I am trying to automate a script that I use for PowerShell. When I get a request, instead of editing the script line by line with required information, I would like to create an Excel spreadsheet, input the data required, and populate my script with those variables in the correct location.
From a high level view with limited programming experience, this does not seem overly complicated but I cannot figure it out.
I am able to do bits and pieces of what I am trying to accomplish, but not everything together. Below is step by step what I want to accomplish.
Input data into Cells B10 through B16
Store each cell into an individual variable
Hit the command button which will take the variables and print/overwrite a file already created.
I have a specific file path that I need to use.
Here is the code that I have already, that I see will copy the cells and open my PowerShell module.
Public Sub CommandButton1_Click()
Dim fileName As Variant
Dim Azure As Workbook
Dim wsSource As Worksheet
Set Azure = ActiveWorkbook
Set wsSource = ActiveSheet
'Copy range on original sheet
wsSource.Range("B10:B16").Copy
fileName = Shell("powershell_ise.exe ""c:\Azure\AZURE_1.ps1""", vbNormalFocus)
End Sub
I can see that the above code doesn't accomplish what I need to do. However, I can see that I can use the button, copy the cells, and open the required file.
What I need to do is take each cell and place at a certain spot in my script and overwrite the previous file.
Related
So here's what I'm trying to do:
Open file: Pc_Profile
Create new sheet: Sheet1
Copy desired cells from Pc_Profile to Sheet1 (see script below)
Copy entire Sheet1 to new excel file: db.xls
Rename sheet to content of cell A5
Create new sheet for next script run
Basically I'm trying to automate an extraction of a TON of excel files into a single organized file. Each script call should extract to its own sheet so there's no overwritten information.
Here is what I have working so far. It just copies the desired cells to a new sheet within the same file.
' Create Excel object
Set objExcel = CreateObject("Excel.Application")
' Open the workbook
Set objWorkbook = objExcel.Workbooks.Open _
("\\[directory]\Pc_Profile.xls")
' Set to True or False, whatever you like
objExcel.Visible = True
objWorkbook.Worksheets("Pc_Profile").Range("A5:D5").Copy
objWorkbook.Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("A1").PasteSpecial
objWorkbook.Worksheets("Pc_Profile").Range("A8:B8").Copy
objWorkbook.Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("A2").PasteSpecial
objWorkbook.Worksheets("Pc_Profile").Range("A13:B13").Copy
objWorkbook.Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("A3").PasteSpecial
objWorkbook.Worksheets("Pc_Profile").Range("A15:D17").Copy
objWorkbook.Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("A4").PasteSpecial
objWorkbook.Worksheets("Pc_Profile").Range("A24:E26").Copy
objWorkbook.Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("A7").PasteSpecial
objWorkbook.Worksheets("Pc_Profile").Range("A28:B30").Copy
objWorkbook.Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("A10").PasteSpecial
objWorkbook.Worksheets("Pc_Profile").Range("A43:B43").Copy
objWorkbook.Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("A13").PasteSpecial
objWorkbook.Worksheets("Pc_Profile").Range("A45:B45").Copy
objWorkbook.Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("A14").PasteSpecial
' Activate Sheet2 so you can see it actually pasted the data
objWorkbook.Worksheets("Sheet2").Activate
I would really appreciate the extra push. I'm automating this for a work project and have no experience with VB - I just learned that on the go.
A couple things that are good practice to get into before I get to your actual question:
1) Any macro that you expect to run a long time should have Application.ScreenUpdating = False before any actual work is done in the code, this tells Excel not to bother with changing what's displayed on the screen (big performance booster). Be sure to include an Application.ScreenUpdating = True near the end of your code
2) Similar to #1, you generally want to include Application.Calculation = xlManual to boost performance. If you have large ranges of cells that your macro needs accurate up-to-date values from, it may be easier to leave the calculation automatic, but that doesn't appear to be the case in this instance.
3) You don't need to create a new Excel instance (which is what your first line of code does). You're already in a perfectly good instance of Excel. This also saves you having to close the other instance at the end of the macro (or worse from forgetting to do so and having memory get hogged by Excel processes that aren't really in use)
As to your specific problem, it sounds like you have more workbooks that Pc_profile to copy from, and that you're wanting to create a new "db.xls" with each run of the macro. Based on those assumptions all you need to do is nest your code starting with 'Open the workbook and objWorkbook.Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("A14").PasteSpecial inside a Do While loop. The thing I'm not sure about is how to control the loop. If the list of files is always the same, you should just include a list on a sheet in the workbook that holds the macro and just iterate through that.
