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Table of Contents
Worksheet Functions
Sample formulas to complete common worksheet tasks.
Conditional Formatting
Demonstrates how to change the formatting (I.e. font, cell color)
applied to a cell depending on the current value of the cell.
Data Validation
Shows how to set up restrictions for the values that can be entered
into a cell.
Chart Labeling
A macro to automate the labeling of an XY-Scatter chart.
Repeating Tasks
Sample looping macro code and an explanation of h ow to modify
recorded code to repeat tasks on a range of cells or a selected
range.
Microsoft provides examples of Visual Basic for Applications procedures for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but
not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. The Visual Basic procedures in this workbook are provided
'as is' and Microsoft does not guarantee that they can be used in all situations. While Microsoft Technical Support Engineers can help explain the
functionality of a particular macro, they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality, nor will they help you construct macros to meet your
specific needs. If you have limited programming experience, you may want to consult one of the Microsoft Solution Providers.
xcel Samples File
able of Contents
Arrays
Macro code to demonstrate how to transfer array contents to a
worksheet.
Events
Examples to demonstrate how some events can trigger macro
code to run.
Automation
Sample macro code to demonstrate how Microsoft Excel can
automate other Microsoft Office applications.
res for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but
or a particular purpose. The Visual Basic procedures in this workbook are provided
all situations. While Microsoft Technical Support Engineers can help explain the
to provide added functionality, nor will they help you construct macros to meet your
nce, you may want to consult one of the Microsoft Solution Providers.
Worksheet Functions Examples
This worksheet contains sample formulas you can use to complete common spreadsheet tasks.
Cells containing formulas are blue. To view a sample formula, hover your mouse cursor over
the cell to display the comment. Or, press CTRL+` to switch between displaying values and
displaying formulas on the worksheet. For more information about a worksheet function, select
the cell containing the function, then click the Edit Formula (=) button on the Formula bar.
Another way to suppress the display of error values is to use the Conditional Formatting
feature, new to Excel 97. The Conditional Formatting feature allows you to have a cell
display different formats depending on the contents of the cell. For error values, you need to
follow these steps:
1. Select the cell to be formatted (in this case $E$40)
2. Click Conditional Formatting on the Format menu
3. In the first dropdown box, select Formula Is
4. In the edit box next to it, type: =ISERROR($E$40)
5. Click on the format button, and select a format, in this case, a blue background
and the same blue font was used.
6. Click OK
The result is that for error values, the font color is the same as the background, and nothing
will be displayed.
To use this feature, select a cell within the data range that you would like to use, then select
Tools / Wizard / Lookup, and follow the steps in the wizard.
If the menu items are not present and for additional information on how to use or install the
Lookup Wizard, use the Office Assistant and perform a search using the phrase "Lookup Wizard".
To use this feature, select a cell within the list that you would like to summarize, then select
Tools / Wizard / Conditional Sum, and follow the steps in the wizard.
If the menu items are not present and for additional information on how to use or install the
Conditional Sum Wizard, use the Office Assistant and perform a search using the phrase
"Conditional Sum Wizard".
Conditional Formatting
Conditional Formatting allows you to change the formatting applied
to cell depending on the current value of the cell. This can make
auditing large worksheets much faster by automatically highlighting
exceptions. Conditional Formatting allows you to apply up to three
separate conditions to a cell.
4
Cells H10:H14 contain three Conditional Formatting rules that will 7
change the formatting of the cells depending on the values entered
into the cells. text
1
To see the conditions applied to the cells, select cell H10, and then 15
click Conditional Formatting on the Format menu.
To see the conditions applied to the cells, select cell H19, and then
click Conditional Formatting on the Format menu.
10 4
20 5
30
40 8
50
Data Validation
Data Validation allows you to set up restrictions for the values that
can be entered into a cell. The following examples present
several common scenarios for using Data Validation.
To see the Validation settings for this example, select cell H9, and
then click Validation on the Data menu.
To see the Validation settings for this example, select cell H19,
and then click Validation on the Data menu.
Cells H30:H34 have been formatted with a validation rule that will
alert you if you do not enter a whole number between 1 and 10.
