Excel 2013 Power Programming with VBA

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3 Excel 2013 Power Programming with VBA

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5 Excel 2013 Power Programming with VBA by John Walkenbach

6 Excel 2013 Power Programming with VBA Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street Hoboken, NJ Copyright 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) , fax (978) Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) , fax (201) , or online at Trademarks: Wiley and the Wiley logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. Excel is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFI- CALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDER- STANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SER- VICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFOR- MATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ. FULFILLMENT OF EACH COUPON OFFER IS THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE OFFEROR. For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at , outside the U.S. at , or fax For technical support, please visit Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Library of Congress Control Number: ISBN (pbk); ISBN (ebk); ISBN (ebk); ISBN (ebk) Manufactured in the United States of America

7 About the Author John Walkenbach is the author of more than 50 spreadsheet books and lives in southern Arizona. Visit his website:

8 Publisher s Acknowledgments We re proud of this book; please send us your comments at For other comments, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at , outside the U.S. at , or fax Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Acquisitions and Editorial Project Editor: Susan Pink Acquisitions Editor: Katie Mohr Technical Editor: Niek Otten Editorial Manager: Jodi Jensen Editorial Assistant: Annie Sullivan Composition Services Project Coordinator: Kristie Rees Layout and Graphics: Jennifer Henry, Andrea Hornberger, Jennifer Mayberry Proofreader: Christine Sabooni Indexer: BIM Indexing & Proofreading Services Sr. Editorial Assistant: Cherie Case Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher Mary Bednarek, Executive Acquisitions Director Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director Publishing for Consumer Dummies Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher Composition Services Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

9 Contents at a Glance Introduction Part I: Some Essential Background Chapter 1: Excel in a Nutshell Chapter 2: Formula Tricks and Techniques Chapter 3: Understanding Excel Files Chapter 4: Essentials of Spreadsheet Application Development Part II: Understanding Visual Basic for Applications Chapter 5: Introducing Visual Basic for Applications Chapter 6: VBA Programming Fundamentals Chapter 7: Working with VBA Sub Procedures Chapter 8: Creating Function Procedures Chapter 9: VBA Programming Examples and Techniques Part III: Working with UserForms Chapter 10: Custom Dialog Box Alternatives Chapter 11: Introducing UserForms Chapter 12: UserForm Examples Chapter 13: Advanced UserForm Techniques Part IV: Advanced Programming Techniques Chapter 14: Developing Excel Utilities with VBA Chapter 15: Working with Pivot Tables Chapter 16: Working with Charts Chapter 17: Understanding Excel s Events Chapter 18: Interacting with Other Applications Chapter 19: Creating and Using Add-Ins Part V: Developing Applications Chapter 20: Working with the Ribbon Chapter 21: Working with Shortcut Menus Chapter 22: Providing Help for Your Applications Chapter 23: Developing User-Oriented Applications

10 viii Part VI: Other Topics Chapter 24: Compatibility Issues Chapter 25: Manipulating Files with VBA Chapter 26: Manipulating Visual Basic Components Chapter 27: Understanding Class Modules Chapter 28: Working with Colors Chapter 29: Frequently Asked Questions about Excel Programming Part VII: Appendixes Appendix A: VBA Statements and Functions Reference Appendix B: VBA Error Codes Appendix C: This Book s Website Index

11 Table of Contents Introduction Part I: Some Essential Background Chapter 1: Excel in a Nutshell About Excel Thinking in Terms of Objects Workbooks Worksheets Chart sheets XLM macro sheets Excel 5 and 95 dialog sheets Excel s User Interface About the Ribbon Shortcut menus and the Mini toolbar Dialog boxes Task pane Keyboard shortcuts Data Entry Formulas, Functions, and Names Selecting Objects Formatting Protection Options Protecting formulas from being overwritten Protecting a workbook s structure Applying password protection to a workbook Protecting VBA code with a password Charts Shapes and SmartArt Database Access Worksheet databases External databases Internet Features Analysis Tools Add-Ins Macros and Programming File Format Excel s Help System

12 x Chapter 2: Formula Tricks and Techniques About Formulas Calculating Formulas Cell and Range References Why use references that aren t relative? About R1C1 notation Referencing other sheets or workbooks Using Names Naming cells and ranges Applying names to existing references Intersecting names Naming columns and rows Scoping names Naming constants Naming formulas Naming objects Formula Errors Excel Auditing Tools Identifying cells of a particular type Viewing formulas Tracing cell relationships Tracing error values Fixing circular reference errors Using the background error-checking feature Using Excel s Formula Evaluator Array Formulas An array formula example An array formula calendar Array formula pros and cons Counting and Summing Techniques Counting formula examples Summing formula examples Other counting tools Lookup Formulas Working with Dates and Times Entering dates and times Using pre-1900 dates Creating Megaformulas Chapter 3: Understanding Excel Files Starting Excel File Types Excel file formats Text file formats Database file formats Other file formats