The other thing you should do for ease of coding, and to make the loop more effective is declare and use a Worksheet variable and set if for each workbook to the appropriate sheet to pull data from. Ex.
Dim ws as Worksheet
'The Dim is outside your loop, but this would be inside it
Set ws = objWorkbook.Worksheets("whatever_the_sheet's_name_is")
This way you can replace each occurrence of objWorkbook.Worksheets("Pc_Profile"). with ws., easier to type, easier to read, easier to update, and less error prone.
Next, you don't actually have code for moving Sheet1 to a new workbook, or renaming it. To move it (as well as the other Sheet1's yet to be created), you should, before getting to the Do While loop, have the following
Dim target as Workbook
Set target = Application.Workbooks.Add
Then at almost the end of the loop, you need objWorkbook.Worksheets("Sheet1").Move Before:=Target.Sheets(1)
Last, you need to include objWorkbook.Close SaveChanges:=False after you've moved Sheet1 out of the Pc_Profile and renamed it.
I wish to save my current excel file as a different file with file name as the value in the cell B10 and taking only values (not formulas) from the current file.
I got the code for getting only values from this link: Saving values from a workbook
Any help appreciated. Thanks.
EDIT:
I want to make a kind of template which will help my colleagues to document in a better way, without wasting disk space in formulas, which takes up about 1.7 mb per *.xls file. If I save only values, it takes about 600 kb. I want it to be flexible to different users, people who won't have to use long instructions to do this.
* vba isn't my area of expertise, and I haven't written any code for this work, so basically any possible way is welcome.
This code will do the need
Sub Macro1()
Dim x As String
Dim y As String
x = "C:\" 'path to file
y = Range("C1").Value 'Reference of the cell which contains the value
Z = x + y
Z = Z + ".xlsm" 'Format of macro enabled worksheet
ActiveWorkbook.SaveAs Filename:=Z, _
FileFormat:=xlOpenXMLWorkbookMacroEnabled, CreateBackup:=False
End Sub
Since you provided a Text only question, I should give you a Text Only Answer.
To do what you want you have to:
Copy your worksheet using Sheets Object Copy method. It has optional arguments and if you omit it, it automatically creates a new workbook that contains the copied worksheet.
After copying, you can use ActiveObject (e.g. ActiveWorkbook, ActiveSheet etc.) to make reference to your newly created workbook and worksheet.
Once you have referenced the objects properly, you can now use Cells property to select all ranges and copy. Then use Range PasteSpecial Method to convert formulas to values.
Lastly you'll need to save the workbook using the Workbook Object SaveAs Method.
Hope this somehow leads you to a solution. HTH.
Can Anyone tell me how do I undo all my changes to my workbook?
I have file excel1.xlsx and I have did sorting and many operations on the excel.xlsx using vba. But at the end I want the excel1.xlsx to be the same which was at the start. How do i Undo all my changes using vba?
activeworkbook.saved = True
I have found that it retains back all the contents as at the begginning but its not working.So is there any command where i can get back my original file after performing operations over it. Well yes
wb1.Sheets(1).Activate
ActiveWorkbook.Close savechanges:=False
It works but I dont want my workbooks to be closed it should be still opened. How do I make it? Thanks in advance.
In order to undo a sub routine, you can either choose not to save the file and just close it, or you have to write a special sub routine to save the state of the file, then restore the state (custom undo). This is one of the pains with sub routines is that they cannot be undone through normal undo. Most people, me including, will reccomend you work off a backup.
When making your custome undo routine, the big question is what do you need to save the state for? Saving all information about the file would be unnessesarily heavy, so it's good to know what you want to save.
Update:
This is a dirty way to backup the sheet if you only have 1 sheet of data. This is more of a proof of concept of one way to create a backup and not finalized perfect code. It just creates a backup copy of the currentsheet and when you'restore' you are simply deleting the original sheet and renaming the backup to what it used to be called. :p
How to test:
Put some data and value in your original sheet then run the Test() sub-routine!