This example utilizes the Information style for the Error alert,
which informs you of an invalid entry, but allows you to keep the
current value.
To see the Validation settings for this example, select cell H30,
and then click Validation on the Data menu.
To see the Validation settings for this example, select cell H41,
and then click Validation on the Data menu.
Bob
Chris
David
John
Mike
Perry
Randal
Steve
Tim
Attaching Labels to an XY (Scatter) Chart
Labels X Values Y Values
Datapoint1 2 5 Place Labels on Reset Chart View Code
Datapoint2 9 7 Chart
Datapoint3 5 3
Datapoint4 4 8
Y Values
8 9
Repeating Tasks
Often it is necessary to perform the same task on a group of items. These items may be cells in a
range, worksheets in a workbook or workbooks in the application. Although the macro recorder
cannot record loops, the recorder can still be used to record the main task to be repeated. Then,
with some minor modifications to the recorded code, various types of loops can be created
depending on what is needed for an individual project.
The samples below focus on a scenario where the programmer has a range of cells in column A
containing numbers, and depending on the value of the cell, wishes to change the color of the
corresponding cell in column B.
First, we can record the single step process of changing the color of the background of a cell:
To record: From the Tools menu, click Macro, then click Record New Macro. While recording,
from the Format menu, click Cells. Then, click the Patterns tab and select a color.
This sample uses yellow (.ColorIndex=6). Now stop the recorder using the Stop button on the Stop
Recording toolbar. The currently selected cell will change color and the following macro will have
been recorded:
Note: If, while recording, you selected a cell, your macro may contain something similar to
Range("A3").Select. You may want to remove this line, since every time the macro is run,
this line will force the cell specified in the Range object to be selected. If you want that cell to be
selected first then leave that line in the macro.
Now, we can modify the code slightly and add one of the various looping structures to the
recorded code.
For…Next Loop
If you know how many times you wish to loop through your code you can use a For...Next loop.
Using our example, if you want to only check ten cells down, starting from the selected cell, then
your modified recorded code might look like this:
Sub For_Next_Sample()
Goto For_Next
For..Next Sample
Code
For Counter = 0 To 9
If Selection.Offset(Counter, 0).Value > 20 Then
With Selection.Offset(Counter, 1).Interior
.ColorIndex = 6
.Pattern = xlSolid
End With
End If
Next
End Sub
Here the Selection object is being used so that the code is not specific to any given range, but will
always loop through ten (0 to 9 as a counter) cells below the active cell. The Counter variable
increments each time through the loop and can be used within the looping structure. Here it is
used as an Offset argument to indicate how many rows to offset from Selection (the current cell).
So, if we start this macro and the active cell is A1, the first time through the loop the Counter
variable will equal 0, therefore we will Offset 0 rows from A1 as shown in the
Selection.Offset(Counter, 0).Value statement.
Do…Loop
To determine whether or not to stop a loop based on a certain condition, a Do…Loop might be
appropriate. This looping structure allows you to check properties or variable conditions before the
loop is executed. In the sample below, we continue to loop until the referenced cell's row
number, Selection.Offset(Counter, 0).Row, has exceeded 100. This can be useful if you
never want to perform the looping task below row 100.
Sub Do_Loop_Sample()
Goto Do_Loop Sample
Code
Counter = 0
Do Until Selection.Offset(Counter, 0).Row > 100
If Selection.Offset(Counter, 0).Value > 20 Then
With Selection.Offset(Counter, 1).Interior
.ColorIndex = 6
.Pattern = xlSolid
End With
End If
Counter = Counter + 1
Loop
End Sub
Note: There are three more types of Do…Loops available. The various forms offer more flexibility
when needed in various circumstances.
To find more information about these, and more detail about the other looping structures, please
access Help from within the Visual Basic Environment and use the keyword looping.
Working with Arrays
The most common way to transfer the contents of an array to a worksheet is through a loop, such
as a For...Next loop. A For...Next loop allows you to index into the array and transfer elements of
the array to their destination address one at a time. You can accomplish this same result without
a loop using the Visual Basic, Applications Edition, FormulaArray property of the Range object.
