Question

I developing a PowerPoint 2010 add-in using Visual Studio 2010 and am having significant issues with grouping two objects on a slide. I am trying to create the two objects, place them on the slide and group them all in the same function. Adding the objects and placing them on the slide is not an issue. When it comes to the grouping part though….

I have tried:

PowerPoint._Application myPPT = Globals.ThisAddIn.Application;
PowerPoint.Slide curSlide = myPPT.ActiveWindow.View.Slide;
string[] myRangeArray = new string[2];
myRangeArray[0] =  "nameOfShape0";
myRangeArray[1] = "nameOfShape1";
curSlide.Shapes.Range(myRangeArray).Group();

and

PowerPoint._Application myPPT = Globals.ThisAddIn.Application;
PowerPoint.Slide curSlide = myPPT.ActiveWindow.View.Slide;
curSlide.Shapes.Range(Array("nameOfShape0", "nameOfShape1")).Group();

Both of which fail miserably. I am getting quite frustrated with this and am really hoping some kind soul has a solution for me. Thanks.

Update:
Here is the full code I am using:

PowerPoint._Application myPPT = Globals.ThisAddIn.Application;
PowerPoint.Slide curSlide = myPPT.ActiveWindow.View.Slide;

PowerPoint.Shape browser = curSlide.Shapes.AddOLEObject(110, 70, 500, 400, "Shell.Explorer.2");
var slideName = "webBrowser_0";
browser.Name = slideName;

PowerPoint.Shape rectangle = curSlide.Shapes.AddShape(Microsoft.Office.Core.MsoAutoShapeType.msoShapeRectangle, 110, 70, 500, 400);
rectangle.Name = "shape2";
string[] myRangeArray = new string[2];
myRangeArray[0] = "webBrowser_0";
myRangeArray[1] = "shape2";
curSlide.Shapes.Range(myRangeArray).Group();

The Error I am receiving is “The ShapeRange object must contain at least two items”

Answer 1

Your code worked fine for me. Try this:

private void ThisAddIn_Startup(object sender, System.EventArgs e) {
    this.Application.PresentationNewSlide += Application_PresentationNewSlide;
}

void Application_PresentationNewSlide(PowerPoint.Slide Sld) {
    PowerPoint.Shape textBox = Sld.Shapes.AddTextbox(Office.MsoTextOrientation.msoTextOrientationHorizontal, 0, 0, 500, 50);
    textBox.Name = "shape1";
    textBox.TextFrame.TextRange.InsertAfter("This text was added by using code.");

    textBox = Sld.Shapes.AddTextbox(Office.MsoTextOrientation.msoTextOrientationHorizontal, 0, 100, 500, 50);
    textBox.TextFrame.TextRange.InsertAfter("This text was also added by using code.");
    textBox.Name = "shape2";

    PowerPoint._Application myPPT = Globals.ThisAddIn.Application;
    PowerPoint.Slide curSlide = myPPT.ActiveWindow.View.Slide;
    string[] myRangeArray = new string[2];
    myRangeArray[0] = "shape1";
    myRangeArray[1] = "shape2";
    curSlide.Shapes.Range(myRangeArray).Group();
}