Public backupSheet As Worksheet
Public originalSheet As Worksheet
Public originalSheetName As String
Sub CreateBackup()
Set originalSheet = Application.ActiveSheet
originalSheetName = originalSheet.Name
originalSheet.Copy After:=Sheets(Application.Worksheets.Count)
Set backupSheet = Application.ActiveSheet
backupSheet.Name = "backup"
originalSheet.Activate
End Sub
Sub RestoreBackup()
Application.DisplayAlerts = False
originalSheet.Delete
backupSheet.Name = originalSheetName
Application.DisplayAlerts = True
End Sub
Sub ZerosFromHell()
Range("A1:Z100").Select
Cells.Value = 0
End Sub
Sub Test()
Call CreateBackup
Call ZerosFromHell
MsgBox "look at all those darn 0s!"
Call RestoreBackup
End Sub
Short answer: you can't. Sorry.
Changes you make to your sheet using VBA cannot be undone at the click of a button or with a single, standard VBA statement.
The right thing to do would seem to be: do your VBA-driven work on a copy of the sheet, and delete/don't save this copy if you don't want to keep the changes (and reopen the original if you need to do so). But from your question, it sounds like you don't want to do that.
Your only alternative is then to write your own VBA procedure that backtracks all the changes you've done. Depending on what operations you performed, reversing them could be a ridiculously complicated thing to do, compared to just closing without saving and re-opening. But if you insist, by all means, knock yourself out!
Save a copy of the original workbook prior to running your macro. using the .SaveAs method at the beggining of the sub routine.
Run the VBA macro routine in the original workbook.
Now have a second macro "Undo VBA changes" that opens the workbook copy from step (1) , closes the workbook that ran the macro in Step (2) and calls the .SaveAs method again overwriting the existing workbook from step (2).
Note:
In order to get this UndoMacro to work you will need to put it in an Addin or a seperate workbook (an addin is cleaner). This will allow you to run the .SaveAs method and overwrite teh original workbook from Step (2) which will at this point have been closed to prevent an VBA runtime error message occuring.
If all of your data is cleanly organized, this works pretty well. Much like the OP, I needed to go back to the original state of an Excel file, and didn't want to have to re-load the original (it takes about 25 seconds to load, due to aged infrastructure, and slow PCs).
What I did was to copy all of the data into a variant array, do all of my processing to the workbook, then write back the variant array to the Excel file (data is on a worksheet called "Data", and starts at Row 2, and uses columns A through Z). While this uses a bit of RAM, the reading/writing is nearly instantaneous. Relevant code:
Dim varDataArray As Variant, wb As Workbook, ws As Worksheet, lngEndRow as Long
Set wb = ThisWorkbook
Set ws = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets("Data")
With ws
' This simply finds the last row with data
lngEndRow = .Cells.Find("*", [A1], , , xlByRows, xlPrevious).Row
' This reads all cell data from A2 to Z###, where ### is the last row
varDataArray = .Range("A2:Z" & lngNumberOfRows).Value
... do things ...
' This writes all the data back to Excel
' 26 is the numeric column equivalent to "Z"
.Range("A2").Resize(lngEndRow, 26) = varDataArray
End With
Basically I need to gather a fair few figures from another workbook (Which is found and can be opened by a UserForm, therefore the location and names are variable). I need to use VBA for this as I also need to populate a chart with this data. I would prefer to not have to open the other workbook in order to do it, but if it is far easier then its OK.
The UserForm is done and works fine, and I have the code I need to populate the chart, however I can't get VBA to pull back the data from the other workbook and assign it to the variables that I need it to.
Any ideas on how I can get VBA to do this? It would be greatly appreciated.
You will have to open the file in one way or another if you want to access the data within it. Obviously, one way is to open it in your Excel application instance, e.g.:-
(untested code)
Dim wbk As Workbook
Set wbk = Workbooks.Open("C:\myworkbook.xls")
' now you can manipulate the data in the workbook anyway you want, e.g. '
Dim x As Variant
x = wbk.Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("A6").Value
Call wbk.Worksheets("Sheet2").Range("A1:G100").Copy
Call ThisWorbook.Worksheets("Target").Range("A1").PasteSpecial(xlPasteValues)
Application.CutCopyMode = False
' etc '
Call wbk.Close(False)
Another way to do it would be to use the Excel ADODB provider to open a connection to the file and then use SQL to select data from the sheet you want, but since you are anyway working from within Excel I don't believe there is any reason to do this rather than just open the workbook. Note that there are optional parameters for the Workbooks.Open() method to open the workbook as read-only, etc.