13 xi Excel File Compatibility Protected View Using AutoRecover Recovering versions of the current workbook Recovering unsaved work Configuring AutoRecover Working with Template Files Viewing templates Creating templates Creating workbook templates Inside an Excel File Dissecting a file Why is the file format important? The OfficeUI File The XLB File Add-In Files Excel Settings in the Registry About the Registry Excel s settings Chapter 4: Essentials of Spreadsheet Application Development What Is a Spreadsheet Application? Steps for Application Development Determining User Needs Planning an Application That Meets User Needs Determining the Most Appropriate User Interface Customizing the Ribbon Customizing shortcut menus Creating shortcut keys Creating custom dialog boxes Using ActiveX controls on a worksheet Executing the development effort Concerning Yourself with the End User Testing the application Making the application bulletproof Making the application aesthetically appealing and intuitive Creating a user Help system Documenting the development effort Distributing the application to the user Updating the application when necessary Other Development Issues The user s installed version of Excel Language issues System speed Video modes

14 xii Part II: Understanding Visual Basic for Applications Chapter 5: Introducing Visual Basic for Applications Getting Some BASIC Background Delving into VBA Object models VBA versus XLM Covering the Basics of VBA Introducing Visual Basic Editor Displaying Excel s Developer tab Activating VBE VBE windows Working with Project Explorer Adding a new VBA module Removing a VBA module Exporting and importing objects Working with Code Windows Minimizing and maximizing windows Storing VBA code Entering VBA code Customizing the VBE Environment Using the Editor tab Using the Editor Format tab Using the General tab Using the Docking tab The Macro Recorder What the macro recorder actually records Relative or absolute recording? Recording options Cleaning up recorded macros About Objects and Collections The object hierarchy About collections Referring to objects Properties and Methods Object properties Object methods The Comment Object: A Case Study Viewing Help for the Comment object Properties of a Comment object Methods of a Comment object The Comments collection About the Comment property Objects contained in a Comment object Determining whether a cell has a comment Adding a new Comment object

15 xiii Some Useful Application Properties Working with Range Objects The Range property The Cells property The Offset property Things to Know about Objects Essential concepts to remember Learning more about objects and properties Chapter 6: VBA Programming Fundamentals VBA Language Elements: An Overview Comments Variables, Data Types, and Constants Defining data types Declaring variables Scoping variables Working with constants Working with strings Working with dates Assignment Statements Arrays Declaring arrays Declaring multidimensional arrays Declaring dynamic arrays Object Variables User-Defined Data Types Built-in Functions Manipulating Objects and Collections With-End With constructs For Each-Next constructs Controlling Code Execution GoTo statements If-Then constructs Select Case constructs Looping blocks of instructions Chapter 7: Working with VBA Sub Procedures About Procedures Declaring a Sub procedure Scoping a procedure Executing Sub Procedures Executing a procedure with the Run Sub/UserForm command Executing a procedure from the Macro dialog box Executing a procedure with a Ctrl+shortcut key combination Executing a procedure from the Ribbon Executing a procedure from a customized shortcut menu Executing a procedure from another procedure

16 xiv Executing a procedure by clicking an object Executing a procedure when an event occurs Executing a procedure from the Immediate window Passing Arguments to Procedures Error-Handling Techniques Trapping errors Error-handling examples A Realistic Example That Uses Sub Procedures The goal Project requirements What you know The approach What you need to know Some preliminary recording Initial setup Code writing Writing the Sort procedure More testing Fixing the problems Utility availability Evaluating the project Chapter 8: Creating Function Procedures Sub Procedures versus Function Procedures Why Create Custom Functions? An Introductory Function Example Using the function in a worksheet Using the function in a VBA procedure Analyzing the custom function Function Procedures A function s scope Executing function procedures Function Arguments Function Examples Functions with no argument A function with one argument A function with two arguments A function with an array argument A function with optional arguments A function that returns a VBA array A function that returns an error value A function with an indefinite number of arguments Emulating Excel s SUM function Extended Date Functions Debugging Functions

17 xv Dealing with the Insert Function Dialog Box Using the MacroOptions method Specifying a function category Adding a function description manually Using Add-ins to Store Custom Functions Using the Windows API Windows API examples Determining the Windows directory Detecting the Shift key Learning more about API functions Chapter 9: VBA Programming Examples and Techniques Learning by Example Working with Ranges Copying a range Moving a range Copying a variably sized range Selecting or otherwise identifying various types of ranges Resizing a range Prompting for a cell value Entering a value in the next empty cell Pausing a macro to get a user-selected range Counting selected cells Determining the type of selected range Looping through a selected range efficiently Deleting all empty rows Duplicating rows a variable number of times Determining whether a range is contained in another range Determining a cell s data type Reading and writing ranges A better way to write to a range Transferring one-dimensional arrays Transferring a range to a variant array Selecting cells by value Copying a noncontiguous range Working with Workbooks and Sheets Saving all workbooks Saving and closing all workbooks Hiding all but the selection Creating a hyperlink table of contents Synchronizing worksheets VBA Techniques Toggling a Boolean property Displaying the date and time Displaying friendly time

