Excel VBA Programming For Dummies. Dick Kusleika

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Excel VBA Programming For Dummies - Dick  Kusleika


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3 covers the components of the VBE.

      3 If necessary, expand the project that corresponds to the workbook in which you recorded the macro by clicking the plus sign next to it.If you haven’t saved the workbook, the project is probably called VBAProject (Book1).FIGURE 2-4: The VBE displays the VBA code in Module1 of Book1.

      4 Click the plus sign (+) to the left of the folder named Modules.The tree expands to show Module1, which is the only module in the project.

      5 Double-click Module1.The VBA code in that module is displayed in a Code pane (refer to Figure 2-4). Your screen may not look exactly the same as Figure 2-4. The code that’s recorded depends on the specific actions you made while recording the macro.

      At this point, the macro probably might look a bit mysterious. Don’t worry. Travel a few chapters down the road, and all will be crystal clear.

      The NameAndTime macro consists of several statements. Excel executes the statements one by one, from top to bottom. A statement that’s preceded by an apostrophe (′) is a comment. Comments are included only for your information and are ignored by Excel. In other words, Excel skips right over comments.

      The first VBA statement (which begins with the word Sub) identifies the macro as a Sub procedure and gives its name; you provided this name before you started recording the macro. If you read through the code, you might be able to make sense of some of it. You see your name, the formula you entered, and lots of additional code that changes the font. The Sub procedure ends with the End Sub statement.

      HEY, I DIDN’T RECORD THAT!

      Reviewing the actions you recorded with the macro recorder has the same effect as listening to a voice memo you recorded on your phone. When you play back the voice memo and listen to your own voice, you probably say, “I don’t sound like that.” And when you look at your recorded macro, you might see some actions that you didn’t think you recorded.

      As you might expect, you not only can view your macro in the VBE, you can change it. You can edit a macro directly in the Code pane like the one you opened in the previous section by double-clicking Module1.

      You modify a macro by typing new statements or modifying existing statements between the Sub and End Sub statements. For example, in the NameAndTime macro you recorded earlier in this chapter, you could change it to make the font size 18 instead of 16. Find the line .Size = 16 and change it to:

       .Size = 18

      When you use the macro recorder, you don’t have to know a lot of VBA language to be able to find the line you want to change and change it. However, if it’s not as straightforward as the font size example and you’re not sure what to change, you can record a new macro to see what the recorder will generate when you do what you want. Then compare the new macro to the old one, manually edit the old one to look like the new one, and delete what you just recorded.

      

Working in a VBA code module is much like working in a word-processing document (except there’s no word wrap, and you can’t format the text). On second thought, it’s more like working in Windows Notepad. You can press Enter to start a new line, and the familiar editing keys work as expected.

      If you store one or more macros in a workbook, the file must be saved as a macro-enabled file type. In other words, the file must be saved with an XLSM extension rather than the normal XLSX extension.

Snapshot of attempt to save it in a macro-free file format, Excel warns you.

      FIGURE 2-5: If your workbook contains macros, and you attempt to save it in a macro-free file format, Excel warns you.

      Macro security is a key feature in Excel. The reason is that VBA is a powerful language — so powerful that it’s possible to create a macro that can do serious damage to your computer. A macro can delete files, send information to other computers, and even destroy Windows so that you can’t start your system.

Snapshot of Macro Settings section of the Trust Center dialog box.

      FIGURE 2-6: The Macro Settings section of the Trust Center dialog box.

Snapshot of Excel’s warning that the file to be opened contains macros.

      FIGURE 2-7: Excel’s warning that the file to be opened contains macros.

You see the pop-up box in Figure 2-7 only when the VBE is open. Otherwise, Excel displays an eye-catching Security Warning above the Formula bar, as shown in Figure 2-8. If you know the workbook is safe, click the Enable Content button to enable the macros. To use the workbook without macros, click the X to dismiss the warning.

      Excel remembers when you designate a workbook to be safe. So the next time you open the workbook, you won’t see the Security Warning.

Snapshot of Excel's warning that the workbook just opened contains macros.

      FIGURE 2-8: Excel's warning that the workbook just opened contains macros. You see this warning when the VBE isn’t open.

      If you want to find out what the other macro security


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