Powerpoint VBA function return not working - vba

Question

This is driving me mad: I have a sub and a function in a powerpoint vba.
The sub starts by allowing me to select a dir. The function, called from the sub, finds a file in the dir. I want it as a function outside of the sub, as I will need to use it multiple times.
The sub is still under development, so doesn't do much, but works. The function works too if I give it something to do - like open the found file (ie uncomment that line in my code below) - but I can't for the life of me get it to return the filePath to the sub. Please help!
The sub:
Sub ManagementSummaryMerge()
Dim folderPath As String
'select dir
Dim FldrPicker As FileDialog
Set pptApp = CreateObject("PowerPoint.Application")
pptApp.Visible = True
'Retrieve Target Folder Path From User
Set FldrPicker = Application.FileDialog(msoFileDialogFolderPicker)
With FldrPicker
.Title = "Select A Target Folder"
.AllowMultiSelect = False
If .Show <> -1 Then GoTo NextCode
folderPath = .SelectedItems(1) & "\"
End With
'In Case of Cancel
NextCode:
folderPath = folderPath
If folderPath = "" Then GoTo EndOfSub
'set _Main <= string I want to look for
Dim v As String
v = "_Main"
Dim fullFilePathIWantToSet As String
'set value of fullFilePathIWantToSet from findFile function
fullFilePathIWantToSet = findFile(folderPath, v)
'when I test, this MsgBox appears, but blank
MsgBox fullFilePathIWantToSet
'If I can get this working properly, I want to be able to do something like this:
'objFSO.CopyFile fullFilePathIWantToSet, duplicateFilePath
'Presentations.Open (duplicateFilePath)
'numSlides = ActivePresentation.Slides.Count
'etc
EndOfSub:
'let the sub end
End Sub
The function:
Function findFile(ByRef folderPath As String, ByVal v As String) As String
Dim fileName As String
Dim fullFilePath As String
Dim duplicateFilePath As String
Dim numFolders As Long
Dim numSlides As Integer
Dim folders() As String
Dim i As Long
If Right(folderPath, 1) <> "\" Then folderPath = folderPath & "\"
ileName = Dir(folderPath & "*.*", vbDirectory)
While Len(fileName) <> 0
If Left(fileName, 1) <> "." Then
fullFilePath = folderPath & fileName
duplicateFilePath = folderPath & "duplicate " & fileName
If (GetAttr(fullFilePath) And vbDirectory) = vbDirectory Then
ReDim Preserve folders(0 To numFolders) As String
folders(numFolders) = fullFilePath
numFolders = numFolders + 1
Else
'if true, the it matches the string we are looking for
If InStr(10, fullFilePath, v) > 0 Then
'if true, then it isn't in a dir called P/previous, which I want to avoid
If InStr(1, fullFilePath, "evious") < 1 Then
Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set f = objFSO.GetFile(fullFilePath)
'If true, then it isn't one of those funny duplicate files that microsoft makes, that has the ~ at the beginning of the file name
If f.Size > 5000 Then GoTo ReturnSettings
' if we're here then we have found the one single file that we want! Go ahead and do our thing
findFile = fullFilePath
Exit Function
End If
End If
End If
End If
End If
fileName = Dir()
Wend
For i = 0 To numFolders - 1
findFile folders(i), v
Next i
End Function
I'm a total VBA noob, so have just pva glued this together from what I can find online. Is it not working because of the findFile loop returning an array of one instead of a string? I thought the 'Exit Function' call would do away with that issue.
Please excuse the recursive if statements - the people that I am doing this for don't have a totally standard way of storing their ppts, but this hones down on the ppt I want. When the sub is complete, it will itself loop through 130 sub dirs of the selected dir, and within each of those sub dirs it will grab various slides from six different ppts and merge them into one, ie consolidate data from 780 ppts into 130 - something I definitely want to automate!
This is my first question posted on stack Overflow, so I hope I have posed it clearly and correctly. I have searched extensively for a solution to this. I hope the solution pops out to you! Many thanks in advance.