18 xvi Getting a list of fonts Sorting an array Processing a series of files Some Useful Functions for Use in Your Code The FileExists function The FileNameOnly function The PathExists function The RangeNameExists function The SheetExists function The WorkbookIsOpen function Retrieving a value from a closed workbook Some Useful Worksheet Functions Returning cell formatting information A talking worksheet Displaying the date when a file was saved or printed Understanding object parents Counting cells between two values Determining the last nonempty cell in a column or row Does a string match a pattern? Extracting the nth element from a string Spelling out a number A multifunctional function The SheetOffset function Returning the maximum value across all worksheets Returning an array of nonduplicated random integers Randomizing a range Sorting a range Windows API Calls Determining file associations Determining disk drive information Determining default printer information Determining video display information Reading from and writing to the Registry Part III: Working with UserForms Chapter 10: Custom Dialog Box Alternatives Before You Create That UserForm Using an Input Box The VBA InputBox function The Excel InputBox method The VBA MsgBox Function The Excel GetOpenFilename Method The Excel GetSaveAsFilename Method Prompting for a Directory

19 xvii Displaying Excel s Built-In Dialog Boxes Displaying a Data Form Making the data form accessible Displaying a data form by using VBA Chapter 11: Introducing UserForms How Excel Handles Custom Dialog Boxes Inserting a New UserForm Adding Controls to a UserForm Toolbox Controls CheckBox ComboBox CommandButton Frame Image Label ListBox MultiPage OptionButton RefEdit ScrollBar SpinButton TabStrip TextBox ToggleButton Adjusting UserForm Controls Adjusting a Control s Properties Using the Properties window Common properties Accommodating keyboard users Displaying a UserForm Adjusting the display position Displaying a modeless UserForm Displaying a UserForm based on a variable Loading a UserForm About event-handler procedures Closing a UserForm Creating a UserForm: An Example Creating the UserForm Writing code to display the dialog box Testing the dialog box Adding event-handler procedures Validating the data The finished dialog box Understanding UserForm Events Learning about events UserForm events

20 xviii SpinButton events Pairing a SpinButton with a TextBox Referencing UserForm Controls Customizing the Toolbox Adding new pages to the Toolbox Customizing or combining controls Adding new ActiveX controls Creating UserForm Templates A UserForm Checklist Chapter 12: UserForm Examples Creating a UserForm Menu Using CommandButtons in a UserForm Using a ListBox in a UserForm Selecting Ranges from a UserForm Creating a Splash Screen Disabling a UserForm s Close Button Changing a UserForm s Size Zooming and Scrolling a Sheet from a UserForm ListBox Techniques Adding items to a ListBox control Determining the selected item in a ListBox Determining multiple selections in a ListBox Multiple lists in a single ListBox ListBox item transfer Moving items in a ListBox Working with multicolumn ListBox controls Using a ListBox to select worksheet rows Using a ListBox to activate a sheet Using the MultiPage Control in a UserForm Using an External Control Animating a Label Chapter 13: Advanced UserForm Techniques A Modeless Dialog Box Displaying a Progress Indicator Creating a stand-alone progress indicator Showing a progress indicator by using a MultiPage control Showing a progress indicator without using a MultiPage control Creating Wizards Setting up the MultiPage control for the wizard Adding the buttons to the wizard s UserForm Programming the wizard s buttons Programming dependencies in a wizard Performing the task with the wizard

21 xix Emulating the MsgBox Function MsgBox emulation: MyMsgBox code How the MyMsgBox function works Using the MyMsgBox function A UserForm with Movable Controls A UserForm with No Title Bar Simulating a Toolbar with a UserForm Emulating a Task Pane with a UserForm A Resizable UserForm Handling Multiple UserForm Controls with One Event Handler Selecting a Color in a UserForm Displaying a Chart in a UserForm Saving a chart as a GIF file Changing the Image control s Picture property Making a UserForm Semitransparent An Enhanced Data Form About the Enhanced Data Form Installing the Enhanced Data Form add-in A Puzzle on a UserForm Video Poker on a UserForm Part IV: Advanced Programming Techniques Chapter 14: Developing Excel Utilities with VBA About Excel Utilities Using VBA to Develop Utilities What Makes a Good Utility? Text Tools: The Anatomy of a Utility Background for Text Tools Project goals for Text Tools The Text Tools workbook How the Text Tools utility works The UserForm for the Text Tools utility The Module1 VBA module The UserForm1 code module Making the Text Tools utility efficient Saving the Text Tools utility settings Implementing Undo Displaying the Help file Adding the RibbonX code Post-mortem of the project Understand the Text Tools utility More about Excel Utilities