I have created an Excel Spreadsheet which helps with data analysis from an Oracle database.
The user enters then clicks the "Refresh Query" button which generates a query for Oracle to execute. The query takes a minute or so to complete. Although the VBA code does not hang on ".Refresh", all Excel windows remain frozen until the query completes.
Sub refreshQuery_click()
Dim queryStr as String
' Validate parameters and generate query
' ** Code not included **
'
' Refresh Query
With ActiveWorkbook.Connections("Connection").OLEDBConnection
.CommandText = queryStr
.Refresh
End With
End Sub
Is there a way for the user to manually cancel the query (calling .CancelRefresh) while the Excel user-interface is frozen?
EDIT I don't know if the following is worth noting or regular behavior. While the query is executing, all open Excel windows (including the VBA Editor) become "Not Responding" in Task Manager. Neither pressing Esc nor Ctrl+Break will cancel the script. Also, calling DoEvents (either before or after .Refresh) does not change this behavior.
Here's a method that I know will work. However, there are some complications.
Here's how it's done:
Put the spreadsheet with the data in a separate workbook. This worksheet should execute the refresh query when it's opened and then close once the data is updated.
Create a batch file to call the "Data" Excel file.
Within a different workbook, create a procedure (macro) for the user to call. This procedure will call the batch file, which subsequently calls the Excel file. Since you are calling a batch file and not Excel directly, the Excel procedure will continue because the command shell is released so quickly and opens the other Excel file in a different thread. This allows you to continue working within the main Excel file.
Here are some complications:
I included a method to alert the user that the data has been udpated. There are timing issues where it's possible to try to check if the data has been update when the workbook is not accessible, which forces the user to try to update values. I included a method called my time which pauses the execution of the code so it only checks every so many seconds.
The updated worksheet will pop up in a new window, so the user will need to click on their original worksheet and keep working. You could learn to hide this if you're comfortable with Windows scripting (I haven't learned that yet).
Here are some files and code. Be sure to read the comments in the code for why some things are there.
FILE: C:\DataUpdate.xls
We'll make a workbook called "DataUpdate.xls" and put it in our C:\ folder. In cell A1 of Sheet1, we'll add our QueryTable which grabs external data.
Option Explicit
Sub UpdateTable()
Dim ws As Worksheet
Dim qt As QueryTable
Set ws = Worksheets("Sheet1")
Set qt = ws.Range("A1").QueryTable
qt.Refresh BackgroundQuery:=False
End Sub
Sub OnWorkbookOpen()
Dim wb As Workbook
Set wb = ActiveWorkbook
'I put this If statement in so I can change the file's
'name and then edit the file without code
'running. You may find a better way to do this.
If ActiveWorkbook.Name = "DataUpdate.xls" Then
UpdateTable
'I update a cell in a different sheet once the update is completed.
'I'll check this cell from the "user workbook" to see when the data's been updated.
Sheets("Sheet2").Range("A1").Value = "Update Table Completed " & Now()
wb.Save
Application.Quit
End If
End Sub
In the ThisWorkbook object in Excel, there's a procedure called Workbook_Open(). It should look like the following so it executes the update code when it is opened.
Private Sub Workbook_Open()
OnWorkbookOpen
End Sub
NOTE: I found a bug when this file closed if 1) you accessed the file from the command line or shell and 2) you have the Office Live Add-in installed. If you have the Office Live Add-in installed, it will throw an exception on exit.
FILE: C:\RunExcel.bat
Next, we're going to create a batch file that will open the Excel file we just made. The reason that call the Excel file from within the batch file and not directly from the other Excel file using Shell is because Shell will not continue until the other application closes (at least when using Excel.exe "c:\File.xls"). The batch file, however, runs its code and then immediately closes, thus allowing the original code that called it to continue. This is what will let your uses continue working in Excel.
All this file needs is:
cd "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\"
Excel.exe "C:\DataUpdate.xls"
If you're handy with Windows Scripting, you do fancy things like open the window in a hidden mode or pass a parameter of the file name or Excel location. I kept it simple with a batch file.
FILE: C:\UserWorkbook.xls
This is the file that the user will open to "do their work in." They'll call the code to update the other workbook from within this workbook and they'll still be able to work in this workbook while this one is updating.
