual Studio and press F5.

Usage

Prerequisites

1. Open Microsoft PowerPoint with a presentation.
2. Launch the PowerPoint Tag Inspector application.

Main Window

The application window is divided into three sections:

1. Options

Radio buttons to select the tag source:

• Active Slide — reads/writes tags on the currently active slide
• Selected Shape — reads/writes tags on the currently selected shape

The selected radio button displays contextual info (e.g., Active Slide (#1 Slide1) or Selected Shape (#5 TextBox 3)).

2. Slide Name Editor

Located between Options and Tags. Shows:

• Slide #N label — the current slide index
• Text field — the editable slide name
• Apply button — commits the new name to PowerPoint

This works in both Active Slide and Selected Shape modes (always shows the current slide info).

3. Tags

A table (ListView) displaying the tag list with columns Name and Value.

Action buttons:

Button	Description
Add...	Opens a dialog to create a new tag
Edit...	Opens a dialog to modify the selected tag's value
Delete	Removes the selected tag after confirmation
Refresh	Re-reads tags from the current target

4. Status Bar

Displays connection status, presentation name, mode, and tag count:

Connected: Demo.pptx | Mode: Active Slide | Tags: 3

Tag Name Suggestions

When adding a new tag, the Name field offers autocomplete suggestions from a list of reserved tag names:

• RowsDataSourceName
• RowsCount
• DeleteIf
• RowsGroupFieldName
• DeleteUnusedColumns

You can still enter any custom name — the suggestions are non-restrictive.

Error Handling

• If PowerPoint is not running, the app shows "Not connected" and allows retry via Refresh.
• If no shape is selected in "Selected Shape" mode, an appropriate message is displayed.
• All operations gracefully handle COM errors without crashing.

Architecture

PowerPointTagInspector/
├── Program.cs                          # Application entry point
├── MainForm.cs / .Designer.cs          # Main UI (options, slide name editor, tags, status bar)
├── TagEditorDialog.cs / .Designer.cs   # Modal dialog for Add/Edit tag (with autocomplete)
├── Models/
│   ├── TagItem.cs                      # Immutable record: tag name + value
│   ├── TagSourceMode.cs                # Enum: ActiveSlide | SelectedShape
│   └── TagEditorState.cs              # State manager (mode, target, tags, slide info, errors)
└── Services/
	├── PowerPointService.cs            # COM Interop layer for PowerPoint
	└── ComInteropHelper.cs             # P/Invoke shim for GetActiveObject (.NET 8)

Layers

Layer	Responsibility
PowerPointService	Direct COM interaction with PowerPoint (connect, get slides/shapes, read/write/delete tags, rename slides)
TagEditorState	Manages application state, coordinates between UI and service layer
UI (MainForm + TagEditorDialog)	User interface, event handling, displays errors

Key Technical Details

• COM Interop in .NET 8: Marshal.GetActiveObject was removed in .NET Core. A custom ComInteropHelper uses P/Invoke (oleaut32.dll / ole32.dll) to obtain the running PowerPoint instance.
• PowerPoint Tags API: Tags are accessed via Slide.Tags or Shape.Tags (1-based index). Tags.Add(name, value) performs upsert. Tag names are case-insensitive.
• COM Object Lifecycle: PowerPointService implements IDisposable and releases COM references on disconnect. The app never closes PowerPoint.

Test Scenario

1. Open PowerPoint and create a new presentation.
2. Launch PowerPoint Tag Inspector.
3. Verify status bar shows: Connected: Presentation1.pptx | Mode: Active Slide | Tags: 0.
4. Verify the Slide Name editor shows Slide #1 and the current slide name.
5. Change the slide name in the text field, click Apply — verify it updates in PowerPoint.
6. Click Add..., select RowsDataSourceName from suggestions, enter a value → OK.
7. Verify the tag appears in the list.
8. Select the tag, click Edit..., change the value → OK.
9. Verify the updated value is displayed.
10. Click Delete, confirm → tag is removed.
11. In PowerPoint, insert a shape and select it.
12. Switch to Selected Shape mode.
13. Add a tag to the shape, verify it persists.
14. Switch back to Active Slide — verify slide tags are shown (not shape tags).
15. Close PowerPoint → click Refresh → verify error message appears gracefully.
16. Reopen PowerPoint with a presentation → click Refresh → verify reconnection.

Supported Versions

• Microsoft PowerPoint 2016, 2019, 2021, Microsoft 365
• .NET 8.0
• Windows 10 / 11