Answer 1

This is a classic case of needing to use Option Explicit.
You have a missing f from filename and this goes unchecked as a variable ilename not filename.
You should put Option Explicit at the top of every module and declare all your variables. There is also a missing label for a GoTo statement which I have added.
Note: You are doing a full string case sensitive match on the file name within the selected folder.
Option Explicit
Sub ManagementSummaryMerge()
Dim folderPath As String, FldrPicker As FileDialog, pptApp As Object
Set pptApp = CreateObject("PowerPoint.Application")
pptApp.Visible = True
Set FldrPicker = Application.FileDialog(msoFileDialogFolderPicker)
With FldrPicker
.Title = "Select A Target Folder"
.AllowMultiSelect = False
If .Show <> -1 Then GoTo NextCode
folderPath = .SelectedItems(1) & "\"
End With
'In Case of Cancel
NextCode:
folderPath = folderPath
If folderPath = "" Then GoTo EndOfSub
'set _Main <= string I want to look for
Dim v As String
v = "_Main"
Dim fullFilePathIWantToSet As String
'set value of fullFilePathIWantToSet from findFile function
fullFilePathIWantToSet = findFile(folderPath, v)
'when I test, this MsgBox appears, but blank
MsgBox fullFilePathIWantToSet
'If I can get this working properly, I want to be able to do something like this:
'objFSO.CopyFile fullFilePathIWantToSet, duplicateFilePath
'Presentations.Open (duplicateFilePath)
'numSlides = ActivePresentation.Slides.Count
'etc
EndOfSub:
'let the sub end
End Sub
Function findFile(ByRef folderPath As String, ByVal v As String) As String
Dim fileName As String
Dim fullFilePath As String
Dim duplicateFilePath As String
Dim numFolders As Long
Dim numSlides As Integer
Dim folders() As String, i As Long
If Right(folderPath, 1) <> "\" Then folderPath = folderPath & "\"
fileName = Dir(folderPath & "*.*", vbDirectory)
While Len(fileName) <> 0
If Left(fileName, 1) <> "." Then
fullFilePath = folderPath & fileName
duplicateFilePath = folderPath & "duplicate " & fileName
If (GetAttr(fullFilePath) And vbDirectory) = vbDirectory Then
ReDim Preserve folders(0 To numFolders) As String
folders(numFolders) = fullFilePath
numFolders = numFolders + 1
Else
'if true, the it matches the string we are looking for
If InStr(10, fullFilePath, v) > 0 Then
'if true, then it isn't in a dir called P/previous, which I want to avoid
If InStr(1, fullFilePath, "evious") < 1 Then
Dim objFSO As Object, f As Object
Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set f = objFSO.GetFile(fullFilePath)
'If true, then it isn't one of those funny duplicate files that microsoft makes, that has the ~ at the beginning of the file name
If f.Size > 5000 Then GoTo ReturnSettings
' if we're here then we have found the one single file that we want! Go ahead and do our thing
findFile = fullFilePath
Exit Function
End If
End If
End If
End If
fileName = Dir()
Wend
For i = 0 To numFolders - 1
findFile folders(i), v
Next i
Exit Function
ReturnSettings:
End Function