The above example works correctly when the destination worksheet cells involve only one row.
However, when the contents of an array need to be transferred to a range of cells with a vertical,
as opposed to a horizontal orientation (that is, one column by several rows), the above example is
no longer valid.
Within a two-dimensional array you must change the orientation of the array. To do this, you can
declare the array a two-dimensional array with dimensions of several rows by one column. For
example:
The two-dimensional array shown in this example allows Visual Basic to set the orientation of the
array as vertical; therefore, the array can be transferred to a worksheet without a loop.
Goto ArrayDump1
Sample Code
Goto ArrayDump2
Sample Code
API Examples
An API (Application Programming Interface) is a function contained in DLL file.
These functions are normally used by windows and other applications but they can also be used by the end user.
Note: Exercise care when experimenting with API calls. Save your work often to avoid any problems.
Because they were designed to be called by the system and by applications, most error trapping has not been implemented.
This means that you may cause system hangs, crashes or other unintended side effects when experimenting with API calls.
The following examples show how to use some of the basic APIs. These have been tested under Windows98 and Excel 2000.
There are multiple ways to use these functions and it is up to the programmer to determine which is best for the result they are
The following example uses the function GetLogicalDriveStrings to loop through all logical drives.
Logical drives are removable, fixed, CD drives and mapped network shares.
Option Explicit
Private Declare Function GetLogicalDriveStrings Lib "kernel32" Alias "GetLogicalDriveStringsA
(ByVal nBufferLength As Long, _
ByVal lpBuffer As String) As Long
Sub Get_Logical_Drive_String()
Dim DrvString As String
Dim TotDrvs As Long Goto Get_Logical_Drive_String
Dim Counter As Integer Sample Code
The following code example returns the current screen video resolution
and displays the information in a message box.
Option Explicit
Private Declare Function GetSystemMetrics Lib "user32" (ByVal nIndex As Long) As Long
Sub Get_System_Metrics()
End Sub
The following code will return the currently logged on user name.
Option Explicit
Private Declare Function GetUserName Lib "advapi32.dll" Alias "GetUserNameA" _
(ByVal lpBuffer As String, _
nSize As Long) As Long
Sub Get_User_Name()
Goto Get_User_Name
Dim lpBuff As String * 25
Sample Code
Dim ret As Long, UserName As String
ret = GetUserName(lpBuff, 25)
UserName = Left(lpBuff, InStr(lpBuff, Chr(0)) - 1)
MsgBox UserName
End Sub
Return the short path name of a long path and file name
The following function takes a Long File Name and returns the Short File name
displaying both in a message box.
Sub Get_Short_Name()
Dim LongStr As String, ShortStr As String Goto Get_Short_Name
Dim lStrLen As Long, lRet As Long Sample Code
The following code example shows how to use the GetComputerName function to return the computer name.
Option Explicit
Private Declare Function GetComputerName Lib "kernel32" Alias "GetComputerNameA" (ByVal lpBuf
nSize As Long) As Long
The following code example shows how to find the free space available as well as the total hard drive size.
Option Explicit
Private Declare Function GetDiskFreeSpace Lib "KERNEL32.DLL" Alias "GetDiskFreeSpaceA" (ByVal
dwSectors As Long, _
dwBytes As Long, _
dwFreeClusters As Long, _
dwTotalClusters As Long) As Long
Sub Get_Disk_Free_Space()
Dim f As Long, iSectors As Long
Dim iTotal As Long, rTotal As Long Goto Get_Disk_Free_Space
Dim iFree As Long, rFree As Long Sample Code
Dim iBytes As Long
Dim sName As String, s As String
sName = "C:\"
f = GetDiskFreeSpace(sName, iSectors, iBytes, iFree, iTotal)
rFree = iSectors * iBytes * CDbl(iFree)
rTotal = iSectors * iBytes * CDbl(iTotal)
If f Then
s = sName
s = s & " has " & Format(rFree, "#,###,###,##0")
s = s & " bytes free from " & Format(rTotal, "#,###,##0") & " Total bytes"
End If
MsgBox s
End Sub
Returning the system folder location
The following code example show how to retrieve the system folder location.