You need a cell in this workbook where you'll check the "Update Table Completed" cell from the DataUpdate workbook. I chose cell G1 in Sheet1 for my example.
Add the following code to a VBA module in this workbook:
Option Explicit
Sub UpdateOtherWorkbook()
Dim strFilePath As String
Dim intOpenMode As Integer
Dim strCallPath As String
Dim strCellValue As String
Dim strCellFormula As String
Dim ws As Worksheet
Dim rng As Range
Set ws = Worksheets("Sheet1")
Set rng = ws.Range("G1")
strCellFormula = "='C:\[DataUpdate.xls]Sheet2'!A1"
'This makes sure the formula has the most recent "Updated" value
'from the data file.
rng.Formula = strCellFormula
strFilePath = "C:\RunExcel.bat"
intOpenMode = vbHide
'This will call the batch file that calls the Excel file.
'Since the batch file executes it's code and then closes,
'the Excel file will be able to keep running.
Shell strFilePath, intOpenMode
'This method, defined below, will alert the user with a
'message box once the update is complete. We know that
'the update is complete because the "Updated" value will
'have changed in the Data workbook.
AlertWhenChanged
End Sub
'
Sub AlertWhenChanged()
Dim strCellValue As String
Dim strUpdatedCellValue As String
Dim strCellFormula As String
Dim ws As Worksheet
Dim rng As Range
Set ws = Worksheets("Sheet1")
Set rng = ws.Range("G1")
strCellFormula = "='C:\[DataUpdate.xls]Sheet2'!A1"
strCellValue = rng.Value
strUpdatedCellValue = strCellValue
'This will check every 4 seconds to see if the Update value of the
'Data workbook has been changed. MyWait is included to make sure
'we don't try to access the Data file while it is inaccessible.
'During this entire process, the user is still able to work.
Do While strCellValue = strUpdatedCellValue
MyWait 2
rng.Formula = strCellFormula
MyWait 2
strUpdatedCellValue = rng.Value
DoEvents
Loop
MsgBox "Data Has Been Updated!"
End Sub
'
Sub MyWait(lngSeconds As Long)
Dim dtmNewTime As Date
dtmNewTime = DateAdd("s", lngSeconds, Now)
Do While Now < dtmNewTime
DoEvents
Loop
End Sub
As you can see, I constantly updated the formula in the "Listening Cell" to see when the other cell was updated. Once the data workbook has been updated, I'm not sure how you'd force an update in code without rewriting all the cells. Closing the workbook and reopening it should refresh the values, but I'm not sure of the best way to do it in code.
This whole process works because you're using a batch file to call Excel into a different thread from the original file. This allows you to work in the original file and still be alerted when the other file has been updated.
Good luck!
EDIT: Rather than include a more complete answer in this same answer, I've created a separate answer dedicated entirely to that solution. Check it out below (or above if it gets voted up)
Your users can break the VBA function by pressing Ctrl+Break on the keyboard. However, I've found that this can cause your functions to randomly break until each time any function is run. It goes away when the computer is restarted.
If you open this file in a new instance of Excel (meaning, go to Start > Programs and open Excel from there), I think that the only workbook that will be frozen will be the one executing the code. Other intances of Excel shouldn't be affected.
Lastly, you might research the DoEvents functions, which yields execution back to the Operating System so that it can process other events. I'm not sure if it would work in your case, but you could look into it. That way you can do other things while the process is being completed (It's kind of dangerous because the user can then change the state of your application while the process is working).
I believe I know a way that actually will work, but it's complicated and I don't have the code in front of me. It involves creating a separate instance of the Excel application in code and attaching a handler to the execution of that instance. You include the DoEvents part of the code in a loop that releases once the application closes. The other instantiated Excel application has the sole purpose of opening a file to execute a script and then close itself. I've done something like this before so I know that it works. I'll see if I can find the code tomorrow and add it.
Well, you could consider the old-fashion way -- split the query into smaller batches and use Do Events in between batches.
You could try XLLoop. This lets you write excel functions (UDfs) on an external server. It includes server implementations in many languages (eg. Java, Ruby, Python, PHP).
You could then connect to your oracle database (and potentially add a caching layer) and serve up the data to your spreadsheet that way.
The XLL also has a feature to popup a "busy" GUI that lets the user cancel the function call (which disconnects from the server).
BTW, I work on the project so let me know if you have any questions.