How to avoid use of .Select and .Activate in creating a table? - vba

Question

I’ve been told that the use of .Select and .Workbooks.Activate is not really a good way to write Vba. The code below tends to work perfectly and there doesn’t seem to be any real issues. The Activeworkbook is not a problem because of Workbooks("FUA.XLSM").Activate. My question is then, what would a good alternative/approach?
I’m sorry if this is a waste of time or it’s a stupid question, but I have heard that using these methods are not a good way to do it in the long run. I am worried that this will not work or create problems in the future. It should be noted that without Workbooks("FUA.XLSM").Activate the code tends to create errors as it gets confused about which workbook it should select.
In short, my question is, how am I able to avoid using Select and .Activate as to mitigate potential for errors in the future?
Code is as follows..
Dim wb1 As Excel.Workbook
Dim wb2 As Excel.Workbook
Set wb2 = Workbooks.Open("C:\Users\Ha.csv")
Set wb1 = Workbooks("FUA")
Dim sht1 As Worksheet
Dim sht2 As Worksheet
Dim copyRange As Range
Set sht1 = wb1.Sheets("Sheet1")
Set sht2 = wb2.Sheets("Ha")
With wb1.Sheets("Sheet1")
Range("AA3").Select
If Application.WorksheetFunction.CountA(.Cells) <> 0 Then
lastRow = .Cells.Find(What:="*", _
After:=.Range("AA3"), _
Lookat:=xlPart, _
LookIn:=xlFormulas, _
SearchOrder:=xlByRows, _
SearchDirection:=xlPrevious, _
MatchCase:=False).row
Else
lastRow = 1
End If
End With
Workbooks("FUA.XLSM").Activate
Range("AA3").Select
sht1.ListObjects.Add(xlSrcRange, , xlYes).Name = _
"Table1"
Range("Table1[#All]").Select
sht1.ListObjects("Table1").Range.AutoFilter Field:=9, Criteria1:= _
">=-1000000000000", Operator:=xlAnd, Criteria2:="<=1000000000000000"
Application.DisplayAlerts = False
Selection.SpecialCells(xlCellTypeVisible).Copy
Application.DisplayAlerts = True
Set wb2 = Workbooks.Open("C:\Users\Ha.csv")
Application.DisplayAlerts = False
wb2.Sheets("Ha").Paste
wb2.SaveAs Filename:= _
"C:\Users\Ha.csv", FileFormat:= _
xlCSV, CreateBackup:=False
Workbooks("Ha.csv").Close
End Sub

Answer 1

Probably get down voted for saying this but If it ain't broke don't fix it. Your code works fine already, no real reason to change unless it doesn't work or errors popping up. Sounds like you've tested it already.
Your code is already optimised and faster though here is an alternative for the sake of avoiding Select. If you get error 1004 with select methods similar to like the last line sht2.Range("A:I").Copy Columns(last_col + 1).PasteSpecial in the code below it will continue anyway.
Sub test()
Dim wb1 As Excel.Workbook
Set wb1 = Workbooks("XXX.XLSM") ' from here, use wb1 to refer to fua.xlsm
Dim wb2 As Excel.Workbook ' ditto for wb2
Set wb2 = Workbooks.Open("C:\Users\Ha.csv")
Dim sht1 As Worksheet ' ditto for sht1
Set sht1 = wb1.Sheets("Sheet1")
Dim sht2 As Worksheet
Set sht2 = wb2.Sheets("Ha")
If Application.WorksheetFunction.CountA(sht1.Cells) <> 0 Then
LastRow = sht1.Cells.Find( _
What:="*", _
After:=sht1.Range("A1"), _
Lookat:=xlPart, _
LookIn:=xlFormulas, _
SearchOrder:=xlByRows, _
SearchDirection:=xlPrevious, _
MatchCase:=False).row
Else
LastRow = 1
End If
sht1.ListObjects.Add(xlSrcRange, sht1.Range("A:I"), xlYes).Name = "Table1"
sht1.ListObjects("Table1").Range.AutoFilter _
Field:=9, _
Criteria1:=">=-1000000000000", _
Operator:=xlAnd, _
Criteria2:="<=1000000000000000"
Application.DisplayAlerts = False ' not sure if needed
sht1.Range("A:I").SpecialCells(xlCellTypeVisible).Copy
On Error Resume Next
sht2.Range("A:I").Copy Columns(last_col + 1).PasteSpecial
On Error Resume Next
Application.DisplayAlerts = True ' not sure if needed
wb2.Save ' already C:\Users\Ha.csv
wb2.Close
End Sub

Answer 2

Here is your code rewritten.
I think it has the same functionality.
Sub test()
Dim wb1 As Excel.Workbook
Set wb1 = Workbooks("FUA.XLSM") ' from here, use wb1 to refer to fua.xlsm
Dim wb2 As Excel.Workbook ' ditto for wb2
Set wb2 = Workbooks.Open("C:\Users\Ha.csv")
Dim sht1 As Worksheet ' ditto for sht1
Set sht1 = wb1.Sheets("Sheet1")
If Application.WorksheetFunction.CountA(sht1.Cells) <> 0 Then
LastRow = sht1.Cells.Find( _
What:="*", _
After:=sht1.Range("A1"), _
Lookat:=xlPart, _
LookIn:=xlFormulas, _
SearchOrder:=xlByRows, _
SearchDirection:=xlPrevious, _
MatchCase:=False).Row
Else
LastRow = 1
End If
sht1.ListObjects.Add(xlSrcRange, sht1.Range("AA3"), xlYes).Name = "Table1"
sht1.ListObjects("Table1").Range.AutoFilter _
Field:=9, _
Criteria1:=">=-1000000000000", _
Operator:=xlAnd, _
Criteria2:="<=1000000000000000"
Application.DisplayAlerts = False ' not sure if needed
Range("Table1[#All]").SpecialCells(xlCellTypeVisible).Copy sht2.Cells
Application.DisplayAlerts = True ' not sure if needed
wb2.Save ' already C:\Users\Ha.csv
wb2.Close
End Sub

Answer 3

I wouldn't even bother with using VBA to get the data, use Power Query and import the data from the source file, perform the filter in the query and return the result to a table in the "FUA" workbook.
Then the query can be set to automatically refresh on the "FUA" workbook opening or in the query definition.