Option Explicit
Declare Function GetSystemDirectory Lib "kernel32" Alias "GetSystemDirectoryA" (ByVal lpBuffe
ByVal nSize As Long) As Long
Sub Get_System_Directory()
Dim Sys_Dir As String, Res As Long
Res = GetSystemDirectory(Sys_Dir, 0&)
Sys_Dir = String(Res - 1, " ") Goto GetSystemDirectory
Res = GetSystemDirectory(Sys_Dir, Res) Sample Code
MsgBox Sys_Dir
End Sub
The following code example polls the system to see if there are any devices capable of playing WAV files.
Option Explicit
Declare Function waveOutGetNumDevs Lib "winmm" () As Long
Sub Num_Devs()
Dim i As Long
i = waveOutGetNumDevs()
If i > 0 Then ' There is at least one device.
MsgBox "You Can Play Wave Data"
Else
Goto Num_Devs
MsgBox "Cannot Play Wave Data"
Sample Code
End If
End Sub
The following code example shows how to make Microsoft Excel "Always on Top". This prevents other applications
from being displayed in front of Microsoft Excel.
Option Explicit
Private Declare Function FindWindow Lib "user32" Alias "FindWindowA" (ByVal lpClassName As St
ByVal lpWindowName As String) As Long
Private Declare Function SetWindowPos Lib "user32" (ByVal hWnd As Long, _
ByVal hWndInsertAfter As Long, _
ByVal x As Long, _
ByVal y As Long, _ Goto SetOnTop
ByVal cx As Long, _ Sample Code
ByVal cy As Long, _
ByVal wFlags As Long) As Long
Global Const HWND_TOPMOST = -1
Global Const HWND_NOTOPMOST = -2
Sub SetOnTop()
Dim WinHnd As Long, SUCCESS As Long
WinHnd = FindWindow("xlmain", Application.Caption)
SUCCESS = SetWindowPos(WinHnd, HWND_TOPMOST, 0, 0, 0, 0, Flags)
'The following line is here just to switch Excel back to normal operation
'after 20 seconds
Application.OnTime Now + TimeValue("00:00:20"), "NotOnTop"
End Sub
Sub NotOnTop()
Dim WinHnd As Long, SUCCESS As Long
WinHnd = FindWindow("xlmain", Application.Caption)
SUCCESS = SetWindowPos(WinHnd, HWND_NOTOPMOST, 0, 0, 0, 0, Flags)
End Sub
As String, _
Root As String, _
s String, _
Programming with Events
Often programmers wish to have a certain event trigger a macro to perform some task. Microsoft Excel 2000
offers this capability. Events are always associated with an object. Examples of these might be a worksheet, or
a workbook. In this sample file we will only discuss a few of the events available and use a MsgBox as a filler
to demonstrate where regular code could go. To find out more about any of these and other events, click on
the assistant while in the VBE and use the object name and the word "events" as your keywords. (e.g.
worksheet events).
BeforeDoubleClick
A very popular type of Event is the BeforeDoubleClick event on a worksheet. A very simple example may
look like:
This event will fire whenever the user double-clicks a cell in the worksheet. The parameter Target is passed
into the macro so the programmer will know what cell has been double clicked. The Cancel argument has a
default value of False but can be changed to True within the code. Setting Cancel to True will cancel the
default action for the event. In this case, the default action for a double click on a cell is to switch to edit mode
on the cell. Since we set Cancel to True, this will not occur. If you want to still have the default action occur,
then the Cancel=True line can be removed.
Change
Another very useful event is the Change event for a worksheet. Any time the user enters a new value in any
cell this event fires.
Note: This event does not occur if the sheet has just been recalculated. There is an event called Calculate
which will fire when the worksheet recalculates.
BeforeClose
A useful Workbook related event is BeforeClose. These events can be used to perform "housekeeping" tasks
before a file is saved or closed.
In this example, the user is prompted to close the file regardless if the file has been saved or not.
After the new object has been declared with events, it appears in the Object drop-down list box in the class
module, and you can write event procedures for the new object. (When you select the new object in the Object
box, the valid events for that object are listed in the Procedure drop-down list box.)