Answer 2

OK, I have a solution to this. It's not totally elegant, because it relies on globally set variables, but it works and is good enough for me:
' show if a mistake is made
Option Explicit
' globally set the var we want to return to the sub from the function
Public foundFilePath As String
Sub FindIt()
Dim colFiles As New Collection, vFile As Variant, mypath As String
FldrPicker As FileDialog, fileToFind As String, pptApp As Object
Set pptApp = CreateObject("PowerPoint.Application")
pptApp.Visible = True
Set FldrPicker = Application.FileDialog(msoFileDialogFolderPicker)
With FldrPicker
.Title = "Select A Target Folder"
.AllowMultiSelect = False
If .Show <> -1 Then GoTo NextCode
mypath = .SelectedItems(1) & "\"
End With
NextCode:
mypath = mypath
If mypath = "" Then GoTo EndOf
'
' find file
'
fileToFind = "*your_string_here*"
'calls to function RecursiveDir, which sets first matching file as foundFilePath
Call RecursiveDir(colFiles, mypath, fileToFind, True)
' do what you want with foundFilePath
MsgBox "Path of file found: " & foundFilePath
'
'find second file
'
fileToFind = "*your_second_string_here*"
Call RecursiveDir(colFiles, mypath, fileToFind, True)
MsgBox "Second file path: " & foundFilePath
EndOf:
End Sub
Public Function RecursiveDir(colFiles As Collection, _
strFolder As String, _
strFileSpec As String, _
bIncludeSubfolders As Boolean)
Dim strTemp As String, fullFilePath As String
Dim colFolders As New Collection
Dim vFolderName As Variant
'Add files in strFolder matching strFileSpec to colFiles
strFolder = TrailingSlash(strFolder)
strTemp = Dir(strFolder & strFileSpec)
Do While strTemp <> vbNullString
strFileSpec = Replace(strFileSpec, "*", "")
If InStr(strTemp, strFileSpec) > 0 Then
foundFilePath = strFolder & strTemp
Exit Function
End If
colFiles.Add strFolder & strTemp
strTemp = Dir
Loop
If bIncludeSubfolders Then
'Fill colFolders with list of subdirectories of strFolder
strTemp = Dir(strFolder, vbDirectory)
Do While strTemp <> vbNullString
If (strTemp <> ".") And (strTemp <> "..") Then
If (GetAttr(strFolder & strTemp) And vbDirectory) <> 0 Then
colFolders.Add strTemp
End If
End If
strTemp = Dir
Loop
'Call RecursiveDir for each subfolder in colFolders
For Each vFolderName In colFolders
Call RecursiveDir(colFiles, strFolder & vFolderName, strFileSpec, True)
Next vFolderName
End If
End Function
Public Function TrailingSlash(strFolder As String) As String
If Len(strFolder) > 0 Then
If Right(strFolder, 1) = "\" Then
TrailingSlash = strFolder
Else
TrailingSlash = strFolder & "\"
End If
End If
End Function
That works. What was a better solution for me is the below. It uses separate subs / functions to do the following: pick a folder ; loop through first-child folders ; recursively search for a file, using a partial file name, in all folders and subfolders ; do something with the found file/s (plural if the search function is called on multiple strings).
It's not necessary to separate out like this, but I find it easier for separation of concerns and keeping things simple.
Sub 1: Root folder picker. Passes selected folder onto sub 2
Option Explicit
Public foundFilePath As String
Sub StartSub()
' selects the parent folder and passes it to LoopSuppliers
Dim masterPath As String, FldrPicker As FileDialog, pptApp As Object
Set pptApp = CreateObject("PowerPoint.Application")
Set FldrPicker = Application.FileDialog(msoFileDialogFolderPicker)
pptApp.Visible = True
With FldrPicker
.Title = "Select A Target Folder"
.AllowMultiSelect = False
If .Show <> -1 Then GoTo NextCode
masterPath = .SelectedItems(1) & "\"
End With
NextCode:
masterPath = masterPath
If masterPath = "" Then GoTo EndOf
Call LoopSuppliers(masterPath) ' goes to masterFolder in LoopSuppliers sub
EndOf:
End Sub
Sub two: simply loops through the parent folder and passes the path of each first-child sub folder to function three to do something with it. Adapted from here.
Private Sub LoopSuppliers(masterFolder As String)
Dim objFSO As Object, objFolder As Object, objSupplierFolder As Object
Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set objFolder = objFSO.GetFolder(masterFolder)
For Each objSupplierFolder In objFolder.SubFolders
'objSupplierFolder.path objSubFolder.Name <- object keys I can grab
Call ManipulateFiles(objSupplierFolder.path)
Next objSupplierFolder
End Sub
Function 1: Grabs file paths for doing something with
Private Function ManipulateFiles(ByRef FolderPath As String)
Dim file1 As String, file2 As String, file3 As String
' each of these calls find a file anywhere in a suppliers subfolders, using the second param as a search string, and then holds it as a new var
Call FindSupplierFile(FolderPath, "search_string1")
file1 = foundFilePath
Call FindSupplierFile(FolderPath, "search_string2")
file2 = foundFilePath
Call FindSupplierFile(FolderPath, "search_string3")
file3 = foundFilePath
'
' do something with the files!
'
End Function
Function 2: This is the function that takes a dir, a search string, and then loops through all the dirs folders and sub folders until it gets a match. I've included extra filtering, to show how I further narrowed down the files that could be returned to function 1.
Private Function FindSupplierFile(ByRef FolderPath As String, ByVal v As String) As String
Dim FileName As String, fullFilePath As String, numFolders As Long, Folders() As String, i As Long
Dim objFSO As Object, f As Object
If Right(FolderPath, 1) <> "\" Then FolderPath = FolderPath & "\"
FileName = Dir(FolderPath & "*.*", vbDirectory)
While Len(FileName) <> 0
If Left(FileName, 1) <> "." Then
fullFilePath = FolderPath & FileName
If (GetAttr(fullFilePath) And vbDirectory) = vbDirectory Then
ReDim Preserve Folders(0 To numFolders) As String
Folders(numFolders) = fullFilePath
numFolders = numFolders + 1
Else
'
' my filters
'
If InStr(1, fullFilePath, "evious") < 1 Then ' filter out files in folders called "_p/Previous"
If InStr(10, fullFilePath, v) > 0 Then ' match for our search string 'v'
Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject") ''
Set f = objFSO.GetFile(fullFilePath) '' use these three code lines to check that the file is more that 5kb - ie not a tiny ~ file
''
If f.Size > 5000 Then ''
foundFilePath = fullFilePath ' if we get in here we have the file that we want
Exit Function ' as we have found the file we want we can exit the function (which means we carry on with ManipulateFiles)
End If ' end f.size
End If ' end InStr v if
End If ' end InStr evious if
'
' end of my filters
'
End If ' end get attr if else
End If ' end left if
FileName = Dir()
Wend ' while len <> 0
For i = 0 To numFolders - 1
FindSupplierFile Folders(i), v
Next i
End Function