VBA for Excel

What is a spreadsheet?

An Excel spreadsheet is a set of worksheets Each worksheets is made up of rows and columns of

cells Rows are numeric: 1, 2, 3, … Columns are alphabetic: A, B, C, …

A cell contains data, or a formula

B6:E13

Row numbers

column letters

G2 : G8 Single

Column Range

A3 : E3Single Row Range

Read as “B6 to E13”

A1Single cell

Cell Ranges

Numerical Data

Numerical data is any number (formatted or not) Numerical data can be used in a formula You can use Format/Conditional formatting with

to alter the appearance of numeric data Examples:

5344-34.5209 75%

Formatting Numbers

Formatting Dates

Formulas A formula represents a mathematical calculation Always starts with =

A formula contains: Numbers

25.32, -56, 78 Cell addresses and ranges

A3, G24, A2:A54 Mathematical operators Excel built-in functions

Today, Month, Sum

=100*B5-D3+sum(R2:R15)

Today and Month functions

=TODAY() =MONTH( a date)

Macros in Excel

A macro is a sequence of steps designed to accomplish a particular task Just like a sub procedure in VB

In Excel, a user may create a macro in 2 ways Record a sequence of steps in Excel using the macro

recorder Write a VB sub procedure using the macro editor

Macro Statements

A Macro always begins a Sub statement

A Macro ends with an End Sub statement

A Macro

To perform multiple actions on the same object Macros use

With End With

The Selection object Just as a user can select

multiple cells simultaneously, a macro can select a region of a worksheet and apply changes to all the cells in that region

Recording a Macro

Putting a button onto a spreadsheet—in CS132 we use Control Objects

We can create a button and assign it to a Macro

This button is called a button control

View/Toolbars/Visual Basic

Then choose the button control

Adding the button control

Command Button

Label

Text box

Option Button

Check Box

Image

View/Toolbars/Visual Basic

List boxes

The Visual Basic Toolbar

Click on the tools icon to display the controls toolbox

After you add a control, right click on it to display the properties box

Using the Control Toolbox & Property Box

Sample Command Button

name = cmdStart

caption = text that appears on the button (Start)

enabled = true or false

You must follow good programming practice Object names must be meaningful

* cmdExit* cmdStart

An object and its properties

• This is done by putting the desired letter in the Accelerator property in the properties box

• (note lower case only matters if more than one letter is present)

s ( not S)

Accelerator Property

Referring to a Worksheet in VBA

An index number is a sequential number assigned to a sheet, based on the position of its sheet tab

The following procedure uses the Worksheets property to activate worksheet one in the active workbook.

Sub FirstOne()

Worksheets(1).Activate

End Sub

PropertiesRange("A1").Value = 99The Value property is what the cell holds, in this case 99

Range("B2:B7").Interior.Color = vbYellowThis changes the color of the cells in "B2:B7" to yellow.

MethodsWe can use Range(“A1”).SelectThis makes “A1” the active cell

Cell Ranges in VBA

A1-style references using the Range property

Reference Meaning

Range("A1") Cell A1

Range("A1:B5") Cells A1 through B5

Range("C5:D9,G9:H16") A multiple-area selection

Range("A:A") Column A

Range("1:1") Row 1

Range("A:C") Columns A through C

Range("1:5") Rows 1 through 5

Range("1:1,3:3,8:8") Rows 1, 3, and 8

Range("A:A,C:C,F:F") Columns A, C, and F

Cells(2,2).Value refers to R2C2 below

Remember, rowfirst, then column

B3 is the same as Cells(3,2)

Cells Notation

Range("B1").Value = 8Range("B2").Value = 8

Can also be written:

Cells(1,2).Value = 8Cells(2,2).Value = 8

Cells vs. Range

Deleting data You can clear the contents of a range using the

ClearContents method:

Private Sub cmdClear_Click() Range("D:D").ClearContentsEnd Sub

Note: ClearContents does not clear the formatting, just the numbers or formulas contained within the cells.

Event handling for VBA objects

• The various objects present in an excel application (application, worksheet, etc.) generate events that can be handled

• Working with such events is beyond the scope of this class

Documentationhttp://msdn.microsoft.com/office/understanding/

excel/documentation/default.aspx