Before the procedures will run, however, you must connect the declared object in the class module with the
Application object. You can do this with the following code from any module.
Sub InitializeApp()
Set X.App = Application
End Sub
After you run the InitializeApp procedure, the App object in the class module points to the Microsoft Excel
Application object, and the event procedures in the class module will run when the events occur.
Note: To find out more information on all events, please consult the VBA Help file for further information.
Automation
Automation is a feature of the Component Object Model (COM), a technology that applications use to expose their
objects to development tools, macro languages, and other applications that support Automation. For example, a
spreadsheet application may expose a worksheet, chart, cell, or range of cells each as a different type of object. A
word processor might expose objects such as an application, a document, a paragraph, a sentence, a bookmark, or
a selection. The following examples demonstrate automating tasks between Microsoft Excel and other Microsoft
applications.
For more information on Automation, refer to Understanding Automation in VBA Help.
MICROSOFT ACCESS
This example returns the location of the Microsoft Access sample databases.
Sub MS_Access()
Dim AccDir As String
Dim acc As Object
'OLE automation to Access
Set acc = CreateObject("access.application")
'Return the path for msaccess.exe Goto MS_Access
AccDir = acc.SysCmd(Action:=acSysCmdAccessDir) Automation Code
'Display the path
MsgBox "MSAccess.exe is located in " & AccDir
'Free up variable storage space
Set acc = Nothing
End Sub
MICROSOFT WORD
This example copies the chart from the Chart Labels sheet into a new Microsoft Word document.
Sub MS_Word()
Dim wd As Object
'Create a Microsoft Word session
Set wd = CreateObject("word.application")
'Copy the chart on the Chart Labels sheet
Worksheets("Chart Labeling").ChartObjects(1).Chart.ChartArea.Copy
'Make document visible
wd.Visible = True Goto MS_Word
'Activate MS Word Automation Code
AppActivate wd.Name
With wd
'Create a new document in Microsoft Word
.Documents.Add
'Insert a paragraph
.Selection.TypeParagraph
'Paste the chart
.Selection.PasteSpecial link:=True, DisplayAsIcon:=False, Placement:=wdInLine
End With
Set wd = Nothing
End Sub
MICROSOFT POWERPOINT
This example copies the chart from the Chart Labels sheet into a new Microsoft PowerPoint presentation.
Sub MS_PowerPoint()
Dim ppt As Object, pres As Object
'Create a Microsoft PowerPoint session
Goto MS_Powerpoint
Set ppt = CreateObject("powerpoint.application")
Automation Code
'Copy the chart on the Chart Labels Demo sheet
Worksheets("Chart Labeling").ChartObjects(1).Copy
'Create a new document in Microsoft PowerPoint
Set pres = ppt.Presentations.Add
'Add a slide
pres.Slides.Add 1, ppLayoutBlank
'Make PowerPoint visible
ppt.Visible = True
'Activate PowerPoint
AppActivate ppt.Name
'Paste the chart
ppt.ActiveWindow.View.Paste
Set ppt = Nothing
End Sub
MICROSOFT OUTLOOK
This example creates and adds information to a new Outlook task. Run Outlook and click Tasks on the Outlook bar
to see the new task.
NOTE: It may take a few minutes for the task to appear.
Sub MS_Outlook()
Dim ol As Object, myItem As Object
'Create a Microsoft Outlook session Goto MS_Outlook
Set ol = CreateObject("outlook.application") Automation Code
'Create a task
Set myItem = ol.CreateItem(olTaskItem)
'Add information to the new task
With myItem
.Subject = "New VBA task"
.Body = "This task was created via Automation from Microsoft Excel"
.NoAging = True
.Close (olSave)
End With
'Remove object from memory
Set ol = Nothing
End Sub
S_Access
tion Code
S_Word
on Code
owerpoint
on Code
ADO-ActiveX Data Objects
ActiveX Data Objects (ADO) allow direct manipulation of a database.
Several examples that illustrate common database tasks are included with
this workbook.
Sub RetrieveISAMdata()
''' NOTE: This subroutine requires that you reference the
'' latest version of the following library: Goto Retrieve ISAM
''' Data Example Sample
'' Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects Library Code
With conn
'Assign the connection string to the connection object.
.ConnectionString = "DRIVER={Microsoft dBase Driver (*.dbf)};" & _
"DBQ=" & PathToDatabase & ";" & _
"DefaultDir=" & PathToDatabase & "\"
' Open the connection.
.Open strConn
End With
With rst
' Connect this recordset to the previously opened connection.
.ActiveConnection = conn
' Retrieve all records from the Customer table.
.Open "SELECT * FROM customer"
End With
' Add a new worksheet to this workbook
Set NewBook = Workbooks.Add
' Loop through all of the fields, returning the field names to the worksheet.
For i = 0 To rst.Fields.Count - 1
NewBook.Sheets(1).Range("a1").Offset(0, i).Value = rst.Fields(i).Name
Next i
' Copy the recordset to the new worksheet.
NewBook.Sheets(1).Range("a2").CopyFromRecordset rst
This example uses ADO to create a query based on two tables in the
Northwind.mdb database. This example requires that the Northwind.mdb file
is installed on your computer.
Sub RetrieveAccessData()
''' NOTE: This subroutine requires that you reference the
'' latest version of the following library:
'''
'' Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects Library
Goto Retrieve Access
Dim conn As ADODB.Connection Data Example Sample
Dim rst As ADODB.Recordset Code
Dim Nsql As String, Njoin As String, Ncriteria As String
Dim NewBook As Workbook
Dim i As Integer
Sub ListTables()
''' NOTE: This subroutine requires that you reference the
'' latest version of the following library: Goto List Tables
''' Example Sample Code
'' Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects Library
This example lists the fields in the Customer table of the Microsoft Access
database Northwind.mdb. This example requires that the Northwind.mdb file
is installed on your computer.
Sub ListFields()
''' NOTE: This subroutine requires that you reference the
'' latest version of the following library: Goto List Fields
''' Example Sample Code
'' Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects Library
Sub CreateTable()
''' NOTE: This subroutine requires that you reference the
'' latest version of the following library:
Goto Create Table
'''
Example Sample Code
'' Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects Library
'' Microsoft ADO Ext. 2.5 for DDL and Security
' The first four Dim lines are simultaneously declaring and
' creating new objects. You can use this syntax, or you can
' use the Set statement to create the objects.
Dim cat As New ADOX.Catalog
Dim tbl As New ADOX.Table
Dim conn As New ADODB.Connection
Dim rst As New ADODB.Recordset
With conn
' Set the OleDB provider for the connection.
.Provider = "Microsoft.JET.OLEDB.4.0"
' Open a connection to Northwind.mdb.
.Open Application.Path & "\samples\northwind.mdb"
End With
With tbl
' Name the new table.
.Name = "SalesTable"
' Name the columns for the new table.
With .Columns
.Append "Name"
.Append "Region"
.Append "Product"
' The Sales column must be the Currency data type.
.Append "Sales", adCurrency
End With
End With
With rst
.ActiveConnection = conn
' Open the new table. The LockType argument of the
' Open method must be set to adLockOptimistic in order
' add records to the table.
.Open "SalesTable", LockType:=adLockOptimistic
End With
' Set the range that contains the records to add to the database.
Set looprange = Range("s2", Range("s2").End(xlDown))
' Loop through the information on the worksheet.
For Each currcell In looprange
With rst
' Add a new record.
.AddNew
' Add information to the correct fields.
.Fields("Name").Value = currcell.Value
.Fields("Region").Value = currcell.Offset(0, 1).Value
.Fields("Product").Value = currcell.Offset(0, 2).Value
.Fields("Sales").Value = currcell.Offset(0, 3).Value
' Write the new record to the database.
.Update
End With
Next currcell
rst.Close
Set tbl = Nothing
Set cat = Nothing
conn.Close
End Sub
This example illustrates how to trap, then return relevant information about
an error that you may receive when running ADO code.
Sub Trap_ADO_Errors()
''' NOTE: This subroutine requires that you reference the
'' latest version of the following library:
''' Goto Trap ADO Errors
'' Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects Library Example Sample Code